MESSIAEN RELIGIOUS MUSIC

How does Messiaen use musical material to symbolise his religious world-view

How does Messiaen use musical material to symbolise his religious world-view

Introduction

His music was inspired by Gregorian, Indian rhythms and the songs of birds which was truly basis of sound of meditation and the religious music that he did. However, he had a younger brother, Alain. His father, Pierre Messiaen was an English professor from 1919 and worked for three decades in a translation of the works of William Shakespeare, a fact that the young Olivier had a major influence. As a teenager, he read Shakespeare, translated by Jean-Baptiste Joseph Emile Montegut. He also had the portrayal of human passions and the fairy tale populated by mythical creatures, witches, ghosts and magical world of Shakespeare fascinated him. Moreover, Olivier Messiaen was born in 1908 in Avignon, studied from 1919 to 1930 at the Paris Conservatoire organ with Marcel Dupre and composition with Paul Dukas. He also became deeply involved with the rhythm of the Indian teachings and ancient Greek music as well as theology, philosophy, and ornithology. In 1931 he became organist at the church of St. Trinite; a position that exercised the devout Catholic, over forty years (Benitez, 2004, 187-226).

As a composer he gained fame through his work as Turangalila Symphony for orchestra (1946-48), his Livre d'orgue (1951), his Catalogue d'oiseaux, for piano (1956-58) and his opera Saint Francois d'Assise (1975-1983). It was also Messiaen, who was one of the founders of the group La Jeune France also educationally at the Ecole Normale de Musique (1936-39), taught at the Schola Cantorum and the Paris Conservatoire. Among his most important pupils included Pierre Boulez, among others, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Xenakis, Yannis and Yvonne Loriod. However, between 1950 and 1953, Messiaen was a guest lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. He was both a member of the Institute de France, and since 1975 an associate member of the Academia Royale des Sciences (Bernard, 1986, 41-68).

Discussion

His musical language is unmistakable; his work is unique in the 20th Century. He was not only a composer, he was also a celebrated organist, a fascinating teacher and obsessive ornithologist - and he was a devout Catholic. In his music he has handled many: birdsong, Gregorian chants, Indian rhythms - and it sounds totally different than the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Today, 100 years ago, Olivier Messiaen was born in Avignon - and for months he is celebrated by the world of music CDs with festivals, concerts, conferences and new. What makes this composer so unique? Why he is 100 years after his birth and 16 years after his death such a great response? Is it the Catholic stream of the 20th Century, or rather a kitsch syncretist under suspicion? (Benitez, 2004, 187-226)

The musical style of Olivier Messiaen is the result of a truly curious mixture of religious and cultural sound. In addition to the legacy of impressionist music and the rhythmic achievements Strawinskyscher ballets are with him, the influence of ...