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Gallery GalleryTop Copyright exists on all of these photographs. Downloading and electronic reproduction of any image is illegal without the express permission of the copyright owner. Plaque overlooking Lac Laffrey, Petichet. Plaque in homage to Messian, baptized at the Saint Didier church in Avignon on December 25, 1908 1. 2. Messiaen, Yvonne Loriod and John Carewe in rehearsal at the Royal Academy of Music London March 1987 3. Salle d'Olivier Messiaen in Grenoble On October 2, 1981, the Marcel Reymond amphitheater, rue du Vieux Temple, was renamed "Salle Olivier Messiaen". On January 20, 1984, Olivier Messiaen was made an honorary citizen of the city of Grenoble. © Messiaen in USA 1978 4. 5. 7. 6. Eglise de la Sainte Trinité. Paris ©M.Ball The tombe of Messiaen in the Eglise Saint Théoffrey, Petichet, France. © Malcolm Ball 8. 9. 10. 11 In 1973, Olivier Messiaen acquired a concession in the Saint-Théoffrey cemetery. His will was to be buried near the lakes, facing the Grand-Serre which he called the "bald mountain". The tomb will be in Carrara marble and will represent a bird. To carry out this last wish, Yvonne Loriod contacted a local craftsman: Albert Luyat. Several drawings were submitted to her in Paris before she validated the dove's project during a visit to the marble factory. The curves of the bird form a flame of memory. An extract from "Harawi" - composed at Petichet in 1945 - "song of Love and Death, for voice and piano" is engraved by hand. "I only made one mistake but it was quickly corrected! remembers the marble worker. Above: "All the birds of the Stars", extract from "Harawi", and text by the hand of Messiaen. 13. 12. The headstone with 'Yvonne Messiaen' inscription (2010). 14. © John Stead 15. © John Stead Messiaen in the 1930's/40s & 50s) 16. 17. 18. (Photo©Lipnitzki) 19. 20 (Photo©Lipnitzki) Messiaen in the 1960's 21. 22. 23. ©T.Gaby © MB © MB Pierre Boulez, Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod 23a - 23b 25. Messiaen in 1978 24. Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod in the recording studio 1973. Messiaen in the 1970's 26. Messiaen in 1971 Messiaen receiving the Laureate Erasmus Prize 1971. Presented by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands In the foreground L-R, Queen Juliana, Messiaen, Yvonne Loriod, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. 27. 29. Messiaen in the 1980's 28. Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod 1986 in Düsseldorfer Tonhalle. (photo:© Christine Langensiepen) 30. Messiaen at the presentation for the degree of Doctor of Music at the Guildhall London. 30a. © Laelia Goehr (Musicians in Camera) 30b. © Laelia Goehr (Musicians in Camera) 31. 33. 32 with Pierre Boulez Karlheinz Stockhausen and Messiaen in 1961 34 Stockhausen, Boulez and Messiaen in the 1980's 35. Messiaen's house at Petichet. © M.Ball 36. The studio 'annexe' at Petichet. © M.Ball 38. The "garage" at Messiaen's Petichet house. © M.Ball 37. Messiaen's piano at Petichet 39. 40. Lac Laffrey (2014)© M.Ball Messiaen purchased the small house and garage at Petichet in 1936 and he was to spend most summer months here where he composed a good deal of his output. Petichet was a haven for Messiaen where he was able to listen and note down songs of birds in relative peace. However, as years passed the onset of tourism became a source of irritation for him that resulted in the purchase of a second country home in the Sologne region. Petichet marks the starting point for walks to the Ecrins park and Mont-Blanc, but it is La Meije and the village of La Grave that make the strongest impression on him. Today, a summer festival takes place there to celebrate the life and works of Messiaen. 230 rue Marcadet Paris in the 18th arrondissement. The Paris residence shared by Messiaen and Loriod from 1961 to the composers death in 1992. Loriod continued to live here until her death in 2010. Loriod had a small studio apartment in this block and over the years the Messiaens expanded, purchasing other apartments within the block. It overlooks a small park with a band stand bearing a remarkable resemblance to the 'jardin de ville' in Grenoble where, as a young boy Messiaen enjoyed studying musical scores. 41. The rue Olivier-Messiaen is a private road located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. 42. 43. Located in north central France, 'La Sauline' became the Messiaens second country retreat from 1981 to 1995. 44. © M.Ball. Used with kind permission of the present owners. Avenue Olivier Messiaen in Petichet. Petichet, in the commune of Saint-Théoffrey (Isère), joins the communes and towns in France, such as Paris, Toul, La Roche-sur-Yon and Chalon-sur-Saon, which have honoured Olivier Messiaen with a street named after him. Mr. Alain Mendez, mayor of the commune of Saint-Théoffrey, said that the local community had already decided in 2017 to honour the memory of the great composer in their town, where he had regularly come from Paris since 1936 to create his music. “Allée Olivier Messiaen ”, was the name given to the main street in Le Clos d’Eybains , a new housing estate under construction located above the first mayoral building on the Route Napoleon. The municipal council still includes the existing "Allée Yvonne Loriod ", and in 2021 and 2022 added the street names "Allée des Oiseaux " and "Allée de la Symphonie " (presumably referring to Turangalîla-symphonie ). In this case, the mountainous terrain from "Allée Olivier Messiaen " offers a magnificent view of the Grand Lac de Laffrey and the Le Grand Serre mountain on the opposite side of the lake. In his historic residence, now called the Olivier Messiaen House , standing on a slope leading to Lac Laffrey, the composer created all his greatest works, starting with Poèmes pour Mi and Les Corps glorieux. It was here that he composed and later rewrote the score of the opera Saint Francis of Assisi . The commune, thanks to the festival "Olivier Messiaen dans le pays de la Meije", lives the memory of the great composer, buried in the village cemetery at the church in Saint-Théoffrey. (Jerzy Stankiewicz) All photos ©Jerzy Stankiewicz 2024 JerzyPhotos Pyrz Josef Pyrz Sculptor Josef Pyrz (1946 - 2016) was born in Gawlowek, Poland but moved to France in 1979. Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod became great friends with the Pyrz family after seeing sculptures by him in churches in Paris and in the Sologne region. Pyrz and his family fell on hard times in the 1980's and Messiaen wanted to help him out by financial support and commissioned a sculpture of St. François d'Assise that was displayed at the Paris Opéra Garnier, during the 1983 performances of the work. 45. Eglise Notre Dame des Bruyères in Neuvy-sur-Barangeon where the 'Messiaens' worshipped in the Sologne region. 46. © M.Ball Sculpture of Messiaen by Josef Pyrz outside Eglise Notre Dame des Bruyères in Neuvy-sur-Barangeon 47. Monument funéraire des grands-parents, oncles et tantes du compositeur Olivier Messiaen. La statue " L'énergie foudroyée" est une reproduction d'une oeuvre de Léon Messiaen, oncle du compositeur qui fut Premier prix de sculpture des Beaux-Arts de Paris, réalisée en 1915 et exposée en 1919 sur les Champs-Elysées. Tomb of grandparents, aunts and uncles of Olivier Messiaen. The statue "The energy struck by lightning" is a reproduction of a work of Leon Messiaen, the composer's uncle who was first prize winner for sculpture des Beaux-Arts in Paris, constructed in 1915 and exhibited in 1919 on the Champs-Elysées. In the churchyard of La Chaise, near Fuligny, graves of the grand parents, uncles and aunts of Olivier Messiaen. Léon Messiaen The house at Fuligny in Aube region where Messiaen would visit his aunts in the 1920's and where he wrote the Préludes, Le Banquet eucharistique for orchestra and the organ work derived from part of it, Le Banquet céleste. Les Offrandes oubilees and Le Tombeau replendissant. This plaque marks the house where Messiaen and his family lived after WW1 from 1918 to 1919. 1 place des Enfants Nantais, Nantes. 48. 49. Messiaen spent his early childhood here at 2 cours Berriat, Grenoble. © Colin Samuels 50. © John Stead 52. 51. © Malcolm Ball La Meiji Copyright exists on all of these photographs. Downloading and electronic reproduction of any image is illegal without the express permission of the copyright owner.

Events, CD & DVD Releases Contact Us First Name Last Name Email Write a message Submit Thanks for submitting! Calendar Go to 2025 Calendar 2024 5 January 2024 7.30pm Jonathan Dimmock, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . St Paul's Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, USA 5 January 2024 7pm David Pipe, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Leeds Cathedral, UK. 6 January 2024 7pm Jeffrey Markinson, organ performs La Nativite du Seigneur . Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, UK. 6 January 2024 9.30pm Pluris Ensemble, Quartet for the End of Time. Theatro Circo, Braga, Portugal. 7 January 2024 3pm Christopher Adler, piano, Canteyodjaya. Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, CA, USA. 7 January 2024 7pm Alaxander Mason, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Lancing College Chapel, Lancing, UK 7 January 2024 5pm Students of the organ class of Prof. Henry Fairs - University of the Arts, La Nativite du Seigneur . St Paul's Church, Zehlendorf, Berlin, Germany. 7 January 2024 6pm Jean-Pierre Lecaudey, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Basle Munster, Basel, Switzerland. 7 January 2024 6.30pm Nicholas Freestone, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Worcester Cathedral, UK. 10-11 January 2024 7 pm Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Les Offrandes oubliees. Helsinki Music Centre, Finland. 12 January 2024 6.30pm Organ students, La Nativite du Seigneur . Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London, UK. 14 January 2024 4.30pm Simon Hogan, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Southwark Cathedral, London, UK. 14 January 2024 6pm Michael Harris, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland. 15 January 2024 7pm Messiaen-Tage Gorlitz Quatuor pour la fin du temps , Ensemble Ecoute, Zgorzelee European Centre for Remembrance, Education and Culture Jencow Stalagu VIII, Zgorzelec, Poland 16 January 2024 20.30 Filarmonica della Scala , Riccardo Chailly, Conductor, Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum , for orchestra. LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura: Sala Teatro Piazza Bernardino Luini, 6, Lugano , Ticino, 6900, Switzerland. 16 January 2024 7.30pm Rolf Hind, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus . Durham Cathedral, UK. 18 January 2024 8pm Orchestre National de Lille/George Benjamin, Les Offrandes oubliees. L'Auditorium, Lille and January 19 , 8pm le phenix, Valenciennes, France. 18 January 2024 8pm Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Jun Markl, Le Tombeau resplendissant . Music Center at Strathmore; January 20th, 8pm Joseph Mayerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore; January 21st, 3pm Joseph Mayerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore. USA. 18-19 January 2024 7.30pm Bilbao Orkestra/Ludovic Morlot, L'Ascension. Euskalduna Conference Centre, Bilbao, Spain. 20 January 2024 7pm On the 100th birthday of Yvonne Loriod, Florian Wiek and Nicolas Hodges, pianos, Visions de l'Amen. Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Stuttgart, Germany. 21 January 2024 2.30pm Kurt Nikkanen, violin, Maria Asteriadou, piano, Zuill Bailey, cello, James Logan, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time . Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall, El Paso, Texas, USA. 26 January 2024 , Mezzo highlights composer Olivier Messiaen ! At 20:30, listen to the Quartet for the End of Time performed by Renaud Capuçon (violin), Pascal Moraguès (cello), Kian Soltani (clarinet) and Hélène Mercier (piano) recorded at the Easter Festival in 2022: https://www.mezzo.tv/.../Messiaen-Quatuor-pour-la-fin-du... At 21h15, relive the concert at the summit Et expspecto resurrectionem mortuorum by Le Balcon under the direction of Maxime Pascal, recorded at 2400 meters altitude facing the Meije glacier during the 2021 Festival: https://www.mezzo.tv/.../Messiaen-%27Et-exspecto... 26 January - 4 February 2024 The Tianjin Julliard School, Tianjin, China Festival Connect 2024 Messiaen and His Legacy. performances - 26 January 2024 7.30pm Le Merle noir; Theme et variations; Poemes pour Mi (Second Book). Tianjin Julliard Concert Hall 29 January 2024 7pm Tianjin Julliard Ensemble Concert, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Tianjin Julliard Tanoto Theatre 1 February 2024 7pm Vocal Chamber Music Concert. Trois Melodies; La mort du nombre . Tianjin Julliard Tanoto Theatre 4 February 2024 3pm Tianjin Orchestra/Ken Lam, L'Ascension . Tianjin Julliard Concert Hall 27 January 2024 7.30pm Helene Mercier, piano, Renaud Capucon, violin, Edgar Moreau, cello, Pascal Moragues, clarinet. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Eglise de Saanen, Geneva, Switzerland. 27 January 2024 8pm Cairo Symphony Orchestra/Ahmed El Saedi, Les Offrandes oubliees. Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, Cairo, Egypt. 28 January 2024 3pm Emma Agnas de Frumerie.violin, Kaysa William-Olsson, cello, Johan Fransen, clarinet, Peter Frilis Johansson, piano. Quartet for the End of Time . The Grunewald Hall, Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden. 29 January 2024 8.00pm Jenny Daviet (soprano) and Alphonse Cemin (piano), Trois Melodies, Chants de terre et de ciel. Also DELBOS: L'Âme en bourgeon . Theatre Athenee 2-4 Sq. de l'Opéra-Louis Jouvet, 75009 Paris, France. 29 January 2024 7.30pm Thomas Rosenkranz, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus . Katzin Concert Hall, Tempe, AZ, USA. 2 February 2024 Shelley Ng, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus. The University of Hong Kong (More information soon) 2 February 2024 12 noon Emerald Sun, clarinet, Hee-Soo Yoon, violin, Rosalind Zhang, cello, Jean-Luc Therrien, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . St Andrew's Church, Toronto, Canada. 2 February 2024 19.30 Itai Navon, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux: La Chouette hulotte, no.5, Catalogue d'oiseaux: L'alouette-lulu, no.6. Pierre Boulez Saal Französische Straße 33 D, Berlin, 10117, Germany. 3 February 2024 4pm Royal Swedish Army Band/Eric Solen Johan Ullen, piano, Oiseaux exotiques . Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden. 4 February 2024 12 noon, Tomeu Moll-Mas, piano Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus .Turina Space, Seville, Spain. 4 February 2024 3.30pm Itxaso Etxeberria & Xi Chen, pianos, Visions de l'Amen . Cloth factory, Trier, Germany. 4 February 2024 8pm Soloists of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Calouste Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal. 6 February 2024 7.30pm Denes Varjon, piano, Helene Pohl, violin, James Campbell, clarinet, Rolf Gjelsten, clarinet, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Nelson Centre of Musical Arts, Nelson, New Zealand. 8 February 2024 7.30pm The UNLV Chamber Music Society faculty members, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Dr Arturo Rando-Grillot Recital Hall, Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. 10 February 2024 7pm PSU Orchestra/Ken Selden Orli Shaham, piano, Oiseaux exotiques. The Menamins Mission Theatre, Portland, USA. 11 February 2024 3pm Elysium Quartet - Tatiana Kolchanova, violin, Collin Oldham, cello, Maria Manzo, piano, Michael Kissinger, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time . The Historic Old Madeleine Church, Portland, Oregon USA. 11 February 2024 11am Helene Douzot, violin, Wytske Holtrop, cello, Himawari Arai, clarinet, Cassandre Marfin, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Cavatine de Namur, Belgium 16 February 2024 7pm Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Matthew Halls. Les Offrandes oubliees . Tampere Hall, Big Hall, Switzerland. 17 February 2024 19.30 Jan Lisiecki Piano, Prélude no. 1: La colombe, Prélude no. 2: Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste, Prélude no. 3: Le nombre léger. Konzerthaus: Großer Saal Vienna , 1030, Austria. 18 February 2024 11am Staatskapelle Berlin/Finnegan Downie Dear, Roger Muraro, Piano, Oiseaux exotiques . Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, Germany. 18 February 2024 18.00 Mishka Rushdie Momen, Alasdair Beatson, Piano, Visions de l'amen: Amen des Anges, des Saints, du chant des oiseaux. Kings Place: Hall One, 90 York Way, London, Greater London, N1 9AG, UK. 8 February 2024 5pm Anthony McGill, clarinet, Stefan Jackiw, violin, Nicholas Canellakis, cell, Michael Stephen Brown, piano. Quartet for the End of Time . West Side Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood, NJ. USA. 22 February 2024 13.00 Alex Norton , Piano, Charles Tam, Piano, Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus: Le baiser de l'enfant Jésus, Regard de l'esprit de joie. Wigmore Hall36 Wigmore Street, London, Greater London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom 24 February 2024 7.30pm Nancy Loo, Mary Wu, Shelley Ng, piano, Vvzela Kook, media artist, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus. Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong, HK. Cancelled due to health condition of pianist Shelley Ng. 24 February 2024 7.30pm Students perform Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jesus, Direction artistique, Cédrice Pescia . Salle Franz Liszt Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Place de Neuve 5, 1204 Genève, Switzerland. 27 February 2024 8.30pm Alena Baeva, violin, Vadym Kholodenko, piano, Fantaisie. Salle Gaveau, Paris, France. 1 - 2 March 2024 8pm Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Matthias Pintscher Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Hicham Berrada, video art, Des Canyons aux etoiles.. . Music Hall, Cincinnati, USA. 4 March 2024 19.30 Wigmore Soloists: Michael Collins, Clarinet, Isabelle van KeulenViolin, Kristina Blaumane, Cello Michael McHale,Piano.Quartet for the End of Time . Wigmore Hall 36 Wigmore Street, London, Greater London, W1U 2BP, UK. 5 March 2024 20.00 Mami SakatoOrgan, L'Ascension (extraits) . Maison de la radio et de la musique: Auditorium116 Avenue du Président Kennedy, Paris, Île-de-France, 75016, France. 7 March 2024 6pm Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay, violin, Karen Stephenson, cello, Marc van der Wiel, clarinet, pianist tba, Quartet for the End of Time . Royal Festival Hall, London. UK. 9 March 2024 7.30pm Jane Hayes, piano, Jose Franch-Ballester, clarinet, Joan Blackman, violin, Ariel Barnes, cello. Quartet for the End of Time. West Vancouver United Church, West Vancouver, Canada. 13 March 2024 8.00pm Jan Lisiecki, Piano, Prélude no. 1: La colombe, Prélude no. 2: Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste, Prélude no. 3: Le nombre léger. Carnegie Hall: Stern Auditorium/Perelman StageNew York City, New York, USA . 15 March 2024 7.00pm Japan Century Symphony Orchestra/Masato Suzuki, Les Offrandes oubliees. Symphony Hall, Osaka, Japan. 15 March 2024 8pm Boston Artists Ensemble - Sharon Leventhal, violin, Jonathan Miller, cello, Thomas Martin, clarinet, Randall Hodgkinson, piano. Quartet for the End of Time. Hamilton Hall, Salem MA, USA. 20 March 2024 7pm Vilnius Choir, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra/Benjamin Haemhouts Vaiva Eidukaityte-Storastiene, piano Motiejus Bazaras, ondes Martenot. Trois Petites Liturgies de la Presence Divine . Great Hall of the Philharmonic, Vilnius, Lithuania. 20 March 2024 7pm Thomas Drury, piano Jack Bogard, violin, Graham Cullen, cello, Charles du Preez.clarinet. Quartet for the End of Time. University of Southern Indiana Performance Center, USA. 23 March 2024 5.00pm Florent BoffardPiano, Tombeau de Paul Dukas, Catalogue d'oiseaux: extracts . Conservatoire et Orchestre de Caen1 Rue du Carel, Caen, Normandy, France. 24 March 2024 5pm Carolina Costa, cello, Joao Sa, violin, Maria Joao Almeida, piano, Tiago Mala, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time . O'Culto da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal. 29 March 2024 7.30pm Jennifer Frautschi, violin, Bixby Kennedy, clarinet, Sophie Shoco, cello, Orion Weiss, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C Robison, Concert Hall, Middlebury, VT, USA. 29 March 2024 3pm Jonathan Stone, violin, Julian Bliss, clarinet, Tim Lowe, cello, James Cheung, piano, Quartet for the End of Time .Temple Church, London, UK 30 March 2024 8pm Orchestre National de France/Cristian Macelaru Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano. Oiseaux exotiques. Auditorium Radio France, Paris, France. 31 March 2024 3pm Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Garrick Ohlsson, piano. Quartet for the End of Time . Jordan Hall, Boston, USA. 1 April 2024 6pm Thomas Layos, organ, Les corps Glorieux . Christ the King Church, Saarbrucken, Germany. 4 April 2024 7.30pm Piers Lane, piano, Preludes . Wigmore Hall, London, UK. 4 April 2024 8.00pm Karol Mossakowski, Organ, Messe de la Pentecôte (excerpts), Le livre du Saint Sacrement: La joie de la grâce. Église du Sacré-Cœur 14b Chem. de la Turbie, Monte-Carlo, 98000, Monaco. 4 April 2024 7.30pm Thomas Rosenkranz, performs VINGT REGARDS SUR L'ENFANT-JESUS. LaMont school of Music, Denver, Colorado, USA. 5 April 2024 8pm Rachel Gauci, piano. Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus - 6 movements. Malta Spring Festival, Teatru Manoel, Valletta, Malta 7 April 2024 7pm Petras Geniusas and Stephen Coombs, pianos, Visions de l'Amen . Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, Vilnius, Lithuania. 8 April 2024 13.15pm Darius Battiwalla, Organ, L'Ascencion: Alleluias sereins d'une âme qui désire le ciel, Transports de Joie. Leeds CathedralLeeds, Yorkshire LS2 8BE. UK. 8 April 2024 7pm Ronen Chamber Ensemble, Quartet for the End of Time. Ruth Lilly Performance Hall, Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, University of Indianapolis, USA. 10 April 2024 7.30pm Gryphon Trio and James Campbell, clarinet. Quartet for the End of Time . Isabel Bader Center, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. 11 April 2024 7.30 pm - 12 April 2024 1.30 pm - 13 April 2024 8.00 pm - 14 April 2024 2.00 pm. Andris Nelsons, dir. Boston Symphony Orch. Yuja Wang, piano Cécile Lartigau, Ondes Martenot. Turangalîla Symphonie . Symphony Hall, Boston, MA. USA. 11 April 2024 , 16 , 18 (6pm) and 14 (3pm), Musical Director, Jonathan Nott, Saint Francis Robin Adams, The Angel Claire de Sevigne, The Leper Ales Briscein, Brother Leo Kartal Karagedik, Brother Masseo Jason Bridges. Saint Francois d'Assise (new production). Grand Theatre Geneva, Switzerland. 11-12 April 2024 8pm 13 7pm Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Hannu Lintu. Le Tombeau respendissant. Philharmonie, Berlin. Germany. 14 April 2024 6pm Manfred Preis, clarinet, Antonis Anissegos, piano, Wolfgang Bender, violin, Mathis Mayr, cello, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Stadhaus, Ulm, Germany 15 April 2024 Time and venue tba, Pierre- Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, piano, Visions de l'Amen . Madrid, Spain. 16 April 2024 20.00 Sean Shibe, Guitar performs O sacrum convivium (arr. Shibe). Philharmonie de Paris: Amphithéâtre de la Cité de la musique 221 Avenue Jean Jaurès, Paris, Île-de-France, 75019, France 17 April 2024 7.30pm Martin Adamek, clarinet, Jeanne-Marie Conquer, violin, Renaud Dejardin. cello, Dimitri Vassilakis, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, UK. 18 April 2024 19.30. Arngunnur Arnadottir, Clarinet performs Quatuor pour la fin du temps: L'Abime des Oiseaux . Harpa Concert Hall: Eldborg - Main Hall Austurbakki 2, Reykjavík , Capital Region, 101, Iceland. 20 April 2024 4pm Julian Schwarz, cello, Sophie Han, violin, Galen Dean Peiskee Jr, piano, Gabrielle Baffoni, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time. Scout Hall, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, USA. 23 April 2024 7.30pm Kaleidescope Collective and Anthony McGill, clarinet. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Milton Court Concert Hall, London, UK. 26 April 2024 7pm The Waldstein Trio, Ben Mason, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time. St Alfege Church, Greenwich, London, UK. 27 April 2024 8pm Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (7 movements), Steinerner Saal Horst Haschek Auditorium, Vienna, Austria. 28 April 2024 6.15pm Orchestra of Padua and Veneto/Marco Angius Ciro Longobardi, piano. , Oiseaux exotiques Padua, Botanical Garden of the University of Padua, Italy. 29 April 2024 Alfonso Gomez, piano. Catalogue d´Oiseaux. Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy University of Music and Theater Leipzig, Germany. 31 April 2024 Alfonso Gomez, piano . Catalogue d´Oiseaux (excerpts). BBVA Foundation in Madrid, Spain. 1 May 2024 time tba Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux. Festspielhaus, St Polten, Austria. 1 May 2024 7.30pm Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra/Jac van Steen, Thomas Kelly, piano Ondist Imsu Choi. Turangalila Symphonie. Royal Festival Hall, London. UK. 4 May 2024 2pm Andjei Maevski, clarinet, Victoria Putterman, violin, Jan Koop, cello, Yoko Toda, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . Scene 2.Norwegian Opera and Ballet, Oslo, Norway. 5 May 2024 6:00 pm. Blåsare ur orkestern Filialen, Katarina Chamber Choir, Hans Vainikainen, conductor, Martin Sturfält, piano, Thomas Bloch, Ondes Martenot, Trois Petites Liturgies de la Presence Divine. St. Catherine's church, Stockholm, Sweden. 6 May 2024 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel . La Chapelle Saint Antoine de Plouezoc'h, Plouezoc'h, France 8 May 2024 7.30pm A lecture recital Speakers/The Revd Calum Zuckert, Youth Chaplain and Tom Winpenny, Assistant Director of Music. The Spirituality of Olivier Messiaen's Music:. St Albans Cathedral, St Albans, UK. 8 May 2024 8pm Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra/Maxime Pascal, L'Ascension . Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany. 8 May 2024 - 12:05 p.m Jorin Sandau performing L'ascension (organ version) Inner city church St. Ludwig, Wilhelminenplatz 9. 64283 Darmstadt, Germany 9 May 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel . Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin, Germany. 9 May 2024 6pm The Ulster Consort, L'Ascension (organ) . St Peter's Cathedral, Belfast, Nth Ireland, UK. 4 May 2024 21.00. Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko. Steven Osborne, piano, Cécile Lartigau, Ondes Martenot, Turangalîla Symphonie . Charles Bronfman Auditorium, Tel Aviv, Israel. 6 May 2024 21.00. Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Pe trenko. Steven Osborne, piano, Cécile Larticgu, Ondes Martenot, Turangalîla Symphonie . Jerusalem Theatre, Jerusalem, Israel. 7 May 2024 21.00. Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Pe trenko. Steven Osborne, piano, Cécile Laricau, Ondes Martenot, Turangalîla Symphonie . Baruch and Ruth Rappaport Center for Art and Culture, Haifa, Israel. 10 May 2024 7.30pm James O'Donnell, organ, Les Corps Glorieux. St James Cathedral, Seattle, USA. 11 May 2024 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de Terre et de Ciel . Teatro di San Carlo, Napoli, Italy . 11 May 2024 11am Momo Kodama, piano performs Le Chocard des Alpes; L'Alouette calandrelle; Le Merle de roche, Le Traquet rieur . Bois de Thouars, Talence, Bordeaux, France. 12 May 2024 9pm Ashley Grote, organ, Night Pipes: Olivier Messiaen Organ Works, L'Apperition de l'Eglise eternelle; Diptyque; L'Ascension. Norwich Cathedral, UK. 13 May 2024 7.30pm Divinity and the Cosmos: A Genderqueer Exploration of Messiaen's Turangalila-Symphonie Alison Norris, Director. Manhatten School of Music, Neidorff Karpati Hall, New York, USA. 17 May 2024 7.30pm Renato Wiedermann, violin, Joonas Pitkanen, cello, Damien Bachmann,clarinet, Stefka Perifanova, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Don Bosco, Basel, Switzerland. 19 May 2024 7.30pm Sitkovetsky PIano Trio & Pablo Barragan, clarinet. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Hamburg International Music Festival, Elbphilharmonie Small Hall, Hamburg, Germany. 19 May 2024 Momo Kodama, piano, performs throughout the day at 8am, 11am, 3pm, 6pm and 10pm, Catalogue d'oiseaux. Grand Theatre, Salon Boireau, Talence, Bordeaux, France. 19 May 2024 5.00pm Ensemble 360, Des canyons aux étoiles: Appel interstellaire. Samuel Worth Chapel The Gatehouse, Cemetery Avenue, Sheffield, S11 8NT UK. 19 May 2024 11.30 Giorgi Gigashvili, Piano, Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus: Le baiser de l'enfant Jésus. Wigmore Hall 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP. UK. 22 May 2024 13.00 Musicians from the Hallé. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Hallé St Peter's 40 Blossom Street, Ancoats, Manchester , North-West, M4 6BF, UK. 23 May 2024 7.30pm Olivier Messiaen - A Lecture/Workshop Dr Peter Johnson talks about La Nativite and other works, and with the opportunity to play and discuss Messiaen's organ music. Christ Church, Malvern, UK. 2 2 May 2024 13.00 Pavel Kolesnikov, Piano,Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus: Regard de l'étoile, Prélude no. 1: La colombe, Prélude . Wigmore Hall 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP. UK. 25 May 2024 8pm Paul Jacobs, organ Livre du Saint Sacrament . Hamburg International Music Festival Elbphilharmonie Great Hall, Hamburg, Germany. 31 May 2024 7.30pm Nicolas Hodges, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus. Wigmore Hall, London, UK 2 June 2024 - 6 & 9 , 5pm Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Audi Jugendchor akademie LauschWerk/ Kent Nagano Anna Prohaska, L'Ange, Johannes Martin Kranzle, Saint Francois, Ioan Hotea, Le Lepreux, Kartal Karagedik, Frere Leon, Davlet Nurgeldiyev, Frere Elie, Alexander Roslavets, Frere Bernard, Saint Francois d'Assise (staged). Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany. 2 June 2024 4pm The Apollo Orchestra/David Chan, Les Offrandes oubliees . Cultural Arts Center, Silver Springs, MD, USA. 3 June 2024 20.00 Yuja Wang, piano. Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus: Le baiser de l'enfant Jésus, Regard de l'esprit de joie. Palau de la Música: Sala de ConcertsC/ Palau de la Música, 4-6, Barcelona, Catalonia, 08003, Spain 5 June 2024 7.30pm Raphael Wallfisch, cello, Simon Blendis, violin, Emma Johnson, clarinet, John Lenehan, piano. Quartet for the End of Time . Swaledale Festival.St Andrew's Church, Aysgarth, Yorks, UK. 8 June 2024 3.30pm Gweneth Ann Rand, soprano, Simon Lepper, piano, Rachel Jones, artwork, Harawi . Aldeburgh Festival Britten Studio, Snape, Suffolk. UK. 9 June 2024 (11am), 10th & 11th (7pm), Staatskapelle Dresden/Nicholas Collon, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,piano, Cynthia Millar, Ondes Martenot. Turangalila Symphonie . Semperoper, Dresden, Germany. 10 June 2024 19.30 Yuja Wang, piano. Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus: Le baiser de l'enfant Jésus. Musikverein: Großer SaalMusikvereinsplatz 1, Vienna, 1010, Austria. 10 June 2024 8pm Amelie Bertlwieser, clarinet, Daniele Di Renzo, violin, Se-Eun Hyun, cello, Elia Tagliavia, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Beethoven House, Bonn, Germany. 12 June 2024 6pm Alexander Mason, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Lancing College Chapel, West Sussex, UK. 13 June 2024 11:45am. Royal Academy of Music, in the David Josefowitz Recital Hall, The Art of Transcription , including the Final movement of Saint François d'Assise in an arrangement for piano, Julian Chan, piano. 2PM ANGELA BURGESS RECITAL HALL, Audiovisual artist Kathy Hinde is inspired by behaviours and phenomena found in nature, in performances combining sound, sculpture, image and light. She and four Academy pianists, Zara Williams, Sherri Lun, Minsu Seo and Xiaowen Shang present interactive improvisations, live mixing, and collaborations fused with imagery: from Messiaen’s recently reconstructed La Fauvette Passerinette  and original music, to works by Chopin, Debussy and Ligeti. Royal Academy of Music, London UK. 13 June 2024 (8.30pm), 16th (12.30pm) Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra/Jose Luis Castillo Carlos Gutierrez, piano, Couleurs de la cite celeste. Degollado Theatre, Jalisco, Mexico 14 June 2024 3pm Gweneth Ann Rand, soprano, Simon Lepper, piano, Rachel Jones, artwork, Poemes pour Mi; Trois melodies . Aldeburgh Festival, Britten Studio, Snape, Suffolk, UK. 14 June 2024 7.30pm RNCM Wind Orchestra/Mark Heron Joel Banerjee, piano, Oiseaux exotiques. RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester, UK. 14 June 2024 7.30pm Tom Bell, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrement. Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, UK. 16 June 2024 7pm Symphoniker Hamburg/Sylvain Cambreling David Kadouch, piano, Nathalie Forget, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany. 17 June 2024 4pm Gweneth Ann Rand, soprano, Allyson Devenish, piano, Nick Pritchard, tenor, Daniel Pioro, violin, Chant de terre et de ciel; La Mort du nombre . Aldeburgh Festival, Britten Studio, Snape, Suffolk, UK. 17 June 2024 7.30pm BBC Singers/Sofi Jeannin, Cinq rechants . Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape, Suffolk, UK. 17 June 2024 7pm Symphoniker Hamburg/Sylvain Cambreling David Kadouch, piano, Nathalie Forget, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Elbphilharm onie Great Hall, Hamburg, Germany. 20 June 2024 11.00. Rolf Hind, piano. Catalogue d'oiseaux: Le loriot, no.2 . Britten Studio, Snape Bridge, Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP, UK. 20 June 2024 9.30pm Mia Cooper, violin, Martin Johnson, cello, Fergal Caulfield, piano and organ, John Finucane, clarinet, Diptyque; Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Pipeworks Festival Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland. 22 June 2024 7.30pm BBC Philharmonic/Mark Wigglesworth, Un Sourire . The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. UK. 22 June 2024 8pm Mark Simpson, clarinet, Juliette Roos, violin, Eliza Millett, cello, Joseph Havlat, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Smorgaschord Festival, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, UK 22 June 2024 12.30 Benjamin Alard, Les corps glorieux, for solo organ (Selección), Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité: Méditation VII Parroquia de Nuestro SalvadorPlaza del Salvador, Granada, Andalusia, 18010, Spain 23 June 2024 3pm Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra/Myung-Whun Chung Keigo Mukawa, piano, Takashi Harada, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie . Bunkamura Orchard Hall, Tokyo, Japan. 24 June 2024 7pm T okyo Philharmonic Orchestra/Myung-Whun Chung Keigo Mukawa, piano, Takashi Harada, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie .Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan. 25 June 2024 10.00pm Tom Bell, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrement. Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, UK. 26 June 2024 7 pm Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra/Myung-Whun Chung Keigo Mukawa, piano, Takashi Harada, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Japan. 27 June 2024 7.30pm Shirley Brill, clarinet, Albrecht Menzel, violin, David Stromberg, cello, Florian Uhlig, Duplex piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Elbphilharmonie: Kleiner Saal, Hamburg, Germany. 28 June 2024 8pm Gregorio Benitez, piano. Catalogue d'oiseaux (7 excerpts). Salle Claude-Leveillee - Place des Arts, Montreal, Canada. 30 June 2024 4pm Copland House Ensemble, Quartet for the End of Time. Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College State University of New York, NYC USA. 1 July 2024 6pm Lecture: Messiaen and his works by Adam Johnson, Pianist and Conductor The Lit & Phil, Newcastle Upon Tyne,UK. 5 July 2024 7.30pm Shanghai Philharmonic Orch, Zhang Liang, conductor, Zou Xiang, piano, Cynthis Millar, Ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie (Chinese Mainland Premiere) . Shanghai Oriental Art Center Concert Hall, Pudong New District, Shanghai, China. 9 July 2024 7pm Hai-Xin Wu, violin, Abraham Feder, cello, Jack Walters, clarinet, Zhihua Tang, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Genesis of Ann Arbor, MI 48104, United States. 10 July 2024 Alfonso Gomez, piano. Petites esquisses d´Oiseaux. Freiburg University of Music. Freiburg, Germany. 11 July 2024 8pm Quynh Nguyen, piano, Alan Kay, clarinet, Zvi Plesser, cello, Carmit Zori, violin, Kaufman. Quartet for the End of Time . Music Center, New York, USA. 12 July 2024 19.30 South Cotswold Big Sing Group, O sacrum convivium. Choristers of Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester , United Kingdom. 14 July 2024 3pm Delphine Trio and Maja Horvat, violin, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Buxton International Festival, St John's Church, Buxton, UK. 14 July 2024 3pm James Campbell, clarinet and Gryphon Trio, Quartet for the End of Time . St John's Elora, Wellington, ON Canada. 18 July 2024 7.30pm. Jan Lisiecki, piano. Prélude no. 1: La colombe, Prélude no. 2: Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste, Prélude no. 3: Le nombre léger . Wigmore Hall36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP. UK. 18 July 2024 8pm Michael Rusinek, clarinet, Bing Wang, violin, Darrett Adkins, cello, Robert Spano, piano, Quartet for the End of Time. Aspen Music Festival, Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, CO, USA. 26E EDITION DU FESTIVAL MESSIAEN AU PAYS DE LA MEIJE : YVONNE LORIOD À L’HONNEUR In 2024, the Messiaen Festival in Pays de la Meije will highlight a more confidential aspect of Yvonne Loriod's career, that of a composer. Full programme details available from April 11th here . 20 July 2024 - 6:00 p.m. Momo Kodama, piano Catalogue d'oiseaux (excerpts) La Rousserolle effarvatte, L’Alouette calandrelle, La Bouscarle, Le Merle de roche, La Buse variable, Le Courlis cendré. Church of Saint-Théoffrey, Petichet, France. 21 July 2024 9.00pm Roger Muraro, piano, Florent Boffard, piano, Trois pièces pour deux pianos 1. La Martelée 2. Gamelhang 3. La Murmurée (World Premiere) Yvonne Loriod. Visions de l’Amen. Eglise de La Grave, France. 22 July 2024 5.00pm Laura Holm, soprano, Jonas Vitaud, piano, Harawi , extraits : 1. La Ville qui dormait 4. Doundou Tchil, 12. Dans le noir. Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus , extrait : Regard du silence. Eglise de La Grave, France. 22 July 2024 9.00pm CRÉATIONS YVONNE LORIOD . Ensemble TM+ Angèle Chemin, soprano, Julien Le Pape, piano, Nathalie Forget, ondes Martenot, Florent Jodelet, percussions, Anne-Cécile Cuniot, flûte. Grains de Cendre, Trois Mélopées africaines (World Premiere) Yvonne Loriod . Huit Prélude s pour piano, extraits : La colombe, Chant d’extase dans un paysage triste. Le Merle Noir , Vocalise-Étude. Eglise de La Grave,France. 22 July 2024 7.30pm O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra; Hugo Ticciati violin; Fleur Barron mezzo-soprano; Julian Arp cello; Alasdair Beatson piano, Harawi (Montagnes) . Wigmore Hall, Wigmore Street, London. UK 24 July 2024 5.00pm Aline Piboule, piano. Pièce pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas, Prélude, Cloches d’angoisse et larmes d’adieu. Eglise de La Grave, France. 25 July 2024 5.00pm Spirito de Nicole Corti , O Sacrum Convivium. Église de Saint-Chaffrey, France. 26 July 2024 5.00pm Orlando Bass, piano, La Fauvette des jardins . Eglise de La Grave,France. 27 July 2024 9.00pm Jean-François Heisser, piano, Petites esquisses d’oiseaux .Eglise de La Grave,France. 28July 2024 9.00pm François-Frédéric Guy, piano, Regard du Père, Noël, Regard du Fils sur le Fils , extrait des Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. Eglise de La Grave,France. 27 July to 3 August 2024 The Dartington Summer School Foundation, Cataloguing Birds Composition for Piano Rolf Hind, director. This course - for pianists, composers and those that do both - will be a chance to look deeply at some of the Messiaen Catalogue pieces with Rolf Hind and Laurence Rose, writer, composer and bird expert.Newton Abbot, Devon, UK. 30 July 2024 7.30pm BBC Proms, BBC Philharmonic/Nicholas Collon Steven Osborne, piano Cynthia Millar, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Royal Albert Hall, London, UK. 30 July 2024 21.30pm Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux: Le Merle bleu . no.3Rector's PalacePred dvorom 3, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, 20 000, Croatia. 31 July 2024 11.00 Michael BarenboimViolin, Julien QuentinPiano, Theme et Variations . Eglise de VerbierVerbier, Valais, 1936, Switzerland. 1 August 2024 10.00am Tom Bell, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrement. Three Choirs Festival/Pershore Abbey, Worcestershire, UK. 7 August 2024 7.30pm Tom Bell, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrement. St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 7 August 2024 7.30 pm Ian Hockley, organ, Diptyque at Holy Trinity Church Folkestone, Kent. UK. 7 August 2024 11am and 6pm Nina Reynaud, clarinet, Sarah Jegon-Sageman, violin, Robin de Talhouet, cello, Novak Defrance, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Festival International de Piano de la Roque d'Antheron - Centre Marcel Pagnol, France. 8 August 2024 7.30pm Piers Lane, piano, Huit Preludes. Stoller Hall, Chethams, Manchester, UK. 8 & 10 August 2024 4pm Orli Shaham, violin, Per Rostad, cello, Dimitri Atapine David Finckel Sihao He, clarinet, Jose Franch-Ballester, piano,Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Stent Family Hall, Atherton CA, USA. 14 August 2024 9.45pm Anna Hashimoto, clarinet, David Jurwitz, violin, Adrian Bradbury, cello, David Gordon, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . Burton Bradstock Festival (Dorset), St Mary's Church, Dorset UK. 16 August 2024 7.30pm Thomas Rosenkranz, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus. Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, YST Concert Hall, Singapore. 24 August 2024 9pm Ensemble K : Elodie Haas.violin, Therese Bussiere-Meyer, cello, Ayar Espinoza, clarinet, Romary Arnould, piano, Jean-Christopher Roelens, visual artist. The Color of the Quartet for the End of Time. Breitenbach, Bas-Rhin, France. 25 August 2024 3pm Juditha Haeberlin, violin, Udo Grimm, clarinet, Ralf-Andreas Sturzinger, cello, Franck-Thomas Link, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Hamburg, Germany. 25 August 2024 2.30pm Jay Shankar, clarinet, Jeanyl Kim, violin, Peter Thomas, cello, Yaniv Dinur, piano, Quartet for the End of Time. Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival, The Great Hall at the Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, USA. 28 August 2024 8pm Festival Ravel, Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel . Urrugne, Church of Saint Vincent, France. 30 August 2024 7pm Daniel Midgal, violin, Erik Wahlgren, cello, Kjell Fageus, clarinet, Love Dervinger, piano, Veronica Janunger, recitation. Quartet for the End of Time . Introduction at 6pm in the Main Hall. Umea Culture Days Teg's Church, Umea, Sweden. 1 September 2024 5pm Tom Bell, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrament, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, St Edmundsbury, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. 5 September 2024 7pm Kristian Chong, piano and Friends, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne, Australia. 8 September 2024 6pm Juditha Haeberlin, violin, Udo Grimm, clarinet, Ralf-Andreas Sturzinger, cello, Franck-Thomas Link, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Hamburg, Germany. 11 September 2024 1.05pm Dale Piano Trio, Elizabeth Drew, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time . Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, UK. 12 September 2024 7.30pm Frida Ansaldi, violin, Kathya Galleguillos, clarinet, Elisa Sadaba, cello, Andres Maupoint, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . International Festival of Contemporary Music 2024 GAM Center, Universidad de Chile. Santiago, Chile. 12 September 2024 1:30pm Catherine Hudgins, clarinet; Katie Wolfe, violin; William Rounds, cello; Vytas Baksys, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Lunt Hall, Falmouth Maine, USA. 13 September 2024 6pm Catherine Hudgins, clarinet; Katie Wolfe, violin; William Rounds, cello; Vytas Baksys, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps. The French Library, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 14 September 2024 7pm Catherine Hudgins, clarinet; Katie Wolfe, violin; William Rounds, cello; Vytas Baksys, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps. West Stockbridge Congregational Church, West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, USA. 14 September 2024 7.30pm Neue Musik Ensemble Aachen - Regina Pastuszyk, clarinet, Po-Fan Chen, violin, Cornelia Briese, cello, Theo Pauss, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Engelbert-Humperdinck Musikschule, Sieburg, Germany. 14 September 2024 9am, 4.30pm, 8pm Costanza Principe, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux. Settembre Musica, Rotunda Della Besana, Milan, Italy. 14 September 2024 7.30pm Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Michael Francis Joseph Moog, piano, Thomas Bloch, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie . Ludwigshafen, Pfalzbau,.Concert Hall, Germany. 15 September 2024 4pm Catherine Hudgins, clarinet; Katie Wolfe, violin; William Rounds, cello; Vytas Baksys, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Grace Congregational Church, Rutland, Vermont, USA. 16 September 2024 6pm Katrien Baerts, soprano, Costanza Principe, piano, Harawi. Settembre Musica, Auditorium Grattacielo Intesa Sanpaolo, Milan, Italy. 17 September 2024 7.30pm Wigmore Hall are sorry to announce that due to illness Jonny Greenwood (ondes martenot, tanpura, electric guitar) is no longer able to take part in this concert. The programme and line-up of artists for this concert have therefore changed. Wigmore Hall, London, UK. 17 September 2024 8pm Karajan Acadmie der Berliner Philharmoniker/Sir Simon Rattle Kirill Gerstein, piano, Stefan Dohr, horn, Des Canyons aux etoiles... .Berlin Festival, Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany. 18 September 2024 7pm XIII International Sacred Festival of Bogota, Mac McClure and Maria Jose Bustos, pianos, Visions de l'Amen . Leon De Greiff Auditorium, Universidad Nacional, Bogota, Romania. 19-20 September 2024 7.30pm Gewandhausorchester/Tugan Sokhiev, Les Offrandes oubliees . Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany. 18 September 2024 7.30pm Stefan Latzko, violin, Maximilian Krome, clarinet, Raphael Zinner, cello, Artem Yasynskyy, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Kammer-Philharmonie, Gesamtschule, Bremen, Germany. 19 September 2024 7.30pm Stefan Latzko, violin, Maximilian Krome, clarinet, Raphael Zinner, cello, Artem Yasynskyy, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Lucia-Schafer-Saal, Rotenburg, Germany. 20 September 2024 8.00 pm Stefan Latzko, violin, Maximilian Krome, clarinet, Raphael Zinner, cello, Artem Yasynskyy, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. KulturBuhne, Blassum, Germany. 21 September 2024 7.00 pm Stefan Latzko, violin, Maximilian Krome, clarinet, Raphael Zinner, cello, Artem Yasynskyy, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Buthmanns Hof, Fischerhade, Germany. 20 September 2024 6pm Olivier Messiaen: Writing an Old Life Anew by Robert Sholl . Royal Academy of Music, Great Hall, London, UK. 20 September 2024 7.30pm Julia Bullock, piano, Conor Hanick, piano, Harawi . Hancher Auditorium, Iowa City, USA. 26 September 2024 7pm Marlies Wiesser, clarinet, Sebastian Gurtler, violin, Florian Berner, cello, Arian Haering, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Fremde Erde - Festival Verfernte Musik, Sala Terrena (Stift Kaserne), Vienna, Austria. 27 September 2024 8.00 American Modern Opera Company, Harawi , Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA, USA. 1 October 2024 7.30pm Julie Bullock, soprano, Conor Hanick, piano, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schreiber, choreographer/dancers, Zack Winakur, director, Harawi. The Wallis, Beverly Hills, CA, USA. 4 October 2024 8pm Julai Bullock, soprano, Conor Hanick, piano, Babbi Jean Smith, choreographer/dancer, Or Schraiber, dancer/choreographer, Harawi. Campbell Hall, Santa Barbara, USA. 5 October 2024 1pm Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (excerpts) - Le Traquet Stapazin; La chouette hulotte; L'alouette calandrelle; La bourscarle; Le Loriot; Le Merle bleu. Concert Hall, Shizuoka, Japan 6 October 2024 12 noon Reinis Zarins, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus . Kings Place, Hall One, London London Piano Festival. Pre-concert Talk on the work in Hall Two at 11am by Stephen Johnson. 6 October 2024 4.30pm West Forest Sinfonia/Philip Ellis, Les Offrandes oubliees. The Great Hall, University of Reading, UK. 9 October 2024 8.30pm 15th International Pharos Contemporary Music Festival, George X Fu, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus . The Shoe Factory, Nicosia, Cyprus. 9 October 2024 8pm Octandre Ensemble, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Little Missenden Festival, Little Missenden Church, UK. 10 October 2024 7.30pm Gregorio Benitez, piano Catalogue d'oiseaux (excerpts) . Reinberger Chamber Hall, Severance Music Center, Cleveland, OH, USA 13 October 2024 3pm Hans-Ola Ericsson, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrament. The Great Hall, Gothenburg, Sweden. 13 October 2024 7.30pm James O'Donnell, organ, Les Corps Glorieux . Great Organ Music at Yale Woolsey Hall, New Haven, CT, USA. 15 October 2024 7pm Oszkar Varga, violin, Flora Matuska, cello, Peter Szucs, clarinet, Imre Dani, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Solti Hall, Liszt Academy, Budapest, Hungary. 21 October 2024 , 5:15pm Oxford International Song Festival. Peter Asimov, Claire Ward, Sirius Chau & JongSun Woo, present Grains de Cendre (version for soprano, flute and piano) by YVONNE LORIOD . Holywell Music Room, Holywell St, Oxford OX1 3SB, UK. 17 October 2024 19.30 Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, Oraison (arr. Dudok Quartet), Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Milton Court Concert HallSilk Street, Barbican, London, Greater London, UK. 21 October 2024 7.30pm Kristoffer Hyldig, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus . Kulturcenter Mantzins, Birkerod, Denmark. 26 October 2024 3,30pm Hans-Ola Ericsson, organ, Livre du Saint Sacrament. Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, Montreal, Canada. 27 October 2024 1pm NEW WAVE, Quartet for the End of Time . Bloomsbury Festival, City Lit, Recital Room, London, UK. 1 November 2024 (7pm), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra/Tarmo Peltokoski, Le Tombeau resplendissant . Riga, Hanzasiela 16a 2 November 2024 (5pm), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra/Tarmo Peltokoski, Le Tombeau resplendissant . , Cesis, Raunasiela 12, Latvia. 1 November 2024 7.30pm Orquesta Sinfonica de Tenerife/Antony Hermus, Les Offrandes oubliees . Auditorio de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. 1 November 2024 7.30pm The Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, Quartet for the End of Time .The Great Barn, Hellens, Much Marcle, Malverns, UK. 2 November 2024 11am Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (8 excerpts). Konzerthaus, Kleiner Saal, Berlin, Germany. 3 November 2024 11am Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (7 excerpts) . Konzerthaus, Kleiner Saal, Berlin, Germany. 4 November 2024 7pm Julius Engelbach, clarinet, Ido Ramot, piano, Coco Tomita, violin, Mon-Puo Lee, cello, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Schloss Stadthagen Stadthagen, Germany. 4 November 2024 7pm Julius Engelbach, clarinet, Coco Tomita, violin, Mon-Puo Lee, cello, Ido Ramot, piano. Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Schloss Stadthagen, Stadthage, Germany. 4 November 2024 7 pm, Anna Molnár (voice), László Borbély (piano), Harawi (Chant d'amour et de mort) - live concert. Hungarian Radio Dohnányi Music Centre, Ferenc Sapszon Hall Budapest, Hungary. 6 -7 November 2024 Orchestre de Paris/Klaus Makela, L'Ascension. Philharmonie, Paris, France. 7 November 2024 (7.30pm), 8 (12 noon), 9 (8pm), Seattle Symphony/David Afkham, Les Offrandes oubliees . Benaroya Hall, S Mark Taper Auditorium, Seattle, USA. 9 November 2024 Cagdas Soylar, piano presents a recital that will highlight and feature musical excerpts from her book Messiaen's Musical Language on the Holy Child . Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus (Je dors, mais mon coeur veille and Regard des Anges). Emory University Performing Arts studio. 1804 N Decatur Rd, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. 9 November 2024 6 pm, Anna Molnár (voice), László Borbély (piano), Harawi (Chant d'amour et de mort), live concert and recording. ProVibe Studio Törökbálint, Hungary. 10 November 2024 6pm Martin Lucker, organ Christoph Werkhausen, readings (515pm Introduction to the work with Martin Lucker "Messiaen's Musical Language"), Meditations sur le Mystere de la Saints Trinite. St Katherinen Church. Frankfurt, Germany. 14 November 2024 7pm and November 16th, 2024 3pm Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra/Ryan Bancroft. Les Offrandes oubliees . Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden. 15 November 2024 7pm Estonian National Symphony Orchestra/Olari Elts, Les Offrandes oubliees. Estonia Concert Hall, Tallinn, Estonia. 17 November 2024 6pm Juditha Haeberlin, violin, Udo Grimm, clarinet, Ralf-Andreas Sturzinger, cello, Franck -Thomas Link, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. The clinker brick factory of the former Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, Hamburg, Germany. 17 November 2024 11am Beethoven Orchester Bonn/Dirk Kaftan Tamara Stefanovich, piano, Thomas Bloch, ondes Martenot. Turangalila Symphonie. Opernhaus Bonn, Germany. 17 November 2024 4.30pm Marcus Wibberley, organ, Les Corps Glorieux. St Paul's Cathedral, London, UK. 17 November 2024 3pm Nathan Carterette and Neil Krzeski, piano, Visions de l'Amen . Voxman Concert Hall, Iowa City, USA. 18 November 2024 7.30pm Peter Donohoe, piano, Canteyodjaya. Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, The Bradshaw Hall, Birmingham, UK. 21 November 2024 8pm Orchestre National de France/Philippe Jordan, Les Offrandes oubliees. Auditorium Radio France, Paris, France. 22-26 October 2024 the 4th edition of the International Olivier Messiaen Competition! Auditorium-Orchestre national de Lyon, France. Details here . 22 November 2024 (8pm), 23 (7pm), Minnesota Orchestra/Thomas Sondergard, Les Offrandes oubliees. Orchestra Hall, Minnesota, USA. 22 November 2024 8pm Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (excerpts). Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall New York, USA. 25 November 2024 7.30pm Kalle Randalu, piano, Julius Kircher, clarinet, Laurent Albrecht Breuninger, violin, Bernhard Lorcher, cello, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. University of Music, Vette-Saal, Karlsruhe, Germany 26 November 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano and Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de Terre et de Ciel. Bourgie Hall, Montreal, Canada. 27 November 2024 6pm uditha Haeb erlin, violin, Udo Grimm, clarinet, Ralf-Andreas Sturzinger, cello, Franck -Thomas Link, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Hall 424, Hamburg, Germany. 28 November 2024 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory, Toronto, Canada. 28 November 2024 7.30pm Trio Wanderer and Michael Collins, clarinet, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge, UK. 29 November 2024 8.15pm Het Collectief, Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Nieuw Kerk, The Hague, Netherlands. 30 November 2024 7.30pm Orchestre Symphonique de L'Isle/ Hubert Tanq#guay-Labrosse, L'Ascension. Oscar Peterson Hall, Montreal, Canada. 30 November 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. The Chan Center, Vancouver, Canada. 2 December 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. McPherson Playhouse, Victoria, Canada 3 December 2024 20.15 Janine JansenViolin, Denis KozhukhinPiano, Theme et Variations . oncertgebouw: Main Hall Concertgebouwplein 10, Amsterdam, North Holland, 1071 LN, Netherlands. 3 December 2024 20.15 Anna ProhaskaSoprano, Julius DrakePiano, Harawi - chant d'amour et de mort: Bonjour toi, colombe verte . Recital Hall Concertgebouwplein 10, Amsterdam, North Holland, 1071 LN, Netherlands. 4 December 2024 1.10pm Joshua Ryan, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. St Michael and All Angels, Croydon, UK. 5 December 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. The Conrad Prebys Performing Center, The Baker-Baum Center Concert Hall, La Jolla, California, USA. 5 December 2024 7pm Laszlo Borbely, piano, Petites esquisses d'oiseaux. Dohnanyi Erno Music Center, Great Hall, Budapest, Hungary. 6 December 2024 7pm Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (excerpts). Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, Australia. 7 December 2024 4.30pm Joshua Ryan, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Hampstead Parish Church, London, UK 8 December 2024 3.00pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY USA. 9 December 2024 1pm Jeremiah Stephenson, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. St Michael's Cornhill, London, UK. 10 December 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Perelman Theater, Philadelphia, USA. 12 December 2024 19.30 BBC Philharmonic, Ludovic Morlot Conductor, Martin Owen French horn, Paul Patrick, xylorimba, Tim Williams, glockenspiel Steven Osborne Piano. Des canyons aux étoiles... Bridgewater Hall Manchester , North-West, M2 3WS, United Kingdom. 12 December 2024 7.30pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Park Avenue Armory, Veterans Room, New York, USA. 14 December 2024 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Southam Hall, National Arts Centre, Ottowa, Canada. 14 December 2024 6pm Paul Dean, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur, at St Michael’s Church, Highgate, London, UK. 15 December 2024 The Sydney Youth Orchestra/Stanley Dodds soli tba, Turangalila Symphonie. Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia. 15 December 2024 3.30pm Organists and Organ Scholars, University of St Andrews, La Nativite du Seigneur .St Salvator's Chapel, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. 15 December 2024 4.30pm Tom Wimpenny, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . St Albans Cathedral, UK. 15 December 2024 6.30pm Jonathan Hope, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Gloucester Cathedral, UK. 15 December 2024 6.30pm Jonathan Allsopp, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Southwell Minster, UK . 15 December 2024 5pm Organist tba, La Nativite du Seigneur. St Paul's Cathedral, London. UK 16 December 2024 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de terre et de ciel. Library of Congress, Washington, USA. 16 December 2024 7pm Paul Walton, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, UK. 17 December 2024 6.30pm Piers Maxim, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Great Malvern Priory, UK 19-20 December 2024 6.30pm Bern Symphony Orchestra/James Conlon Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Oiseaux exotiques . Casino Bern, Salon Bernois, Bern, Switzerland. 20 December 2024 8.15pm Ralp van Raat, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus . Orgelpark, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 21 December 2024 8.15pm Steven Knieriem, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur . Orgelpark, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 22 December 2024 3pm Gerard Brooks, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London, UK. 22 December 2024 2.15pm Ralph van Raat, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus. Galarie Marzee, Nijmegen, Netherlands. 22 December 2024 2pm Anne-Marie McDermott, piano and Musicians of the New World Symphony, Quartet for the End of Time. New World Center, Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall, Miami, Florida, USA. 23 December 2024 3pm Carl-Axel Dominique, piano, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jesus. Stockholm Cathedral, Sweden. 29 December 2024 4pm Martin Blomquist, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Revelation Church, Hagersten, Sweden 2025 2025 3 January 2025 1pm Charles Wooler, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Emmanuel Church, Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield, UK. 4 January 2025 7pm Jeffrey Markinson, organ La Nativite du Seigneur, Lincoln Cathedral, UK. 6 January 2025 7.30pm Martyn Rales. organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Lichfield Cathedral, UK. 8 January 2025 8.15pm Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy, pianos, Visions de l'Amen . Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 8 January 2025 6.30pm Martin Ford, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. The Guard's Chapel, London, UK 10 January 2025 time tba. William Campbell, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Leeds International Organ Festival, Leeds Cathedral, UK. 12 January 2025 11am and 13 January 8pm Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg/Kent Nagano Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano, Couleurs de la cite celeste. Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany. 13 January 2025 1pm David Pipe, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Huddersfield Town Hall, Huddersfield, UK. 14 January 2025 4.30pm Simon Hogan, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Southwark Cathedral, London, UK. 15 - 16 January 2025 7pm Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Nicholas Collon Steven Osborne, piano, Cynthia Millar, ondes Martenot. Turangalila Symphonie . Helsinki Music Centre, Concert Hall, Helsinki, Finland. 16 January 2025 (8.15pm) & 19 January (2.15pm), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Simone Young, L'Ascension . Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 18 January 2025 8pm Barbara Hannigan, soprano, Bertrand Chamayou, piano, Chants de Terre et de Ciel. Cite de la Musique, Paris, France. 19 January 2025 5pm Claudia Grinnell, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. 21 January 2025 7.30pm Gryphon Trio with James Campbell, clarinet. Quartet for the End of Time . Stude Concert Hall, Brockman Music and Performing Center, Houston, Texas, USA. 26 January 2025 11am Hamburg Symphony Orchestra/Gergely Madras Magdalena Kozena, soprano. Poemes pour Mi . Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany. 30 January 2025 7pm William Grynszpan.violin, Armand Witold Fessard, clarinet, Benjamin Grynszpan, cello, Sylwia Orzechowska, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Concert Reading: Olivier Messiaen and Primo Levi. Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium. 31 January 2025 7.30pm CKW Trio, Ricardo Morales, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time. Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, USA. 31 January 2025 8.15pm Brussels Philharmonic, Vlaams Radiokoor/Ilan Volkov, O sacrum convivium; Les Offrandes oubliees. Flagey, Studio 4, Brussels, Belgium. 1 February 2025 9pm Peter Dyke, organ, La Nativite du Seigneur. Hereford Cathedral, UK. 2 February 2025 11.00 Raphaëlle Moreau Violin, Raphaël Sévère Clarinet, Edgar Moreau Cello, David Kadouch Piano, Quartet for the End of Time . Théâtre des Champs-Élysées 15 avenue Montaigne, Paris , Île-de-France, 75008, France. 2 February 2025 3pm Robert Chen, violin, John Sharp, cello, Stephen Williamson, clarinet, Umi Garrett, piano, Quartet for the End of Time . Mandel Hall at University of Chicago, USA. 7 February 2025 8pm Belgian National Orchestra/Fabien Gabel, Les Offrandes oubliees . Henry Le Boeuf Hall, Brussels, Belgium. 7 February 2025 7pm Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Hannu Lintu Paavali Jumpanen, piano, Oiseaux exotiques. Helsinki Music Centre, Concert Hall, Finland. 8 February 2025 7pm Belgian National Orchestra/Fabien Gabel, Les Offrandes oubliees . Namur Concert Hall, Namur, Belgium. 13 February 15 and 18 2025 7.30pm New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Karina Canellakis, Les Offrandes oubliees . David Geffen Hall, New York, USA. 6 March 2025 7.30pm BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Daniel Cohen, Les Offrandes oubliees . BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, Wales, UK. 13 March 2025 7pm Trio Zimbalist and Dionysis Grammenos, clarinet, Quartet for the End of Time. St Martin in the Fields, London, UK. 20 March 2025 2pm New Japan Philharmonic/Joe Hisaishi Hayato Sumino, piano, Takashi Harada.ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Sumida Triphony Hall, Tokyo, Japan. 20 March 2025 7.30pm Jan Lisiecki, piano, Preludes . Herbst Theatre, San Francisco and March 21st, 2025 7.30pm The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, San Diego, USA. 22 March 2025 2pm New Japan Philharmonic/Joe Hisaishi Hayato Sumino, piano, Takashi Harada.ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Suntory Hall, Tokyo, Japan. 26 March 2025 7pm Brussels Philharmonic/Patrick Hahn, Les Offrandes oubliees. KlaraFestival Brussels, Flagey, Brussels, Belgium. 28 March 2025 8pm Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia/Jose Trigueros, Les Offrandes oubliees . Palacio de la Opera de A Coruna, Coruna, Spain. 29 March 2025 7.30pm Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich, pianos, Visions de l'Amen . Mendelssohn-Saal, Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany. 5 April 2025 15.00 Janine Jansen Violin, Denis Kozhukhin Piano, Theme et Variations pour violin et piano, Konserthuset Stockholm: Stora SalenHötorget 8, Stockholm, 10387, Sweden. 5 April 2025 3pm Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra/Joel Sandelson Kathrin Lorenzen, soprano, Poemes pour Mi . Gothenburg Concert Hall, Gothenburg, Sweden. 5 April 2025 8pm Redwood Symphony Orchestra/Eric Kujawsky Lisa DiTiberis, flute, Peter Stahl. oboe, Ellis Verosub, cello, Delphean Quan, piano, Concert a quatre . Canada College Main Theater, Redwood City, CA, USA. 6 April 2025 6pm Ben Aldren, clarinet, Ivana Jasova, violin, Marcus Michelin, cello, Ida Mo Schanche, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Fartein Valen, Stavanger Concert Hall, Stavanger, Norway. 6 April 2025 7pm Alina Ibragimova, violin, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, cello, Matthew Hunt, clarinet, Cedric Tiberghien, piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, UK. 7 April 2025 20.00 Janine Jansen Violin, Denis Kozhukhin Piano, Theme et Variations pour violin et piano,Philharmonie de Paris: Grande salle Pierre Boulez221 Avenue Jean Jaurès, Paris, Île-de-France, 75019, France. 13 April 2025 2.45pm Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra/Sian Edwards Joanna MacGregor, piano, Cynthia Millar, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie . Concert Hall, Brighton, UK. 20 April 2025 8.15pm Alice Sara Ott, piano, Tomas Reif, violin, Sebastian Klinger, cello, Sebastian Manz, clarinet, Andrew Staples, visuals, Quatuor pour la fin du temps. Grote Zaal, Tivoli Vredenburg, Netherlands. 30 April 2025 (time tbc), Britten Sinfonia & Sinfonia Smith Square/Nicholas Daniel. Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. St George's Cathedral, Southwark, London, UK. 30 April 2025 8pm Dominik Susteck, organ, Apparition de l'eglise eternelle; L'Ascension . Kolner Philharmonie, Cologne, Germany. 3 May 2025 8.15pm Sharon Kam, clarinet and Sitkovetsky Trio, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Concertgebouw: Recital Hall, Amsterdam, Netherlands. 6 May 2025 8.30pm Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, MaitriseNotre-Dame de Paris/Catherine Larsen-Maguire Roger Muraro, piano, Nathalie Forget, ondes Martenot, Trois Petites Liturgies de la Presence Divine. Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Paris, France. 8 May 2025 8pm Orquesta de Extremadura/Sylvain Gasancon, Les Offrandes oubliees. Palacio de Congresos de Badajoz Manuel Royas, Spain. 9 May 2025 8pm Palacio de Congresos de Merida, Badajoz. 14 - 15 May 2025 19:30 Suisse Romande Orchestra, Bertrand de Billy conductor, Kit Armstrong, piano, Cécile Lartigau, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland. 16 May 2025 8pm Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France/Sir George Benjamin, Chronochromie; Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum . Philharmonie, Paris, France. 16 May 2025 6pm Orchestra National Capitole Toulouse/Tarmo Peltokoski, Le Tombeau resplendissant . Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, France. 16 May 2025 8.15pm Orchestra de la Suisse Romande/Bertrand de Billy Kit Armstrong, piano, Cecile Lartigau, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Rosey Concert Hall, Rolle, Switzerland. 17 May 2025 8pm Gregorio Benitez, piano, Catalogue d'oiseaux (7 excerpts) . Palau de la Musica, Petit Palau, Barcelona, Spain. 24 May 2025 6pm Orchestra National du Capitole du Touloiuse/Tarmo Peltokoski, Le Tombeau resplendissant. Halle aux grains, Toulouse, France. 27 May 2025 20.15 Members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Julie Moulin, Flute. Le Merle Noir . Concertgebouw: Recital HallAmsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands. 1 June 2025 (11am) & 2nd (8pm) Wuppertal Sinfonieorchester/Patrick Hahn Joonas Ahonen, piano, Thomas Bloch, ondes Martenot, Turangalila Symphonie. Stadthalle, Wuppertal, Germany. 5 June 2025 18.30 Ji-Yoon Park Violin, Lilian Harismendy Clarinet, Éric Levionnois Cello, Catherine Cournot, Piano, Quatuor pour la fin du temps . Bibliothèque nationale de FranceQuai François Mauriac, 75706 Paris, Paris, Île-de-France, France. 5 June 2025 8pm Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias/Nuno Coelho, Les Offrandes oubliees. Teatro Jovellanos, Gijon, Spain. 6 June 2025 8pm Auditorio Principe Felipe, Asturias, Spain. 7 June 2025 20.00 Jan Lisiecki Piano, Prélude no. 1: La colombe, Prélude no. 2: Chant d'extase dans un paysage triste, Prélude no. 3: Le nombre léger . Théâtre des Champs-Élysées15 avenue Montaigne, Paris, Île-de-France, 75008, France. 18 June 2025 (7.30pm), 19th (7pm), 202th (7.30pm), Tonhalle Orchester Zurich/Franz Welser-Most Hendrik Heilmann, piano, Septe Haikai . Grosse Tonhalle, Zurich, Switzerland. 22 June 2025 11am Hamburg Symphony Orchestra/Sylvain Cambreling, Les Offrandes oubliees; L'Ascension (excerpts). Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany. 29 June 2025 7pm Symphoniker Hamburg/Sylvain Cambreling, Joonas Ahonen, piano. Des Canyons aux etoiles... .Laeiszhalle, Hamburg,Germany. 20 September 2025 7pm ANAM Musicians/Steven Schick, Couleurs de la Cite Celeste. Australian National Academy of Music, Abbotsford Convent Rosina Auditorium, Abbotsford, VIC, Australia. CD Releases Back to top CDRelease The Seattle Symphony releases Des canyons aux étoiles… (“From the Canyons to the Stars…”) , which takes inspiration from the rock spires, birdsong and night sky of Utah’s national parks. With Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot at the podium and guest artist Steven Osborne on piano, the Symphony presents Messiaen’s starry-eyed journey through nature and the divine. Two concerts of the entire 110-minute-long work were recorded in the stunning acoustics of Benaroya Hall. Catalog Number: SSM1028 In their first release on harmonia mundi, Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra offer us a dazzling reading of the Turangalîla-Symphonie . Equally attentive to architecture and to detail, they glorify the rich and refined orchestration of the French composer’s vast hymn to love, always on the lookout for unprecedented sonic alchemies. A unique musical and sensory experience! Marc-André Hamelan , piano Nathalie Forget , Ondes Martenot. HMM905336, February 2024 Soprano Barbara Hannigan and pianist Bertrand Chamayou unite to record the two major song cycles from the 1930's. Poèmes pour Mi are inspired by the precious relationship of Messiaen and “Mi” - the nickname of his first wife; violinist and composer Claire Delbos. Chants de terre et de ciel also emerges from Messiaen's marriage to Delbos, written just after the birth of their son, Pascal. Hannigan and Chamayou delve into the composer's complex language to reveal a natural and flowing music, whose roots extend from the earth upwards to a shimmering realm. As a final work on the album, Hannigan and Chamayou included a rarely performed "scena" of Messiaen: La Mort du nombre (1930) is a dialogue between two souls, in which they are joined by the Canadian tenor Charles Sy and the Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang . Release Date: 24th May 2024 Catalogue No: ALPHA1033 HeideVingtRe Groundbreaking New Release of Messiaen's Monumental Masterpiece New recording of Olivier Messiaen's monumental masterpiece for piano, Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant- Jésus, was released on the composer's birthday, 10 December 2023, brilliantly interpreted by the Danish-Swedish pianist Morten Heide. The release includes a well-written and beautifully illustrated 64-page booklet with insightful information about Messiaen and a comprehensive listening guide, crafted with both laypeople and musicians in mind, making this release truly unique. The album, includes a detailed booklet, and will be available both as a CD and digital format. Gateway Music is responsible for the physical distribution. Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus Telos , DDD, 2022 Release date: 4.10.2023 La Nativité du Seigneur Mark Steinbach - organ Mark Steinbach (Cavaille-Coll-Orgel Eglise Saint-Francois de Sales, Lyon) Label: Aeolus, DDD, 2022 Bestellnummer: 11605848 Release date 3.11.2023 Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps, Murail, Stalag VIIIa : Het Collectief ALPHA 1048 Release date: 23 Nov 2023 Souvenirs D'Oiseaux Roderick Chadwick - piano Roderick Chadwick has recorded the second volume in a series which presents Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux coupled with works which are linked either in style or subject matter. This follows the well-received issue of the first volume, entitled ‘La Mer Bleue ’which included Book 1 of the Catalogue. This double album is a continuation of Chadwick's journey through Messiaen's Catalogue d'oiseaux , the latest issue featuring Books 2 through 5, including the cycle's great centrepiece 'La rousserolle effarvatte' (The Reed Warbler), which evokes the sights and sounds of the Sologne region across a full day's span. Release Date: 14th Apr 2023. Catalogue No: DDA21240. Label: Divine Art Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus. Kristoffer Hyldig - piano KRISTOFFER HYLDIG is one of Denmark‘s leading pianists, recognized for his musicality and highly personal, sensitive approach. Known for his versatility, he is in demand as a soloist, as well as chamber musician and lied accompanist. He is a founding member of Messiaen Quartet Copenhagen, where his work comprises artistic programming as well as closely working with composers, commissioning, and premiering pieces. Recorded in Vor Frelser’s Church, Copenhagen during one of the most severe periods during the lock down by producer, recording & balance engineer extraordinaire, Preben Iwan. The album is recorded in the immersive DXD format. Our Recordings, 6.220.677-78. Release date: April 2023 Des canyons aux étoiles... Utah Symphony Thierry Fischer Jasin Hardink, piano Stefan Dohr, horn Keith Carrick, xylorimba Eric Hopkins, glockenspiel Hyperion Recording June 2022 Abravanel Hall, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Release date: April 2023 HARAWI Marie Kobayasi, mezzo-soprano Fuminori Tanada, piano Recorded 09/2022 Maguelone- MAG 358-443 The Complete Organ Works. Recorded at the Cathedral of Toul to celebrate its 800th anniversary. The organist Pascal Vigneron is the mastermind behind a complete disc of Messiaen's organ scores recorded at the Cathedral of Toul. This project is special because it brings together students from music education institutions who have shared the different pieces. Forlane - FOR_816897. New Release of the Complete Messiaen Organ Works including a previously unpublished and unrecorded transcription 'Vie pour Dieu des Ressuscités', by organist Jon Gillock. see more here . RAVEN compact Discs Visions Pierre-Laurent Aimard , Tamara Stefanovich Olivier Messiaen , George Enescu , Oliver Knussen , Harrison Birtwistle Release Date: 23-09-2022 PTC: 5186957 Details here . See Review Oiseaux exotiques . Francesco Piemontesi (piano), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Jonathan Nott Pentatone - PTC 5186949. Details here. O sacrum convivium Hildegard von Bingen , Sean Shibe , Chick Corea , Daniel Kidane , Moondog , Oliver Leith , Meredith Monk , Bill Evans , Olivier Messiaen , Shiva Feshareki , Julius Eastman Release Date: 26-08-2022 PTC: 5186988 Details here. Harawi Chant d’amour et de mort The Song Company , Amy Moore (soprano) , Antony Pitts (piano) Hyperion Records 1EMCDA Details here . Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus . Alfonso Gómez (piano) Kairos - 0015081KAI. Details here . Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Louange à l'éternité de Jésus) Fabien CHOURAKI (saxophone) Olivier DEKEISTER (organ) Visage- FR-95U Details here. Trois petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine Mädchenkantorei am Freiburg Münster Martina van Lengerich (Director) Motette-Psallite - MOT DCD 15025 The girls' choir at the Freiburg Minster under the direction of Martina van Lengerich present works by JS Bach, O. Messiaen, WA Mozart, F. Mendelssohn, D. Bartolucci and KA Arnesen. Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. Alfonso Goméz (piano) Fabienne Martin (Ondes Martenot) More information here Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus . Pi-Hsien Chen (piano) Aldila - DDD, 2005. Release date: 19th February 2021 Songs for the End of Time Vol.1. An intriguing take on Messiaen's famous Quartet made here into a quintet. Ben Russell (violin, voice) Brandon Ridenour (tumpet, voice) Yoonah Kim (clarinet, voice) Hamilton Berry (cello, voice) Greg Chudzik (bass, voice ) Available from Bandcamp Catalogue d'Oiseaux. László Borbély (Piano) Messiaen often chooses 'impalpable' as a performance direction. It is no accident; in his works we enter the visible and tangible transcendent through the intangibility of the invisible. We are faced here with something which is seemingly incompatible with our existence. MRC2004 Released 05/08/2020 From My Reel Club. see video preview here. Turangalîla Symphonie. Tamara Stefanovich (piano) Thomas Bloch (ondes Martenot) Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim, Alexander Soddy (conductor). Oehms : OC472 Release date: 18th September 2020 Poèmes pour Mi plus works by Saariaho, Dutilleux, Debussy and Delbos. Katherine Dain (soprano) and Sam Armstrong (piano) The majority of the program on this disc is written during a period on which the particular composer was facing daring circumstances. Like these two musicians were during the production of Regards sur l’Infini. ‘Views on the eternity’, having an outlook on the relief is an ever-present element on this album. Not able to pinpoint when a certain stressful era will end provoked us. We’ve consequently tried to relieve ourselves with a severe focus on our fascination about creating music. Just what the composers on this album did. And then, when it’s brought so heroic, resonant and immensely prepared and aware this duo does, music gives real freedom to the spirit. 7 Mountain Records 7MNTN-024 (release November '20) Quartet for the end of Time and Toru Takemitsu: Kathlein II. Jose Luis Luis Esteresu (Clarinet) Aizol Ituriaga Goitia (violin) David Apelianis (cello) Albert Rosado (piano). IBS Classical No. IBS72020. Releas date:09 July 2020 La Nativite Du Seigneur : Michael Frith, Organ of Brentwood Cathedral. Herald label HAVPCD414. Release date: 23rd October 2020 Divine Art Recordings is delighted to announce a new album of piano music from English pianist Roderick Chadwick . Alongside the first book from Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux are works by Karol Szymanowski and David Gorton. Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux for solo piano evokes the sights and sounds of the French landscape, exploring time and memory across its two and a half-hour span. The diversity of Messiaen’s imagination can be heard in the progression from the sharp, solitary cries of the alpine chough to the fanfares of the golden oriole and harmonious, sapphire-blue sea along the Roussillon coast, where the headlands (in the composer’s words) ‘stretch into the sea like crocodiles’. Release date October 2020.DDA25209 A rare recording has come to light by British conductor Reginald Goodall performing L'Ascension with the Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden in 1961. Full details can be found on the Pristine Classical web site here . Preludes, La Fauvette Des Jardins, La Dame De Shalott: Haruka Miyazaki (Piano) Release date 10 November 2019 299Music HMV Japan here Harawi . Sarah Maria Sun (soprano), Stefka Perifanova (piano)Label: Mode Cat No: MODLP310 Format: LP Number of Discs: 2 Expected Release Date: 10th January 2020Includes 12-page book with complete lyrics plus extensive text on Harawi by Siglind Brun, including copious illustrations and musical examples. NB: there is no CD format release. THE COMPLETE VÉGA RECORDINGS 1956-1963 BY Yvonne Loriod Works by Mozart, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Aleniz, deFalla Berg, Webern, Schoenberg, Henze, Boulez, Barraqué, Stravinsky and Messiaen. 13 CDs album. Decca UPC 00028948170692 Charles Chaynes - Piano Concerto (1967 World Premier) Yvonne Loriod with the ORTF Chamber Orchestra Radio broadcast, France. Kipepeo Publishing. ASIN: B06Y286DZ7 First recording of Les Fauvettes de l'Hérault - Concert des garrigues (reconstructed by Roger Muraro - see below) Harmonia Mundi - HMM905304 together with Debussy's Études as part of the Debussy Centenary Edition. Renowned French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard kicks off his exclusive engagement to PENTATONE with a recording of Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux (1956-1958). The pianist had intimate ties to the composer himself and his wife, Yvonne Loriod, for whom Messiaen wrote the Catalogue. This is a truly pioneering and groundbreaking recording of Messiaen's masterpiece. Pierre-Laurent brings extraordinary naturalism to the music and his sonic painting takes the playing to another level of virtuosity. An incredible achievement. The luxurious CD box set contains an accompanying bonus DVD, on which Aimard shares his vast knowledge of and love for Messiaen’s work from behind the piano. PENTATONE PTC 5186 670 Jean-Rodolphe Kars performsVingt Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus. Recorded live by Dutch radio at a concert in the Kleine Zaal of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on 30 April 1976 There have been many Messiaen pianists of note to perform and record his music during the last half-century, not least thanks to the composer’s generosity as a teacher of both the technical and spiritual aspects of his music, which go hand in hand as they do for very few others. Save for Messiaen’s second wife Yvonne Loriod, however, none of those pianists can claim so direct and profound an understanding of the composer and his music as Jean-Rodolphe Kars. This makes the present issue of a hitherto unreleased recording of the Vingt Regards all the more significant:. Olivier Messiaen Organ Works Willem Tanke One can not be grateful enough for the way one of the greatest composers of the 20th century contributed to the organ tradition. This playlist is a work in progress, i.e. it will include Messiaen's complete organ works in due time, also for educational purposes. Visit Willem's Official site for more interesting projects on Messiaen's organ works including 'Olivier Messiaen and the Cave of Forgotten Sounds' This project presents movements of Livre du Saint Sacrement interspersed wth responses and improvisations by Willem one of which is a tribute to Claire Delbos: In Memoriam Claire Delbos. Back to top

Olivier Messiaen "My faith is the grand drama of my life. I'm a believer, so I sing words of God to those who have no faith. I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them, make rhythms for those who know only military marches or jazz, and paint colours for those who see none". (Olivier Messiaen) © Copyright protected 1908 - 1992 © Copyright protected Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen 1924 - 2010 Bio READ MORE © Copyright protected © Malcolm Crowthers OLIVIER-EUGENE-PROSPER-CHARLES MESSIAEN (b. Dec. 10, 1908, Avignon, France.d. April 27, 1992, Clichy, near Paris), Olivier Messiaen was the son of Pierre Messiaen, a scholar of English literature, and of the poet Cecile Sauvage. Soon after his birth the family moved to Ambert (the birthplace of Chabrier) where his brother, Alain was born in 1913. Around the time of the outbreak of World War 1, Cecile Sauvage took her two sons to live with her brother in Grenoble where Olivier Messiaen spent his early childhood, began composing at the age of seven, and taught himself to play the piano. On his return from the war, Pierre Messiaen took the family to Nantes and in 1919 they all moved to Paris where Olivier entered the Conservatoire. Bio © Copyright protected Rich Kass interprets the song of the Skylark on the Drum Set. See Media Page My Morning with Messiaen - Les oiseaux et les sources (Messe de la Pentecôte) Recently added video from organist Timothy Hagy. See Media Page Musicologist and Messiaen specialist Jerzy Stankiewicz at the inauguration of the Rue Olivier Messiaen in Toul, France 2022 See video here . More street names dedicated to Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod See Gallery UK Premiere of a work by Yvonne Loriod: Grains de cendre (1946) for Ondes Martenot, Piano and Voice Details of performance here . Turangalîla Symphonie BBC PROMS see review here . !NEW DVD RELEASE! Fugue State Films December release of their Messiaen project now has the suitably cosmological title Messiaen's Musical Universe. The cover design is finished, utilising a wonderful painting by Martin Cottam. If you simply want to receive the DVD as soon as it is available, please prebuy it now too. Your support now would be incredibly helpful for two reasons. Firstly, releasing projects (see here ) for Christmas is very expensive, with fees for editors, sound designers, graphic designers and of course the cost of manufacture of the productions. Secondly, it would be very helpful to know how many orders to expect, as we finalise the number of units we will be printing of the DVD boxset. Crowdfund Now! Olivier Messiaen and the Organ – filming started on January 29th, 2024! See here for full details of how to be part of this unique Messiaen project by Fugue State Films Messiaen: Last Call for Patrons, Screeners and Recognised Subscribers! Our Messiaen project is almost completed, ready for release at Christmas. The project now consists of four 50-minute documentaries, plus three hours of epic filmed performances. It’s a monolithic and sweeping set of films on a scale with Messiaen’s own gigantic compositions! We now need your support as a patron, screener or recognised subscriber to release the film. We are now doing the design work for the booklet and need to finalise the film’s credits. Therefore it’s the last call for people who would like to support the project with particular generosity and be recognised with a credit – please therefore support the film here. We need to sell 200 more DVDs simply to pay for all the filming and editing. Please buy one here. Yvonne Loriod The Complete Véga Recordings 1956 - 1963 Reissued by Warner Classics in January 2024 To commemorate the 100th year of her birth. Works by Mozart, Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Albeniz, deFalla, Berg, Webern, Schoenberg, Henze, Boulez, Barraqué, Stravinsky and Messiaen. 13 CDs album. More details here . The Complete Messiaen Organ Works including a previously unpublished and unrecorded transcription 'Vie pour Dieu des Ressuscités', by organist Jon Gillock Read more here . New items in the 'Yvonne Loriod' page New items in the 'In the Press' page Des Canyons aux Étoiles... Performed by the Utah Symphony directed by Thierry Fischer under the stars and in the canyon at Zion Park which was one of the places that most influenced Messiaen at the time of writing. See: In The Press here Mount Messiaen The story and reminiscences ( here) . Rescue of MESSIAEN HOUSE in FULIGNY - Aube - Champagne area. This is the house where Messiaen's aunts lived and where he spent his summer vacations for many years. Here he notated his first bird songs and composed, among others, Preludes for piano, Le Banquet Céleste, Le Banquet Eucharistique, Les Offrandes Oubliées, Le Tombeau Resplendissant... and many more sketches that would find themselves in later works. Messiaen continued to visit his aunts and this house throughout his life. The current owner has decided to sell this house and the couple who wish to buy it intend to demolish it in view of the costs for its restoration. The Association LA QUALITE DE VIE reacted immediately, and is doing everything possible to have this "house of character" become an historical monument. The idea is to have this house bought by those who are interested in the world of BIRDS, in HERITAGE, in CONTEMPORARY MUSIC, in the ORGAN, in Olivier MESSIAEN... A FOUNDATION LE CHANT DES OISEAUX DE FULIGNY will make this place a concentration of Culture : "the grown-ups" and "the school children" will be able to learn to recognise the birds, their song, their life... One can imagine a specialised media library... and in a small auditorium one can listen to all the music and songs of the bird world... And maybe a care centre for injured birds and animals... CALL FOR DONATIONS for the safeguarding of LA MAISON DES MESSIAEN in Fuligny (in Aube, in Champagne). Read and see more here including a video of Messiaen speaking about the work of Michel Gueritte . "LA QUALITE DE VIE, an association governed by the law of July 1, 1901, registered with the Troyes Prefecture on February 9, 2007, whose head office is located at 8 route de Soulaines - 10200 VILLE-SUR-TERRE, represented by its current president, M. Michel GUERITTE, has decided to set up an endowment fund, governed by law no. 2008-776 of August 4, 2008 on the modernization of the economy (JO of August 5, 2008), by decree no. 2009-158 of February 11, 2009, and by the present articles of association, in order to safeguard and acquire La Maison des Messiaen, 18 rue du moulin in Fuligny in connection with the association's purpose. Michel GUERITTE is the founder of this fund. Michel Gueritte, who himself has family connections with the Messiaen's, is spearheading this project so if you wish to partake and help, please email Michel at: michel.gueritte@gmail.com Read more here . New publications see NEWS page HERE The Cleveland Museum of Art invited Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod to perform a two-piano concert on October 13, 1978, in the Gartner Auditorium. The Museum has recently unearthed the recording made of the occasion. See news page . A prayer composed by Olivier Messiaen A rare document submitted by P. Jean-Rodolphe Kars HERE Matthew Schellhorn's special film for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 HERE 15th January 1941 QUATUOR POUR LA FIN DU TEMPS at Stalag VIIIA Gorlitz by Messiaen and fellow musician prisoners Henri Akoka, Étienne Pasquier and Jean Le Boulaire. The memorial and visitor centre at the site of Stalag VIIIA Rodrigo De la Prida introduces Messiaen's Modes for Electric Guitar See Media page Tom's Messiaen vlog - Episode 1 Organist Tom Bell is keeping a video diary as he prepares Messiaen's Livre du Saint-Sacrement for a performance scheduled for November 2020. In his weekly vlog he will be exploring the learning process, the music itself, and the questions around how you perform it. Messiaen commissioned sculptor Josef Pyrz to create a work on St. François d'Assise see Gallery page St. François and a passing bluebird. A rare and happy flash by Jim Frazier. This sculpture was made by FRANK C. GAYLORD and is located in the city of CHICAGO-ILINOIS/USA. Special Offer! This Limited Edition publication explores the 20 year history of the Festival Messiaen au pays de la Meije. The book pays tribute to the commitment of its founder and artistic director, Gaëtan Puaud and editor/author Raphaëlle Blin highlights the artistic, social and political experiences that maintained and supported creative music making and activities in the landscape that was so dear to Olivier Messiaen. The 160 stunning photographs by Colin Samuels and the testimonies of the performers, composers, musicologists, volunteers and members of the public reveal all the uniqueness of this adventure. 1998-2018: born of the utopian idea of playing the work Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum for orchestra by Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) according to his wish, at the foot of the glacier in front of which he liked to compose, the Messiaen festival in the land of Meije has become an essential place of contemporary musical life, bringing together the greatest performers and composers. A book of more than 300 pages with magnificent photos and images by Colin Samuels , retracing the 20 years of the festival with many testimonies of artists and of festival-goers. With Swiss binding and soft cloth cover : a signed copy to the UK or anywhere in Europe for £31 or €35 including shipping. Any other country including USA and Japan: £36 or €40 includes shipping. Orders can be made directly from Colin Samuels via Paypal at: paypal.me/ColinSamuels Multiple copies or questions, please email Colin at: colinsamuels@yahoo.com Check out the 'writings and articles ' page that includes contributions from Père Jean-Rodolphe Kars ~ Thomas Lacôte ~ Nicholas Armfelt ~ Jeffery Wilson and more. In The Press In the Press READ MORE Reviews of events, concerts, books & CDs. Any contributions to this page would be welcome. So if you would like to submit a review of any Messiaen related feature please get in touch. Contact Us Thanks for submitting! Submit Contact Events etc. READ MORE © Copyright Events Concert Calendar ~ CD New Releases and more!!

St François in Geneva All photos © Carole Parodi St.François in Stuttgart 2023 ©Martin Sigmund ©Martin Sigmund ©Martin Sigmund ©Martin Sigmund ©Martin Sigmund ©Malcolm Ball ©Martin Sigmund

Resources A selection of my personal audio & visual Resource Archive Unlike several years ago, Messiaens' music is now well represented in the commercial audio market. Listed below is my own personal collection some of which may be of interest and could be made available on a strictly private basis for study or research. A comprehensive discography can be found in 'The Messiaen Companion ' edited by Peter Hill and compiled by Dr. Christopher Dingle. Res1 View More Back to top

Resources 2 A selection of my Personal Audio & Visual Resource Archive Res2Top See CD Releases for more titles Resources 1 Back to top Yvonne Loriod (non Messiaen) Recordings Archive Here

List of Works Messiaen wrote a vast amount of music including many test and sight reading pieces when he was teaching at the Ecole Normale de Musique during the 1930s and many early works were either discarded or considered as 'mere student exercises and not worth publishing'; so some of these works and others that are unpublished to date appear in blue . 1917 La dame de Shalott - Piano 1921 Deux ballades de Villon I. Épître à ses amis II.Ballade des pendus - Voice & Piano Ballade des pendus (poeme by François Villon) 1925 La tristesse d'un grand ciel blanc - Piano 1926 Fugue - (sur un sujet de Henri Rabaud) Orchestral 1927 Esquisse modale - Organ 1927 Pièce pour orgue sur un thème de Laparra - Organ 1927 Adagio - Organ, Violin and Cello 1926/27 Andantino (String Quartet) 1928 Fugue en ré mineur (Orchestra) 1928 L'hôte aimable des âmes - Organ 1928 La banquet eucharistique - Orchestral 1st and only performance on 22-1-1930 in an event called 'Exercice des éleves' at the Paris Conservatoire cond. by Henri Rabaud. 1928 Le banquet céleste - Organ (Leduc) The first edition of 1934 was written in 3/4 metre with no metronome mark. Messiaen revised this in 1960 with a metre of 3/2 and MM of quaver = 52. 1928 Variations écossaises - Organ 1928 Jésus (Poème symphonique) c.1929 Prélude en trio sur un thème de Haydn - Organ 1928-29 Préludes - Piano (Durand)1st private performance 28-1-1930 at Editions Durand by Messiaen 1st public performance 15-6-1937 by Bernadette Alexandre-Georges at Ecole Normale de Musique Paris 1930 Sainte-Bohème (Extrait des Odes funambulesques)-a setting for chorus and orchestra of a text by Théodore de Banville. 1930 Fugue pour le Concours de Rome (sur un sujet de Georges Hüe) 1930 La Mer pour le Concours de Rome (a cantata, parts of which were later used in Trois Petites Liturgies.) 1930 Diptyque - Organ (Durand) 1st public performance 20-2-1930 Les Amis de l'Orgue, Eglise de la Trinite, Messiaen 1930 La mort du nombre - Vocal/Chamber - sop, ten, violin, piano (Durand) 1st public performance 1931 Societe Musicale Independante, Ecole Normale de Musique Paris. Georgette Mathieu (S), Jean Planel (T) Monsieur Blareau (vl) Messiaen (pn) 1930 Les offrandes oubliées - Orchestral - 3.3.3.3;4.3.3.1;timp,perc,strings (Durand) 1st public performance 19-2-1930 Theatre des Champs Elysees, Les Concerts Straram dir. Walter Straram 1930 Les offrandes Oubliées - Piano version (Durand) LOWTop 1930/35 Offrande au Saint Sacrement - Organ (Leduc) 1929/30 Simple chant d'une âme - Orchestral 1930 Trois mélodies - Voice & Piano (Durand) 1st public performance 1930 Societe national de musique, Louise Matha and Messiaen 1931 Le Tombeau resplendissant - Orchestra - 3.3(1 cor ang).3(1clB).3-4.3.3.1-1perc - strings(Durand) 1st public performance 12-2-1933 Salle Pleyel Paris dir Monteux c.1931 Fugue pour le Concours de Rome 1931 L'Ensorceleuse Cantate- sop, ten, bass and piano (or orchestra) Played through for the judges at the Prix de Rome competion 4 July 1931 1931 La Jeunesse des vieux - a short choral setting of a poem by Catulle Mendés 1932 Apparition de l'église éternelle- Organ (Lemoine) 1932 Fantaisie Burlesque - Piano (Durand)1st public performance 8-2-1933 by Robert Casadesus Concerts de la Societe Musicale Independante, Ecole Normale de Musique 1932 Hymne au Saint Sacrament - Orchestral - 3.3.3.3;4.3.3.0,timp.perc,strings (Bro) 1st public performance 23-3-1933 cond. Walther Straram Théatre Champs-Élysées 1932 Thème et variations - Chamber - violin & piano (Leduc) 1st public performance 22-11-1932 at Cercle Musical de Paris Claire Delbos and Messiaen 1932-33 L'Ascension - Orchestral - 3.3.3.3;4.3.3.1,timp,perc;16.16.14.12.10 (Leduc) 1st public performance 9-2-1935 at Salle Rameau, Concerts Siohan cond Robert Siohan 1933 Fantasie- Chamber - violin & piano (Durand 2007) First known performance:Schola Cantorum, paris 18 - 3 - 1935 (Messiaen and Delbos). Rediscovered in 2007 and published. 1933 Mass - Vocal - 8 sopranos 4 violins 1933-34 L'Ascension - Organ (Leduc) 1st public performance 29-1-1935 at saint-Antoine-des-Quinze-Vingts by Messiaen 1934 5 Leçons de Solfege a chanter - treble clef & piano accom. (Lemoine) 1934 Morceau de Lecture à vue for Piano 1935 La Nativité du Seigneur - Organ (Leduc) 1st complete public performance 27-2-1936 concert by Les Amis de l'Orgue at Trinité by Daniel Lesur mvt 1-3, Jean Langlais mvts4-6 and Jean-Jacques Grunenwald mvts7-9 1935 Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas - Piano (Durand) 1st public performance by Joaquin Nin-Culmell 25-4-1936 Ecole Normale de Musique Paris 1935 Vocalise - Voice & piano (Leduc) 1st public performance 18-5-1936 by Hennriette Quéru-Bedel and Messiaen 1936 Poèmes pour Mi - Vocal - sop & piano (Durand) 1st public performance 28-4-1937 Les Concerts de la Spirale, Marcelle Bunlet (s) Messiaen (pno) 1937 O sacrum convivium - Vocal SATB or sop & organ (Durand) 1st public performance 17-2-1938 Les Amis de l'Orgue at Trinité 1937 Poèmes pour Mi - Sop & Orchestra - 3.3.2.3;4.3.3.1;3 perc;strings (Durand) 1937 Fêtes des Belles Eaux - 6 Ondes Martenots (Leduc) 1st public performance 25-7-1937 at Fete de la lumiere Paris 1938 Chants de terre et de ciel - Vocal sop & piano (Durand) 1st public performance 23-1-1939 Les Concerts du Triton, Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris. Marcelle Bunlet (s) Messiaen (pno) 1938 Deux monodies en quarts de ton - Ondes Martenot. Unpublished, the Deux Monodies in ¼ tones for Ondes Martenot were written when he was a professor at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. 1939 Les corps glorieux - Organ (Leduc) 1st private performance 22-7-1941 at Trinité 1st public performance 15-11-1943 at Trinité by Messiaen 1939 Vie pour Dieu des Ressuscités - Organ. A transcription of L'eau Movement 4 of Fêtes des Belles Eaux and later movement 5 of Quatuor pour la fin du temps. It is believed that Messiaen was to have used it as the second movement of Les corps glorieux but later deleted it. The first performance after its discovery was March 17th 2019 by Thomas Lacôte at La Trinité in Paris. 1940-41 Quatuor pour la fin du temps - Chamber - violin,clarinet,cello,piano (Durand)1st public performance during captivity 15-1-1941 in Stalag VIIIA, Gorlitz by Jean Le Boulaire, Henri Akoka, Etienne Pasquier and Messiaen. Then 24-6-1941 by Jean Pasquier, Andre Vacellier, Etienne Pasquier and Messiaen at Theatre des Mathurins, Paris (There is an arrangement of Louange a l'eternite de Jesus by Clytus Gottwald for 19 voices) 1941 Choeurs pour une Jeanne d'Arc I. Te Deum II.Impropères pour grand chœur et petit chœur mixtes, a cappella The choruses were written for Portique pour une fille de France a pageant by Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Barbier. 1942 Musique de scène pour un Oedipe [Dieu est innocent]- Electronic (1 Ondes Martenot) 1943 Rondeau - Piano (Leduc) 1943 Visions de l'Amen - 2 Pianos (Durand)1st public performance by Yvonne Loriod and Messiaen at Galerie Charpentier, Les Concerts se la Pleiade Paris 10-5-1943 1943-44 Trois Petites liturgies de la présence divine - Vocal/Orchestral - 36 womens voices,piano solo, ondes martenot solo, celesta, vibraphone, 3 perc; 8.8.6.6.4 (Durand) 1st public performance 21-4-1945 Les concerts de la Pleiade, Salle du Conservatoire, Y Loriod, G Martenot Desormiere dir. 1944 Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus - Piano (Durand) 1st public performance by Yvonne Loriod 26-3-1945 Salle Gaveau, Paris 1945 Harawi - Vocal - sop & piano (Leduc) 1st private performance 26-6-1946 at Étienne de Beaumont's house, Paris by Marcelle Bunlet and Messiaen 1st public performance 27-6-1946 at Galerie Georges Giroux, Brussels. 1945 Piéce , for oboe and piano 1945 Tristan et Yseult - Théme d'Amour - Organ 1945 Chant des déportés - Vocal & Orchestra - 3.2.3.3;4.3.3.1;3 perc, piano, glock, strings (in large numbers) 1st public performance 2-11- 1945 at Palais de Chaillot cond Manuel Rosenthal 1946-48 Turangalîla-Symphonie - Orchestral 3.3.3.3;4.5.3.1; piano solo, ondes martenot solo; glock, celeste, vibraphone, 5perc; 16.16.14.12.10 (Durand) 1st public performance 2-12-1949 Symphony Hall Boston USA Y.Loriod, G Martenot dir. Bernstein 1948 Cinq Réchants - Vocal 3S 3A 3T 3B (Salabert) 1st public performance 1949 Salle Erard Paris. Ensemble vocal Marcel Couraud dir. 1949 Cantéyodjyâ - Piano (UE) 1st public performance 23-2-1954 at Petit Théatre Marigny by Yvonne Loriod 1949-50 Messe de la Pentecôte - Organ (Leduc) 1st incomplete public performance 13-5-1951 at Trinité by Messiaen 1949-50 Quatre Études de rythme - Piano (Durand) 1st public performance by Messiaen, 6-11-1950 Alliance Française Tunis 1951 Livre d'orgue - Organ (Leduc) 1st public performance (France) March 1955 by Messiaen 1952 Le merle noir - Chamber - flute & piano (Leduc) 1952 Timbres-durées - Electronic/Musique Concrete 1953 Chant donneé {Leçon d'harmonie:Hommage à Jean Gallon} unspecified instrumentation, written in open score SATB. c.1953 Réveil des oiseaux - Orchestral - 4.3.4.3;2.2.0.0; Piano solo, celeste, xylo, glock, 2 perc; 8.8.8.8.6 (Durand) 1st public performance 11-10-1953 Donaueschingen Festival Germany. Loriod pno. Rosbaud dir. 1955-56 Oiseaux exotiques - Orchestral - 2.1.3.1;2.1.0.0; piano solo, glock, xylo, 5 perc (UE) 1st public performance 10-3-1956 at Petit Théatre Marignt, Paris cond Rudolf Albert, Y.loriod pno. 1956-58 Catalogue d'oiseaux - Piano (Leduc) 1st public performance 15-4-1959 at Salle Gaveau by Y. Loriod 1959 Conférence de Bruxelles - Text (Leduc) 1959-60 Chronochromie - Orchestral - 4.3.4.3;4.4.3.1; glock, xylo, marimba, 3 perc; 16.16.14.12.10 (Leduc) 1st public performance 16-10-1960 at Donaueschingen cond. Hans Rosbaud 1960 Verset pour la Fête de la Dédicace - Organ (Leduc) Composed as a test piece for the Paris Conservatoire. 1961 La Fauvette Passerinette - Piano (performing realization by Peter Hill) 1962 Sept haïkaï - Orchestral - 2.3.4.2;0.1.1.0; piano solo, xylo, marimba, 4 perc; 8.0.0.0.0 (Leduc) 1st public performance 30-10-1963 at Odéon Theatre de France cond P.Boulez, Y.Loriod pno. Orch du Domaine Musical. 1963 Couleurs de la Cité Céleste - Orchestral - 0.0.3.0;2.4.4.0; piano solo, xylo, xylorim,, marimba, 3 perc. (Leduc) 1st public performance 17-10-1964 at Donaueschingen, orch. Domaine Musical cond. Pierre Boulez, Y.Loriod pno. 1963 Monodie - for Organ (Leduc) 1964 Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum - Orchestral - 5.4.5.4;6.4.4.2;6 perc. (Leduc) 1st public performance 7-5-1965 at Saint Chapelle cond. Serge Baudo 1964 Prélude for Piano - ed. Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen (Durand) 1st public performance by Yvonne Loriod 8-12-2000 Conservatoire national superieur de musique de Paris 1965-69 La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus - Vocal/Orchestral - Choir: s.s.m-s.a.t.t.bar.b.b (10 voices per part). Orch: piano solo, cello solo, flute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimba solo, vibraphone solo, marimba solo; 5.4.5.4;6.4.4.2;6 perc; 16.16.14.12.12. (Leduc) 1st public performance 7-6-1969 at Coliseu Lisbon cond. Serge Baudo 1969 Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité - Organ (Leduc) 1st private performance 8-11-1971 by Messiaen at Trinité. 1st public performance 20-3-1972 at Basillica of the Immaculate Conception, Washington USA by Messiaen 1970 La fauvette des jardins - Piano (Leduc) 1971 Le tombeau de Jean-Pierre Guezec - Horn solo 1971-74 Des Canyons aux étoiles - Orchestral - 4.3.4.3;3.3.3.0; piano solo, horn solo, glock, xylorim, 5 perc; 6.0.3.3.1 (Leduc) 1st public performance 20-11-1974 at Alice Tully Hall New York USA by Musica Aeterna Orch cond, Fredric Waldman, Y.Loriod pno. 1975-83 Saint-François d'Assise - Opera - Choir: s.s.m-s.a.t.t.bar.b.b (15 voices per part). Orch: 7.4.8.4;6.4.3.3; xylo, xylorimba, vibraphone, marimba, glock, 5 perc; 3 ondes martenot; 16.16.14.12.10. (Leduc) 1st public performance 28-11-1983 at Paris Opera cond. Seiji Ozawa 1977 Conférence de Notre - Dame - Text (Leduc) 1977 Improvisations (for L'Âme en bourgeon - texts by Cécile Sauvage) 1982 Sigle - a short piece for unaccompanied flute which has been published for the first time as an illustration in the French edition (Paris, Fayard, 2008) of the biography by Hill and Simeone. This was reused in "Éclairs sur l'au-delà" 1984 Livre du Saint Sacrament - Organ (Leduc) 1st public performance 1-7-1986 by Almut Rossler at Metropolitan Methodist Church Michigan USA 1985 Petites esquisses d'oiseaux - Piano (Leduc) 1st public performance 25-1-1987 in Paris by Y.Loriod 1985 Conférence de Kyoto - Text (Leduc)Feuillets inédits arr. for ondes Martenot & piano (No date of composition) (Durand) 1986 Un vitrail et des oiseaux - Orchestral - 4.4.5.3; 0.1.0.0; piano solo, xylo, xylorim, marimba,5 perc. (Leduc) 1st public performance 26-11-1988 at Theatre des Champs-Elysees cond. Pierre Boulez 1986 Chant dans le Style Mozart - Clarinet & Piano 1987 La ville d'En-haut - Orchestral - 5.4.5.3;6.4.3.1, piano solo, glock, xylo, xylorim, marimba, 4 perc. (Leduc) 1st public performance 17-11-1989 at Salle Pleyel, BBCSO cond. P.Boulez 1988-92 Eclairs sur l'au-delà - Orchestral - 10.4.10.4;6.5.3.3; crotales, glock, xylo, xylorim, marimba,, 10 perc; 16.16.14.12.10. (Leduc) c.1987-91 Un oiseau des arbres de Vie (Orchestrated by Christopher Dingle) (Leduc). 1st performance 7 August 2015, Royal Albert Hall, BBC Philharmonic, Nicholas Collon. 1989 Un Sourire - Orchestral - 4.4.3.3;4.1.0.0;xylo, xylorim,2 perc; 16.16.14.12.0 (Leduc) 1st public performance 5-12-1991 1990-91 Concert à Quatre - Orchestral - flute solo, oboe solo, cello solo, piano solo and large orch. (Leduc) 1991 Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes - Chamber (UE) 1st public performance in Vienna 19-11-1991 Discovered in 1997 (composed c.1928) Prélude - Organ (Leduc) 2017 (based on Messiaen's notes taken from 1958) Fauvettes de l'Hérault - concert des garrigues - (Leduc) Piano (work reconstructed by Roger Muraro édition non répertoriée) 1st performance Toppan Hall, Tokyo, Japan. June 23 2017 Hymne des passereaux au lever du jour - solo clarinet (unknown date of composition) Feuillets inédits, quatre pièces pour Ondes Martenot et Piano. Discovered and arranged by Yvonne Loriod, these four short pieces date from the 1930's and published in 2002.(Leduc) Prélude pour orgue - c. 1928 published 2002 (Leduc) 2011 LECTURE AT KYOTO – KONFERENZ VON KYOTO (TEXTE ANGLAIS ET ALLEMAND) LEDUC AL 30473. German translation by Almut Rößler. English translation by Timothy Tikker Back to top

Messiaen House in Fuligny © Malcolm Ball This is the 18th century house where Messiaen's aunts (Agnès and Marthe) lived and where he spent his summer vacations for many years from 1922 onward. Here he notated his first bird songs (later saying in his view the Aube region was the best location in France for larks) and composed, among others, Preludes for piano, Le Banquet Céleste , Le Banquet Eucharistique , Les Offrandes Oubliées , Le Tombeau Resplendissant and possibly Diptyque and Trois Mélodies as well as many more sketches that would find themselves in later works. Messiaen continued to visit his aunts in this house throughout his life. The current owner has decided to sell this house and the couple who wish to buy it intend to demolish it in view of the costs for its restoration. The Association LA QUALITE DE VIE reacted immediately, and is doing everything possible to have this "house of character" become an historical monument. The idea is to have this house bought by those who are interested in the world of BIRDS, in HERITAGE, in CONTEMPORARY MUSIC, in the ORGAN, in Olivier MESSIAEN... A FOUNDATION LE CHANT DES OISEAUX DE FULIGNY will make this place a concentration of Culture : "the grown-ups" and "the school children" will be able to learn and recognise the birds, their song, their life... One can imagine a specialised media library... and in a small auditorium one can listen to all the music and songs of the bird world... And maybe a care centre for injured birds and animals... © Thomas Bloch © Malcolm Ball Olivier's father, Pierre Messiaen (1883-1957) was born in Flanders - *one of Charles and Marie Messiaen's seven children (three brothers: Pierre, Léon and Paul; and four sisters: Marthe, Madeleine, Marie and Agnès). In 1900, the Messiaen family moved to Fuligny, in the Aube region, east of Troyes. Among the Messiaen children, one of the most artistically gifted was Léon, born 1884, a graduate of the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts; he was at the start of a promising career as a sculpture when killed in action in 1918. The Messiaen family tomb, in the churchyard of La Chaise near Fuligny, is surmounted by a striking sculpture after Léon Messiaen entitled L'Énergie fauchée ('Energy spent')*. Léon reworked the sculpture a copy of which can be seen close to the cathedral in Troyes that commemorates the one hundredth anniversary of the 1914-18 war. *Peter Hill & Nigel Simeone - MESSIAEN pp. 7-8 © Malcolm Ball © Malcolm Ball © Malcolm Ball Léon Messiaen Madeleine was the longest-lived of the seven children (b.1890) and married Paul Guéritte in 1912 and died in 1987. CALL FOR DONATIONS for the safeguarding of LA MAISON DES MESSIAEN in Fuligny (in Aube, in Champagne). Please make a payment to the LA QUALITE DE VIE Association. To make the treasurer's task easier: please choose bank transfer or Paypal. To make a transfer click on this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1m9Pkc3PEOClwaQxpk1xBtYk6eCx6UQIFCwQgCUSpQtE/edit Its Board of Directors will be responsible for making it a concentration of Culture: "adults" and "school children" will be able to learn to recognize birds, their song, their life... (visits organized by the Establishments schools and Associations for the elderly are more and more numerous: Heritage and Culture) - This place will fit perfectly into the North-East Aube circuit: From Gaulle to Colombey-les-deux-Eglises, Napoléon to Brienne, Bachelard in Bar-sur-Aube, Voltaire in Cirey-sur-Blaise, without forgetting the Champagne Route. Regularly, those responsible for tourism in the North-East Aubois complain about the lack of attractiveness of this territory where France's radioactive waste storage centers are located. The current residence will be restored and protected. An Aube company specializing in the renovation of old buildings is in the process of providing a quote. Furthermore, we imagine the construction of three small wooden buildings, using the A-shaped house technique: see this example: https://www.boisdesalpes.net/batiment.php?noIDB=11 - a small library, - a specialized media library, - a small auditorium with around sixty seats (the capacity of a school bus) with a large bay window facing the meadow, where you can listen to all the music and songs from the world of birds, with juke-box type equipment , - a care center for injured birds and animals, - etc. ​ All the details are in the draft Statutes which can be consulted by clicking on this link: https://www.villesurterre.eu/images/2021/Fonds-de-dotation-231117-Statuts-LA-MAISON-DES-MESSIAEN-FULIGNY-V13.pdf For organ lovers, there is another way to make a donation of 25 euros! On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Olivier Messiaen, the Forlane label, in co-production with the quantum label, and under the artistic direction of Pascal Vigneron, Director of the Toul Bach Festival, and producer of the box set, has released the complete organ works of Olivier MESSIAEN. This 8-CD box set was recorded with teachers and students from major organ classes at the largest European conservatories (more than 40 participants). In order to safeguard the Maison des MESSIAEN in Fuligny, where he composed many of his masterpieces, the LA QUALITE DE VIE Association invites you to purchase this box set. Part of this purchase will be donated to the preservation of this historic residence. We therefore suggest that you acquire this box as follows: You make a donation to the QUALITY OF LIFE Association. You send 50 euros. In this way you will help us to preserve the Residence of the MESSIAEN. And you will be able to deduct 60% of this amount in your tax return. It’s a great deal: the complete organ works of Olivier MESSIAEN, i.e. 8 CDs for 30 euros. And to thank you, the LA QUALITE DE VIE Association will send you the Box. If you are allergic to all these computer constraints send a cheque to: LA QUALITE DE VIE Association 8 route de Soulaines 10200 VILLE-SUR-TERRE FRANCE by providing your email address on the back of the cheque. ​ Thank you for your generosity. Here are the Articles of Association of the Endowment Fund (English ) (French ) Here are the Rules and regulations of the Endowment Fund (English ) (French ) Here are Messiaen's own recollections of the house: 'My memories [of nature] go back to the age of fourteen or fifteen, chiefly to a period when I went and stayed in the Aube with aunts who owned a rather odd farm, with sculptures by one of my uncles [Léon], a flower bed, an orchard, some cows and hens. [...] To 'restore' my health, my brave aunts would send me out to tend a little herd of cows; it was really a very small herd ( there were only two or three cows) but even so I looked after them very badly, and one day they managed to escape and wrought havoc in a field of beetroot which they munched through in a few hours. I was told off by everyone in the village. The Aube countryside is very beautiful and very simple: the plain, its big fields surrounded by trees, magnificent dawns and sunsets, and a great many birds. It was there that I first began noting down birdsong'. Samuel 1967 pp.24-5; Samuel 1986, pp34-5. Peter Hill & Nigel Simeone - MESSIAEN pp.8 © Thomas Bloch © Thomas Bloch © Thomas Bloch © Thomas Bloch Watch video of the house and listen to the birds! Here

BioTop OLIVIER-EUGENE-PROSPER-CHARLES MESSIAEN (b. Dec. 10, 1908, Avignon, France.d. April 27, 1992, Clichy, near Paris), Olivier Messiaen was the son of Pierre Messiaen, a scholar of English literature, and of the poet Cecile Sauvage . Soon after his birth the family moved to Ambert (the birthplace of Chabrier) where his brother, Alain was born in 1913. Around the time of the outbreak of World War 1, Cecile Sauvage took her two sons to live with her brother in Grenoble where Olivier Messiaen spent his early childhood, began composing at the age of seven, and taught himself to play the piano. On his return from the war, Pierre Messiaen took the family to Nantes and in 1919 they all moved to Paris where Olivier entered the Conservatoire. From very early on it was clear that Messiaen would be a composer who would stand alone in the history of music. Coming not from any particular 'school' or style but forming and creating his own totally individual musical voice. He achieved this by creating his own 'modes of limited transposition', taking rhythmic ideas from India (deci tala), ancient Greece and the orient and most importantly adapting the songs of birds from around the world. He was a man of many interests including painting, literature, and the orient where he took in not only the musical culture but theatre, literature and even the cuisine of foreign countries! ​ The single most important driving force in his musical creations was his devout Catholic faith. My first encounter with the music of Olivier Messiaen was as an impressionable fourteen year old who had just discovered Bach through Jacques Loussier and was listening somewhat idly to a BBC Radio 3 organ recital which concluded with this amazing sound world that was completely new to me and at the same time overwhelming. The piece I was experiencing was Dieu Parmi Nous (God Among Us) from La Nativité du Seigneur. Pierre Messiaen, Cecile Sauvage and Olivier Messiaen MESSIAEN AND SYNAESTHESIA This is what Messiaen had to say regarding his relationship with colours and synaesthesia " When I was 20 years old I met a Swiss painter who became a good friend by the name of Charles Blanc-Gatti , he was synaethesiac which is a disturbance of the optic and auditory nerves so when one hears sounds one also sees corresponding colours in the eye. I unfortunately didn't have this. But intellectually like synaethesiacs I too see colours- if only in my mind - colours corresponding to sound. I try to incorporate this in my work, to pass on to the listener. It's all very mobile. You've got to feel sound moving. Sounds are high, low, fast, slow etc. My colours do the same thing, they move in the same way. Like rainbows shifting from one hue to the next. It's very fleeting and impossible to fix in any absolute way. It's true I see colours, it's true they're there. They're musician’s colours, not to be confused with painter's colours. They're colours that go with music. If you tried to reproduce these colours on canvas it may produce something horrible. They're not made for that, they're musicians colours. What I'm saying is strange but it's true. I believe in natural resonance, as I believe in all natural phenomena. Natural resonance is in exact agreement with the phenomena of complimentary colours. I have a red carpet that I often look at. Where this carpet meets the lighter coloured parquet next to it, I intermittently see marvelous greens that a painter couldn't mix - natural colours created in the eye" Messiaen's particular condition was chromesthesia, a type of synesthesia in which sound involuntarily evokes an experience of colour, shape and movement. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of eleven and stayed until his early twenties learning his 'craft' from eminent teachers including Georges Falkenberg, piano, Jean Gallon, harmony, Noël Gallon counterpoint and fugue, professor Baggers, timpani & percussion, Paul Dukas composition & orchestration, Maurice Emmanuel history of music and Marcel Dupré organ and improvisation, of which Messiaen excelled, becoming organist of La Sainte Trinité in Paris when he was 22 and remained there until his death. It's sometimes easy to forget that Messiaens' contribution to the organ repertoire is probably the greatest since Bach. The term 'craft' is purposeful here as Messiaen developed into a true craftsman in every respect with immensely detailed scores including string bowing, woodwind articulations, fingerings for keyboards and even sticking for percussion. Since the age of eighteen Messiaen had been collecting the songs of thousands of birds throughout France and the world. Early works showed an inkling of birdsong influence but after the war in the late 40s and 50s he began notating their songs in great detail and this became a vital musical source for him. An important event in 1952 was his meeting with ornithologist and author Jacques Delamain of which Messiaen declared: 'It was Delamain who taught me to recognise a bird from its song, without having to see its plumage or the shape of its beak.' Messiaen would begin by selecting a bird, say a warbler where he would notate hundreds of different warblers and then creates a composite of the best elements of all the warblers notated thus ending up with an 'ideal' warbler. The song is usually combined with the birds habitat, surroundings and time of day. 'It's the process of transformation' that Messiaen enjoys and relates this to the paintings of Monet who is not interested in putting say a water lily directly on the water of a picture but representing one variation of the light on the water lilies. His researches were so intense that he became an authoritative ornithologist able to recognize almost any bird that he heard. Several works have been devoted entirely to birdsong namely Catalogue d'Oiseaux, Réveil des oiseaux, Oiseaux Exotique, Le merle noir, Petites esquisses d'oiseaux and almost all other works include substantial references to the songs of birds. At the age of 19 the young Messiaen witnessed the death from consumption of his beloved mother. He moved to his paternal aunts in the countryside of the Aube region of France where, in Yvonne Loriod's words, 'the aunts took their nephew in to revive his taste for life and restore his health with good country air whilst he continued to compose'. Messiaen married his first wife Claire Delbos in June 1932. The daughter of a Sorbonne professor, she was a member of La Spirale, a prominent new music society, an accomplished violinist and composer (works include Primevere 5 Songs for soprano and piano, Deux Pièces for Organ 1935, Parce, Domine {Pardonnez,Seigneur, à votre peuple... } pour le temps du Carême for organ and Marie, toute-puissance suppliante for 4 Ondes Martenots) she sadly became physically and mentally ill and entered a psychiatric hospital (where she eventually died in 1959) leaving Messiaen a single parent bringing up their only son Pascal (born in 1937 a teacher of Russian, died 31st January 2020) throughout the late 30s and 40s. Messiaen and Claire Delbos gave many recitals in and around Paris during the early 1930s featuring the Romantic repetoire for violin and piano and in 1932 he composed Theme and Variations for her and they premiered the piece at a concert held by the Société Nationale. A second work for violin and piano recently came to light entitled Fantaisie composed in 1933. His song cycle Poemes pour Mi is also dedicated to Claire Delbos, Mi being a 'pet' name for her. Both music and words were written by Messiaen and celebrates the joy and sanctity of marriage. Messiaen was to continue to write the texts for most of his choral and vocal works including the Trois Petite liturgies de la Presence Divine which caused some negative if not hostile reactions from many critics at the first performance. He believes that this reaction was due to the fact that the work is full of passion but with a deep religious foundation and this took the critics by surprise and much of the criticisms were not directed at the music. In 1936, with the composers Andre Jolivet, Daniel Lesur, and Yves Baudrier, he founded the group La Jeune France ("Young France") to promote new French music. From 1934 to 1939 he taught piano sight reading at the École Normale de Musique and an organ improvisation course at the Schola Cantorum. Undoubtedly it has been Messiaens' devout Christian faith and Catholicism that has driven his compositional output through the years and there was no greater test of his faith than in June 1940 when he was captured by the Nazis and interned in prisoner of war camp Stalag 8A, Gorlitz , Poland. He recalls that at the time he and everybody in the camp were freezing, starving and miserable. The starvation was such that it heightened his 'coloured' dreams and this coupled with the experience of seeing the 'aurora borealis', coloured waves of clouds, led him to compose what is probably his most performed work: Quatour pour la Fin du Temps (Quartet for the end of Time). He befriended a German officer Carl-Albert Brüll who smuggled him manuscript paper, pencil and eraser which enabled him to retreat to the priests block after morning duties and compose. The instrumentation was governed by the musician friends that were with Messiaen in the camp. These were; violinist Jean Le Boulaire , cellist Etienne Pasquier , clarinetist Henri Akoka and with himself on a rather dilapidated piano premiered the work on January 15th 1941 in front of fellow prisoners who although maybe never understood the new harmonies etc. it took them away from the routine mundane life in the camp. He says that his music 'is not "nice" - it is certain. I am convinced that joy exists, convinced that the invisible exists more than the visible, joy is beyond sorrow, beauty is beyond horror'. Golden Oriole (Loriot) © Malcolm Raines and Chris Knights He returned from captivity in March 1941 and became a teacher and lecturer at the Paris Conservatoire giving his first class on 7th May the same year. He held classes in analysis, theory, aesthetics and rhythm but it wasn't until 1966 that he was officially appointed Professor of Composition (although he had in effect been teaching composition for years). Many famous 'names' passed through these classes including Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Alexander Goehr and later George Benjamin who Messiaen had a particular fondness and admiration of. Perhaps the one thing that rubbed off on all these composers is Messiaens' avoidance of regular metre citing it as artificial relating to marches and more popular music. Messiaen supports his argument by pointing out that in nature things are not even or regular. For example the branches of a tree and the waves of the sea are not even patterns. However, what is true is 'natural resonance', and this true phenomenon is what his music is based on. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ This period produced a great outpouring of music including the Trois Petite liturgies de la Presence Divine , the song cycle Harawi, Chant des deportes for choir and orchestra, Turangalila Symphonie , the mammoth piano cycles Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus and Visions de l'Amen for two pianos. These last two works and many more to follow were dedicated to Yvonne Loriod a young and highly gifted pupil who turned up in Messiaens' first class held at the Conservatoire in 1941. She says of that first encounter that 'all the students waited eagerly for this new teacher to arrive and finally he appeared with music case and badly swollen fingers, a result of his stay in the prisoner of war camp. He proceeded to the piano and produced the full score of Debussys' Prelude á l'apres-Midi d'un Faune and began to play all the parts. The whole class was captivated and stunned and everyone immediately fell in love with him'. Messiaen never imparted his own compositional techniques in his classes but rather steered students along their own paths. Messiaen has not always been in the favour of the musical establishment not least by the BBC who broadcast next to nothing on the then Third programme (later Radio 3) right up until the sixties by which time the composer was in his 60s. It was Felix Aprahamian who brought Messiaen to London in the late 30s to play La Nativite and has been a champion and formidable writer on Messiaen ever since. In the forties and fifties Messiaen was shunned on the one hand by the new 'avant-garde' as too sweet and sentimental and on the other hand by the more conventional musical public as too austere and discordant. Boulez in particular could not come to terms with and reacted against works like Turangalila with it's rich mix of tonal and atonal language saying that he prefers the ones that remain true to one style or the other. However, one gem of a composition was to turn 20th century music on its head. This was 'Mode de valeurs et d'intensites' part of four studies in rhythm for piano. It took Schoenberg's theory of serializing pitches a whole leap forward whereby Messiaen effectively serialized all musical parameters i.e. pitches, durations, dynamics and articulations. Thus each note has a character and identity all of its own which is maintained throughout the piece. For example, middle C will always appear as a dotted minim value, forte dynamic and have a tenuto articulation mark. Although this paved the way for the young generation of composers such as Stockhausen, Boulez, Nono etc. to explore previously uncharted territory, Messiaen himself never pursued the idea beyond that study but continued to turn to nature and his faith as the inspiration and starting points for his music continuing to use his own modes, complex rhythmic ideas and the songs of birds. Having said that, there are occasions when for instance he wanted to describe the horror and blackness of the night in the opening of " The Tawny Owl' from Catalogue d'Oiseaux where he uses a 'Mode de valeurs et d'intensites ' in a poetical sense to portray this. Indeed it must be said that Messiaen did more to advance rhythmic forms and ideas than any other composer of the 20th century. From the original programme of the first performance of Turangalîla Symphonie by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1949 Christiane Eda-Pierre in the role of the Angel: Saint Francois d'Assise Photo: Jacques Moetti In 1975 Messiaen embarked on his most ambitious project of his life, the opera Saint François d'Assise , a work that would occupy him for the following eight years. Saint François represents his life work combining all his compositional techniques gathered over fifty or so years. Scored for 22 woodwinds. 16 brass, 68 strings, 3 ondes Martenot and 5 keyboard percussions playing xylophone, xylorimba, marimba, glockenspiel & vibraphone. There are 6 percussionists playing tubular bells, claves, wind machine, snare drum, triangles,temple blocks, wood blocks, cymbals of various kinds, whip, maracas, reco-reco, glass chimes, shell chimes, wood chimes, tambourine, tôle (thunder sheet), gongs, tam tam, crotales tom toms and geophone (sand machine) together with 7 main solo characters and a choir of 150 it is certainly the largest forces Messiaen considered.Among the best essays on this work are Paul Griffiths' account in The Messiaen Companion and Messiaens' own comments in an interview with him. Soon after Messiaen's death I happened to be visiting Paris and felt the need to pay my respects at La Sainte Trinité, the church where Messiaen conceived so many of his great organ works. I was lucky enough to meet Father Yves de Boisrehen who for many years read the lessons etc. and said how he would be amazed when his words would suddenly 'come to life' for the congregation through the improvisations of Messiaen responding at the organ. Some would say 'an impossible act to follow' but in 1993 Naji Hakim entered that revered organ loft at la Trinité as successor to Messiaen. An accomplished composer and improviser, Naji Hakim was the one person Messiaen felt comfortable in the knowledge that the great French tradition of organist - composer and improviser would continue at la Trinité. Naji Hakim's reign came to an end in 2008 the centenary of Messiaen's birth. Thanks to today's mass audio market you won't have to scratch around as I did, finding recordings of the greatest French composer since Debussy. Fragments of Messiaen's music have found their way into several feature films including: Ken Russell's Dante's Inferno (Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum), the BBC documentary The Ascent of Man (also Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum), Oren Moverman's The Dinner (Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps) and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's The Revenant (Oraison-L'eau from Fêtes des Belles Eaux). Messiaen received many honours and prizes globally including: 1959 Nomination as an Officier of the Légion d'honneur 1967 Member of the Institut de France 1969 Calouste Gulbenkian Prize 1971 Erasmus Award 1975 Ernest von Siemens Award 1975 Associate Member of the Royal Academy of Science, Literature and Art of Belgium 1975 Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society 1978 The White Cliffs in Utah were renamed Mount Messiaen 1980 Presentation of the Croix de Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown 1983 Wolf Foundation of the Arts Prize (Jerusalem) 1985 Inamori Foundation Prize (Kyoto) 1987 He was promoted to the highest rank, Grand-Croix, of the Légion d'honneur 1989 Primio Internazionale Paolo VI 1988 Back to top

Mount Messiaen Mount Messiaen – Facts and reminiscences. © Malcolm Ball This short account sets out some basic facts surrounding the naming and dedication of Mount Messiaen and my own reminiscences after a visit to the site in June 2022. There is a brilliant and comprehensive in-depth article on the subject entitled b by Robert Fallon and reproduced in the publication ‘Messiaen Perspectives 2: Techniques, Influence and Reception’ see bibliography The idea of naming a mountain after Messiaen was the brainchild of Julie Whitaker, a dancer and English teacher who lived in Paris for two years where she first made contact with Messiaen’s music. In the mid 1970’s when Julie heard of Messiaen’s ‘canyon symphony’, and his description of Southern Utah as ‘the most mystical landscape he had ever encountered’, she asked the composer if he would agree to the naming of something in his honour. Messiaen responded with delight saying that ‘anything in his name would be a great honour, even a side street or a nature path for bird watchers’. After finding a site approximately eight miles from the town of Parowan, Julie set about the task of naming the site and also organising performances of some of Messiaen’s works at the location. It took three years of organising and political wrangling before the naming was finalised but in 1978 a plaque was eventually cast by Julie’s brother Lyman, a sculptor of kinetic art, and the site was officially named. © Malcolm Ball The bronze plaque cast by Julie's brother Lyman © Malcolm Ball When I first heard about Robert Fallon’s visit to Mount Messiaen in 2008 and seeing his wonderful photo gallery (here ), I immediately added it to my bucket list of Messiaen related places to visit. This list was shrinking and places were ticked off with some sense of regularity as most of the Messiaen ‘sites’ and certainly dwellings were in France and relatively easy for me to arrange visits (pre Brexit). However, the Mount is situated 4,933 miles from where I live and a trip would require much preparation and funds. The opportunity eventually arose when I was lucky enough to attend a performance of Des Canyons aux Étoiles… given by the Utah Symphony in O.C. Tanner amphitheatre, Zion in June this year. (see review). I had given myself time to visit all the areas that so influenced Messiaen when writing the work (Cedar Breaks, Bryce Canyon and Zion Park) but I also put time aside to visit the Mount. On the appointed day, I set off in my hire car to Parowan and followed Robert Fallon’s detailed directions. The road out of Parowan is narrow and winding but luckily not busy in terms of traffic as this is rural Utah so my speed was necessarily slow, and sure enough, after eight or so miles I caught site of those (to some) famous peaks on my left. I immediately pulled off the road and parked up. I was not on the logging trail that Robert explained in his directions but on the opposite side of the road. It was a sunny day but at an elevation of some 9,000 feet, not too hot. I began taking some shots of the peaks from where I had parked which had good uninterrupted views and virtually no traffic to concern me. It was very peaceful. After a few minutes a small white car approached and stopped on the other side of the road at the entrance to the track leading up to the Mount. A slight air of disappointment ran through me as I was hoping for an uninterrupted visit at this special and revered site. A couple got out of the car and the lady walked determinedly up the track and disappeared around the bend. At this point I felt duty bound to cross the road and introduce myself to the gentleman who by this time had extracted a large pair of long handled secateurs from the back of the car. I approached with some trepidation as the secateurs wielding gentleman walked slightly towards me, but he greeted me with a welcoming smile and asked, “was I hear for the Mount Messiaen?” I said indeed I was and explained my connection with Messiaen and the website after which he said “Ah! That’s my wife walking up there – Julie Whitaker, you must come and meet her”. I paused for a few seconds and thought - Hang on a minute, I’ve travelled nearly 5,000 miles, chosen a random time and day to visit this site and at almost the exact same time so did the person who initiated the site back in 1978. This was the most incredibly fortuitous encounter I could imagine. © Malcolm Ball © Malcolm Ball Julie and her husband Michael Burke were there to tidy up and clear the bronze plaque of obtrusive weeds etc. They, like me were also there to attend the concert in Zion two days later. Julie and I chatted rather excitedly while Michael attacked the weeds and she was so generous with her information and reminiscences of her time spent organising the naming of the site as well as the performances that took place at the final ceremony. Her vision was to dedicate the mountain followed by a ‘Messiaen Festival’ in September 1976 which would include a screening of Denise Tual’s film Olivier Messiaen et les Oiseaux, lectures by Messiaen at the University of Utah and a performance of Des Canyons aux Étoiles… Julie corresponded with Messiaen who was very keen and accepted the initial invitation but as time passed, dates began to conflict on both sides and after many months of negotiations, Julie wrote to Messiaen to inform him that the festival was cancelled due to lack of funding and lack of cooperation from certain parties. The dedication ceremony did take place at 6.00pm on 5th August 1978 and was televised by the local TV channel. They unveiled the bronze plaque, and held a ribbon-cutting ceremony. At 8.00pm the ceremony continued with readings, a prayer, a speech by Julie about Messiaen and a performance of Chants de terre et de ciel by Naomi and Lowell Farr, musicians on the faculty of the University of Utah. The trailhead leading up to the pinnacles. © Malcolm Ball View opposite from the Mount © Malcolm Ball After some time at the Mount (and a nice tidy plaque thanks to Michael and his secateurs) the couple made their departure and we all looked forward to meeting up again at the concert. I spent more time alone at the site taking photos and walking around the base of the Mount reflecting on such an amazing coincidental meeting and also what Messiaen would have felt had he seen these understated peaks in person. When asked how he felt about having his own mountain in Utah he replied: “Ah, it’s just incredible and very touching. When I told my agent about it, he was amazed. When I told my publisher M Leduc in Paris about it, he was astounded too. He couldn’t imagine that there would be a mountain anywhere with my name; at first he laughed, but then he almost cried. And we plan to go back there soon. It’s a great excuse to see Utah again, and, in any case, it seems to me that I now have the obligation to present myself before those three cliffs. They’re there waiting for me”. Sadly he never got to see the Mount in situ due to commitments and ill health. ​ As planned, Julie and I met up after the concert in Zion together with Michael, Julie’s brother Lyman and other family members. It was an enormous privilege to have met such an inspired and driven person who back in the 1970’s dedicated so much energy in honouring a composer who was inspired by her childhood homeland. My photos provide an interesting comparison to those taken by Robert Fallon in 2008. Three years ago, that part of Parowan canyon suffered a serious dry mountain fire that decimated the trees in front of the Mount hence the different pictorial dynamic between our images. Malcolm Ball. Sources: Placing Mount Messiaen by Robert Fallon and reproduced in the publication ‘Messiaen Perspectives 2: Techniques, Influence and Reception ’ Canyons, Colours and Birds : An Interview with Oliver(sic) Messiaen by Harriett Watts. Tempo magazine 128. Julie Whitaker © Malcolm Ball Julie Whitaker and Michael Burke © Malcolm Ball My grateful and heartfelt thanks go to Julie and Michael for their time and for sharing their memories of this most amazing achievement to mark Olivier Messiaen's time in Utah that resulted in one of his finest works: Des Canyons aux Étoiles... © Malcolm Ball

CD Reviews Visions Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard (pianos). Visions de l’Amen (Messiaen) – Carillon Nocturne (from Suite No.3, Op.18 “Pieces Impromptues”) (Enescu) – Prayer Bell Sketch, Op.29 (Knussen) – Clock IV (from Harrison’s Clocks) – Birtwistle). Pentatone PTC 5186 957. Release Date: 23-09-2022 Ever since hearing Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard perform Visions de l’Amen at St. John’s Smith Square, London on the 25 January 2017, I have longed for a recording of the work by these two champions of Messiaen’s music and at last Pentatone have delivered. This recording was made in July 2021 in the Stefaniensaal, Congress Graz, Austria. Although Visions de l’Amen was composed after Messiaen’s release from the prisoner of war camp in 1941, Paris was still under German Occupation in 1943 when he began work on the piece after a commission from impresario Denise Tual. From the outset, Messiaen knew it would be a work for two pianos and that he would perform it alongside the brilliant young pianist Yvonne Loriod who had appeared in his first class at the Paris Conservatoire in May 1941. Nigel Simeone’s booklet notes details the progress towards the first performance and reveals some fascinating facts and accounts surrounding the work. The Piano I part was assigned to Yvonne Loriod and the writing explores the bells, birdsong, virtuoso passagework and rhythmic complexities while Piano II handles the thematic material and controls the pace of the work. In this recording Piano I is Tamara Stefanovich and Piano II, Pierre-Laurent Aimard. Loriod and Messiaen recorded the work in 1949 on six 12” 78s on French Contrepoint label but for many years the Messiaen’s 1962 recording on Vega had been a benchmark and the one that is most faithful to the score. Irén Marik and John Ranck made a recording c.1956 and performed it at the Deepest Valley Theatre, USA in 1965 then the Labèque’s took it on in 1969 under Messiaen's supervision. Lately of course many couples have ventured into Messiaen’s world of creation, spinning planets, the agony of Jesus and Jugement, desire and consummation, some with variable results it has to be said. In this recording Tamara Stefanovich and Pierre-Laurent Aimard have taken the work to another level in a performance that not only has bucket loads of technical command and virtuosity but also immense sensitivity and pianism of the highest order that is entirely at the service of the music. ‘Amen de la Création’ opens the work and in many performances it is so often rushed and devoid of Messiaen’s instruction of ‘Very slow, mysterious and solemn’. Not here, the tempo is perfect and the dynamic build well measured. Aimard produces an almost tam tam-like sonority in the depths of the piano that complement the shafts of light from Stefanovich’s Piano I. The climax of the movement where Piano II has timeless broken chord flourishes is perfectly timed with no distortion of line in Piano I. The energized ‘Amen des étoiles, de la planète à l’anneau’ reveals precise tempo changes (seldom found in some performances) and absolute synchronicity in the stabs. Aimard does of course have some advantage over others in having studied with Loriod and Messiaen and began playing the work from the age of fifteen. His insight and interpretation of the ‘Bien moderé – douloureux en pleurant’ (painful and crying) section in ‘Amen de l’agonie de Jésus’ is unutterably moving and his finger independence in the chords of ‘Amen du Désir’ is astonishing. Both pianists have a conjoined sense of ensemble that is clearly demonstrated in ‘Amen des Anges, des Saints, du chant des oiseaux’ where Piano II dances exuberantly beneath the excited chatterings of the birds in Piano I. The only ‘surprise’ I had on my first hearing was the tempo chosen for the opening of ‘Amen de la Consommation’ which is faster than the score indicates, but again, Stefanovich and Aimard come up trumps by balancing this with a sudden gear change to a slower pulse at the ‘ppp’ heavenly bells section before the ‘Un peu plus vif’. Here, Stefanovich does well to capture most of the accented rhythmic character in the lower part of Piano I and after some super-human glittering passagework alongside vibrant, dazzling dynamic colours from Aimard, the final fortissimo A major chord is allowed to ring on into paradise for a full 53” Despite some over enthusiastic and noisy pedal work in ‘Amen du Jugement’ and some heavy breathing, the recording quality is superb and this performance I’m sure will be unsurpassed, in my lifetime at least. ©MB MESSIAEN III Intégrale de l’oeuvre pour piano solo Haruka Miyazaki (Piano) Huit Preludes, La Fauvette Des Jardins, La Dame de Shalott. Release date 10 November 2019. 299Music HMV Japan Over the past 20 years or so the number of performances and recordings of Messiaen’s music has steadily grown in Japan although for those of us living outside the country (especially in Europe) it has been notoriously difficult to obtain CDs and when we can they prove to be very expensive when import and customs duty is slammed on. This said, it is often the case that us ‘foreigners’ are amply rewarded with exquisitely produced products and fine performances. Haruka Miyazaki has embarked on a journey claiming to record all the solo piano works by Messiaen and this is the third in the series. Volumes ‘Messiaen I and II’ are devoted to the Catalogue d’oiseaux and I have yet to listen or obtain these but I was particularly intrigued by the collection of works on Messiaen III as it included La Dame de Shalott, Messiaen’s Opus 1 inspired by the Tennyson poem and composed when he was just eight years old. The CD opens with the 8 Preludes Messiaen’s first published work. Composed when he was twenty he had already a passionate love of birds but without the knowledge of how to write down their songs. However, he did have an innate sense of sound-colour and the Preludes draw on his developing work with modes of limited transposition. There are obvious nods to Debussy and Ravel but Messiaen never regarded the work as impressionistic. Miyazaki has an ideal touch to convey the musical colours and shape of the pieces as well as a clear sense of melodic and harmonic balance. There is just one (repeated) mis-read chord in No.2 (Chant d’extase dans un paysage triste) that takes away a little of the intended spice. La Fauvette des Jardins (The Garden Warbler) 1970 is the main filling in this musical sandwich. Messiaen’s longest and most substantial piano solo (dedicated to birdsong) to date. The piece traces a sequence of natural events at Petichet (Messiaen’s summer retreat) from night time through daybreak, morning, afternoon, evening then full circle to night. Pianists taking on this work find themselves having to be their own ‘film director’ in the sense that the birdsongs are only part of this vast canvas that also includes ‘the night’, the undulating water of Lake Laffrey, the alders and above all the Grand Serre mountain, whose colourful hues change as the sun passes over during the day. Miyazaki rises to these challenges with unshaken security and a sense of drama and occasion. The song of the Fauvette des jardins is always forte and often tenaciously relentless and the playing remains persuasive and well shaped with all tenuto’s and accents observed, making this version comparable to the Loriod version of 1973 on Erato that was always the benchmark. The CD concludes with La Dame de Shalott Messiaen’s first acknowledged composition worthy of inclusion in the catalogue of his works. It was never published but Yvonne Loriod recorded a version in 1975 as part of the then ‘Integrale de l’oeuvre pour piano’ on Erato. This is what Messiaen stated in the Erato booklet: “In this “Lady of Shalott” a child’s imagination runs unleashed. Nothing is missing: the castle, the inflection of the spoken word, the song of Lady Shalott (weaving!), Sir Lancelot on horseback, the broken mirror, the tapestry which flies out of the window, the falling willow leaves and the death of the lady who lies in a boat drifting down the river (barcarole!)”. Roger Muraro delivers a guided tour of La Dame de Shalott as part of the bonus DVD in his Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus presentation on Accord. He uses a manuscript supplied (reluctantly) by Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen and the music is that of her 1975-recorded version. This version is in three parts and here are the names of each musical ‘scene’: Part 1 – The magic castle – peasant’s conversations. Part 2 – The weaver and La Dame d’Shalott singing at the spinning wheel. Part 3 – Sir Lancelot rides on horseback – La Dame sees the knight – The magic mirror breaks – The wind blows the tapestry – The parting of the willow branches where she sees the boat – Finally she dies and drifts away in the boat. Miyazaki was intrigued with La Dame de Shalott and felt she should include it in a ‘complete works’ recording. To achieve this she had to make a trip to the BNF in France to gain access to the original manuscript, which she duly did but was not able to remove the script or take photos. However, they did allow her to copy it in pencil by hand. So this is the world premiere of the ‘version non remaniée’ (unedited). This version begins as above with Part 1 and 2 and mostly the same material as the Loriod (but for a couple of either mis-read or changed chords in the spinning wheel scene). Then the music proceeds straight into a version of the final scene where La Dame dies and floats away in the boat, after which the piece repeats from the start. So we don’t get Sir Lancelot riding on horseback – La Dame sees the knight – The magic mirror breaks – The wind blows the tapestry – or the parting of the willow branches where she sees the boat. Nonetheless, after 102 years we finally have the original version of La Dame de Shalott and we must thank Haruka Miyazaki for her resourcefulness and dedication. Meticulous care has been taken in the production of this CD, however the empty concert hall acoustic proved a little too reverberant to my ears to suit a sense of ‘outdoors’ in La Fauvette des Jardins. ©M.Ball Olivier Messiaen Live: Improvisations inédites La Praye Disques I stumbled on La Praye, a tiny web site and equally tiny independent label specializing in music for the organ, purely by chance. Based in Rully, France and Montreal, Quebec their small but highly significant catalogue revealed this 2 CD set of Messiaen improvising at the organ of La Trinité. That these recordings came about at all is something of a small two pronged miracle, and is thanks to the ingenuity of Olivier Glandaz the organ builder who since 1977 has been responsible for the maintenance of the organ at La Trinité. It was his idea to make recordings of Messiaen's improvisations during some of the religious ceremonies and Sunday Masses at the church. The other prong of this small miracle is down to Maxime Patel the producer of the CD. Apparently Maxime Patel was approached by Jeanne Loriod in 2001 with an idea to mark the 10th anniversary of Messiaen's death with a release of a CD including Fête des Belles Eaux. Sadly this project was never realized due to the sudden death of Jeanne Loriod the same year. So Patel decided to honour the occasion with the release of these improvisations. Olivier Glandaz recorded these improvisations between 1984 and 1987 using 'non professional' equipment and thanks to the remastering skills of Laurent Olivier we are presented with nearly two and a half hours of the maître at work. Armed only with his little well used book of Gregorian chant melodies, Messiaen weaves his magic over an often spellbound congregation who respond with spontaneous applause giving thanks for bringing into focus musically the lesson that had been read. There are 29 improvisations in all displaying all aspects of Messiaen's organ technique and fondness for the characteristic combination registers of the Trinité organ in styles ranging from the sublime Priére du Christ montant vers son Pére (L'Ascension) and Priére avant la communion (Livre du Saint Sacrement) to fiery toccata moments a la Dieu Parmi Nous. Organ music has always been notorious to record because of the inherent nature of location. The rumble of traffic, the slamming of the odd door has to be accepted on the best recordings and yes there is background noise and yes there is the odd clunking of furniture down below in the church but this never dims the experience of hearing this music in the spirit it was performed and for those of us who were never lucky enough to be part of the congregation at La Trinité these recordings are surely the next best thing. There is a DVD available (see 'resources' page) which features Messiaen improvising, again an invaluable document but one which lacks the spontaneity induced by a 'live' audience or congregation and that's what makes these CDs so important both to the Messiaen scholar and the interested listener. Sadly these CDs are no longer available commercially (2020) Dame Gillian Weir and Olivier Messiaen GILLIAN WEIR THE LEGENDARY MESSIAEN RECORDINGS REISSUED "Our generation is the fortunate recipient of this remarkable testament to Gillian Weir's intellectual, spiritual and musical affinity with Messiaen's music. Messiaen's own recordings inspire us, but Gillian Weir's transport us to a seemingly ideal plane, where music, technique and organ sound blend into something greater than their parts." [Organists' Review, February 1995] In the year which marks the 10th Anniversary of the composer's death, Priory Records announces the reissue on its own label of Gillian Weir's legendary recordings of the complete organ works of Olivier Messiaen. When the set was originally issued by Collins Classics, critics all over the world were unanimous not only in their praise of the performances, but also in their respect for the fundamental musical affinity between performer and composer. "This corpus of organ music - incontrovertibly the most profound and significant of the twentieth century - has here found a recording which in itself is a landmark in the history of recorded sound" wrote one critic. "There is no doubt that Gillian Weir's recording of the complete Messiaen is the reference by which all other performances will now be judged", wrote another. BBC Music Magazine chose the set as one of its "Best CD's of 1994". The complete cycle - which Messiaen personally urged Gillian Weir to commit to CD - was recorded on the famous organ of Aarhus Cathedral in Denmark during January and February 1994: the original recordings were made in association with BBC Radio 3. Priory have remastered the recordings and made the series available separately for the first time: there are four single CD's, and one double CD, the latter including the Livre du Saint Sacrement. Dame Gillian herself has written booklet notes for the series, reflecting many decades of association with the composer and his organ music. The first CD [PRCD 921 - La Nativite du Seigneur, Le Banquet Celeste, L'Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle] was issued on 29 October 2002 when Dame Gillian opened the 2002/3 Organ Recital series at London's Royal Festival Hall. These are superb recordings and Priory have done a magnificent job in making them available again with excellent presentation enhanced by Mark Rowan-Hull's artwork inspired and based on Messiaen's music. The fifth and sixth volume are combined into this final 2-CD set. The works include Livre du Sacrement, and three new additional works published after Messiaen's death: • Prélude • Monodie • Offrande au Saint Sacrement These three pieces were not in the original issue of this series, but were recently recorded for this re-release series on the same organ at Århus Cathedral. This disc also contains an exceptional 30-page booklet that is becoming a notable hallmark of each disc in this series: • Notes by the player herself, recognised as a Messiaen authority throughout the world, writer on his organ music in Faber's The Messiaen Companion, and and able to give unique insights into the way a performer thinks about the music; • Reproductions of original paintings by Mark Rowan-Hull who is famous for translating into visual terms his vision of the organ music of Messiaen; • Articles by distinguished scientists from Oxford and London Universities on the latest research into synaesthesia; • Stoplists of the Århus organ as well as La Trinité, with descriptions of Messiaen's experiences and changes he desired on that instrument; • List of organ works, when and if they were published and performed; • Timeline of important milestone's in Messiaen's life. “Gillian Weir's cycle remains the best of all, and she, playing the marvellous Frobenius instrument at Århus, brings that special spaciousness and intensity to the Livre that distinguishes her cycle as a whole... It is, quite simply, one of the finest organ recordings ever made.” Arnold Whittall, October 2004 Awards issue of Gramophone Visit Gillian Weir's Homepage The complete cycle - which Messiaen personally urged Gillian Weir to commit to CD - was recorded on the famous organ of Aarhus Cathedral in Denmark during January and February 1994: the original recordings were made in association with BBC Radio 3. Priory have remastered the recordings and made the series available separately for the first time: there are four single CD's, and one double CD, the latter including the Livre du Saint Sacrement. Dame Gillian herself has written booklet notes for the series, reflecting many decades of association with the composer and his organ music. The first CD [PRCD 921 - La Nativite du Seigneur, Le Banquet Celeste, L'Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle] was issued on 29 October 2002 when Dame Gillian opened the 2002/3 Organ Recital series at London's Royal Festival Hall. These are superb recordings and Priory have done a magnificent job in making them available again with excellent presentation enhanced by Mark Rowan-Hull's artwork inspired and based on Messiaen's music.

NEWS REAKTION BOOKS 1 May 2024 9781789148657 234 mm x 156 mm | 208 pages 20 illustrations Hardback | £25 World Rights: Reaktion OLIVIER MESSIAEN A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY This groundbreaking biography offers fresh perspectives on the life, ideas and music of French twentieth-century composer, organist and ornithologist Olivier Messiaen. Drawing on previously unexplored sketches and archival material, Robert Sholl seamlessly combines elements of biography, musicology, theology, philosophy, psychoanalysis and aesthetics to present a nuanced perspective on Messiaen’s work. This book examines the profound impact of Messiaen’s devout Catholicism, which found expression through his work as a church organist, his engagement with birdsong, his interaction with Surrealism and his influence on major musical figures of the latter twentieth century. Unlike previous biographies, this book also considers the perspectives of Messiaen’s contemporaries and students, providing a comprehensive understanding of his life and artistic legacy. THE WINNERS OF THE 2022 EDITION OF THE OLIVIER MESSIAEN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION After a high-flying final, the jury consisting of great specialists of the organ and Olivier Messiaen presented the prizes for the 2022 edition: OLIVIER MESSIAEN GRAND PRIX: Lukas Nagel - SECOND PRIZE: Luca Akaeda Santesson - THIRD PRIZE: Pierre-Francois Purson - FOURTH PRIZE: Kasumi Hamano - PRIZE FOR THE BEST INTERPRETATION OF OLIVIER MESSIAEN'S WORKS: Luca Akaeda Santesson - AWARD FOR THE BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW WORK: Lukas Nagel - PUBLIC AWARD : Kasumi Hamano A big congratulations to all the candidates and winners! Cleveland Museum of Art unearths archive recording of Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod 2 piano concert of 1978 On the occasion of the 70th birthday of Olivier Messiaen, the Cleveland Museum of Art invited the composer to perform a two-piano concert with his wife, Yvonne Loriod, on October 13, 1978, in Gartner Auditorium. This remarkable recording, which captures a rare instance of Messiaen at the piano performing his own music, marks the launch of the CMA Recorded Archive Editions Click here for more background information and the audio files. It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of Claude Samuel, who past away on June 14 2020 in Paris, at the age of 88 years old. A true titan of journalism and French music radio, Claude Samuel is also an emblematic figure in the history of Radio France as producer and Music Director of Radio France (1989 to 1996). ​ A graduate in medicine in dental surgery, Claude Samuel also followed musical studies at the Schola Cantorum with Daniel-Lesur. Very early on, he joined the world of journalism and the music press, but also the world of radio, a medium for which he produced nearly 1,000 programs for France Culture and France Musique. Passionate about contemporary music, Claude Samuel was at the inception of numerous competitions and festivals which allowed him to encourage and promote this music to an ever wider audience. In 1967, as part of the Royan International Festival of Contemporary Art (1965-1972), he launched the "Messiaen competition " for the contemporary piano. He continued this role with the Festival des arts de Persépolis (1967-1970) and the International Meetings of Contemporary Art in La Rochelle (1973-1979), then the Rencontres de Musique Contemporain in Metz and the Festival of Traditional Arts in Reindeer. He was also the initiator of several City of Paris competitions, such as the Jean-Pierre Rampal flute competition, the Maurice André trumpet competition, the Martial Solal piano-jazz competition and the Étienne Vatelot violin-making and archery competition. . First appointed adviser for programming and production at Radio France, Claude Samuel occupied the position of Music Director from 1990. In the same year, he launched the first edition of the festival "Présences", a contemporary music festival which brought together a large and varied audience. Claude Samuel was also the confidant of the greatest contemporary composers of his time, notably Olivier Messiaen , of whom he was the author of biographies and collections of interviews, as well as Pierre Boulez and Iannis Xenakis . In the early 1960's he was head of the Vega record label that launched Domain Musical recordings with Boulez and many first edition recordings of Messiaen. Jennifer Bate OBE, BA (Hons), Hon DMus (Bristol), FRCO, ARCM, LRAM, FRSA (1944-2020) Sir Andrew Parmley . Director of the Royal College of Organists With great sadness the College has learned of the death of Jennifer Bate. She was the daughter of H A Bate, organist of St James, Muswell Hill, in London, and studied theory and composition with him from a young age. She became a member of the RCO in July 1966 and within a year had achieved both ARCO and FRCO. She became a favourite at all the world’s great festivals, performing in over 40 countries: last year she celebrated a 50-year career as a full-time professional organist. Her father emphasized the importance of working with living composers, inviting them to come and hear her playing their music and advise her on how to play it better - leading to long-standing friendships with composers including Sir Lennox Berkeley, Peter Dickinson, Flor Peeters and Peter Racine Fricker. Jennifer was recognised as the world authority on the organ works of Olivier Messiaen with whom she worked extensively. She gave the British premiere of his Livre du Saint Sacrament, and her recording of the work won a Grand Prix du Disque. In 2011, President Sarcozy appointed her to the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, with the citation Organiste, Spécialiste de l’oeuvre de Messiaen. The same year, the French government also awarded her the rank of Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her work worldwide to help French organ music capture a wider audience. As well as the works of Messiaen, Jennifer’s discography includes the music of Elgar, Stanford, Whitlock, the Wesleys and their contemporaries, and the complete organ works of Franck and Mendelssohn. Composers including William Mathias and Naji Hakim wrote for her, and her own compositions for organ, written for concert performance rather than liturgical use, were frequently commissioned for particular events or instruments. Jennifer gave the opening celebrity recital at the Royal Festival Hall in 2014 after the refurbishment of the Hall and organ, and acted as organ consultant when the Harrison & Harrison organ at St James Muswell Hill, installed by her father after the war, required restoration, giving the reopening recital in October 2011. Jennifer pioneered programmes to introduce the organ to children. She was a Patron of the Society of Women Organists, formed last year, and her annual Jennifer Bate Organ Academy, now in its 15th year, is a unique course promoting all-round musicianship for young women. Peter Dickinson, The Guardian 30th March 2020 The organist Jennifer Bate, who has died aged 75 from cancer, was a leading exponent of the music of Olivier Messiaen . They met in 1975, when the composer and his wife, Yvonne Loriod , went to hear her play his music at St James’s, Muswell Hill, north London. Afterwards he asked her if she had heard his own recordings. She had not, but it emerged that she played exactly as he did and he was delighted. They kept in touch, and the uncanny rapport between them lasted until his death in 1992. He heard her play many times and wrote that she was “an excellent organist, not only for her virtuosity. She is a really accomplished musician who loves what she plays and knows how to make others love it too.” She supported many other living composers and made a CD of my own complete organ works and played them all over the world. Jennifer’s international career led her into some challenging situations. One organist in France was so angry he had not been asked to perform that he sabotaged her recital by locking doors, turning the power off and making noises during the programme. In Medellín, Colombia, she was not met because her contact failed to realise that she could be a woman. She once had to get to a recital at St Mark’s, Venice, by wading through the square in 2ft of water. Jennifer loved northern Italy, giving some 150 recitals there, and her constant tours outside Europe took her to Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean and South America. In her first two Proms appearances (1974-75) she played major organ works by Liszt. Her first recording, in 1978, featured the same composer, on the same Royal Albert Hall instrument. Her complete Messiaen is a landmark; so is the complete Mendelssohn , for which she supplied endings to some unfinished pieces, and a complete César Franck ; then came a whole series of British works including early music CDs of 18th century composers from John Stanley to Samuel Wesley, on instruments of the period. She was always concerned about the organs she was going to play, matching programmes carefully, and usually expected three days on which to rehearse. In 1986 she gave the British premiere of Messiaen’s two-hour Livre du Saint Sacrement in a sold-out Westminster Cathedral with the composer present. Her subsequent recording gained a Grand Prix du Disque. Born in London, Jennifer said of her mother, Dorothy (nee Hunt) that she was “the daughter of an organist, sister of an organist, married to an organist and eventually had me, yet another organist”. Her father, Horace, was the organist and choirmaster at St James’s Church, Muswell Hill, and a well-known teacher of the instrument. An only child, at the age of four Jennifer went to school able to read words as well as music. Her father was influential throughout his lifetime: he was a stern taskmaster, but his insight was invaluable. In her early teens Bate was a pianist but she realised that her hands were too small. So her father showed her what the organ could do and she was hooked. She gained ARCM (1961) and LRAM (1963) diplomas in organ performance, with record high marks, but her father thought she needed a general education, so from Tollington school she went to Bristol University to study music. There her professor told her she would never make a living playing the organ, so on graduating in 1966 she became a librarian at the London School of Economics. Three years later, student disturbances there gave her three weeks off on full pay, during which she could learn major works at St James’s, and so encouraged her to return to music. In 1968 she had married the somewhat older organist George Thalben-Ball , having “fallen in love with his musicianship the first time she met him”. She looked after him during a serious illness, but they divorced in 1972. When Jennifer embarked on her career as an independent concert artist she had no teaching post to support her, but her tours abroad took off from 1970. For her first recital in Paris she invited the organist of Notre Dame and his assistant as well as the composers Duruflé and Langlais with their wives. They all came. In these years Jennifer started to open new organs and to broadcast for the BBC. She composed some pieces and recorded them, and in the new century ran an annual course for young women organists aged 13 to 21, the Jennifer Bate Organ Academy . She was also a fluent writer. Her many awards included being made chevalier of the Légion d’honneur (2011), and in Britain she received an honorary doctorate from Bristol University (2007) and was appointed OBE (2008). She was a radiant personality who endeared herself to everyone when she played, lectured or taught. Jennifer is survived by her partner, Andrew Roberts. • Jennifer Lucy Bate, organist, born 11 November 1944; died 25 March 2020 ​ See also Messiaen and Jennifer Bate here Jennifer Bate b.1944 d.2020 It is with sadness that we report the passing of Pascal Emmanuel Messiaen (b.1937) the only son of Olivier and Claire Delbos (Messiaen's first wife). Pascal passed away on 31st January 2020 and is survived by his wife Josette who he married in 1958. French punk rock artist nods to Messiaen! Didier Wampas and Bikini Machine Olivier Messiaen here LA FONDATION MESSIAEN ~ MESSIAEN FOUNDATION The Olivier Messiaen Foundation was formed to preserve and cherish the work of Olivier Messiaen, one of the major composers of contemporary music in France in the twentieth century. The Olivier Messiaen Foundation was created in 1995 under the aegis of the Fondation de France by his widow Yvonne Loriod Messiaen 3 years after the death of her husband. The foundation will enable the creation of a museum, concerts, master classes etc. at Petitchet in the Isère region of France and also contribute to the conservation of manuscripts, works annotations and belongings. Much of these documents have already been entrusted to the National Library of France (BNF). The Foundation also supports young composers and pianists, as well as researchers or authors dedicated to the work of Olivier Messiaen. ​ La Fondation Messiaen Maison Messiaen ARCHIVES OF OLIVIER MESSIAEN ASSIGNED TO BNF The Olivier Messiaen Foundation, under the aegis of the Fondation de France, told the BNF all manuscripts, archives, scores, records, books, photographs and objects collected by Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) and his wife Yvonne Loriod Messiaen (1924-2010), be held at the BNF forthwith. Messiaen himself had already given some documents in the 50's and others had been filed by Yvonne Loriod Messiaen after 1992. Nearly two hundred fifty linear meters of documents (manuscripts of his works, letters, books, photographs, sound recordings, programs) have now joined the departments of Music and Audiovisual in the National Library of France. The material will be gradually made available to researchers, musicians, music lovers worldwide. Fauvettes de L'Hérault - concert des garrigues - (work reconstructed by Roger Muraro) At the turn of the 1960s, Olivier Messiaen left unfinished the composition of a great concerto that he could have titled Les Oiseaux de l'Hérault. The work, for piano, several soloists and orchestra, was to respond to an official commission for the centenary of Claude Debussy, in 1962. The trip to Japan by Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod in the summer of 1962 disrupted the development of this concerto. The fascination that Messiaen had for this country inspires him indeed Sept Haïkaï for piano solo and small ensemble. Undoubtedly pressed by the deadlines, he resumed and adapted some of the themes of the concerto, to Sept Haïkaï. It is by mixing songs of birds of Japan and some of southern France that the composer would pay tribute to Debussy. If the first works found in the concerto propose a too brief orchestration, the score of the piano solo, on the other hand, is magnificent, brilliant and among the most daring of this period. Based on birds' notes taken in 1958 in the Hérault, the work reveals new songs, including the improvisations of a stunning polyglot Hypolaïs and warblers who compete with virtuosity. Taking again the indications of structure left by the author, Fauvettes de l'Hérault - garrigue concert is the title I chose to give to the piece for piano alone, among those evoked by Messiaen in the manuscripts of the concerto. I thank the Fondation Olivier Messiaen and the BnF for their unfailing support of my work. (Roger Muraro) Tokyo naturally imposed itself for the world premiere. Roger Muraro performed Fauvettes de l'Hérault - concert of the garrigues for piano solo, at Toppan Hall, on June 23, 2017, underlining in fact the close links between this new work and Sept Haïkaï. Hérault ***Messiaen world premiere at the BBC Proms 2015 thanks to Birmingham Conservatoire academic*** Christopher Dingle , Professor of Music at Birmingham Conservatoire, has devoted much of his professional career to studying Messiaen. The new piece Un oiseau des arbres de Vie will most likely be the last mature orchestral work to emerge from the catalogue of one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. The composition was previously intended for Messiaen’s final completed orchestral work Éclairs sur l’Au-Delà… (1987-91) and contained his familiar signature ‘Bien’ indicating the movement was complete. The movement lasts about four minutes and the material comes from Messiaen’s transcription of the song of the Tui, a New Zealand bird. A keen ornithologist, all of Messiaen’s music from the 1950s onwards includes birdsong, while much of his music expresses his Catholic faith. Christopher Dingle’s research on the piece was supported by the French Music Research Hub at Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, and he drew on over 20 years’ study of Messiaen’s oeuvre to fully realise the three-stave score. He said: “From everything we know of Messiaen, it is almost certain that he would have used this movement in another work had he lived longer – it is too good a piece to discard. I am hugely excited about hearing the piece, and this is likely to be the last premiere of a complete mature orchestral movement by Messiaen. “Birdsong was a fascination of his throughout his life, but he became more rigorous and scientific in his approach from the 1950s onwards. He filled many manuscript books with birdsong notations, and much of it was done in the field, but he also used recordings, working the birdsong into his compositions. “His use of birdsong is much more sophisticated than any other composer in terms of the species he represented, the interpretation of song, and the notation. He regarded birds as God’s musicians, almost like angels.” Un oiseau des arbres de Vie is a challenging piece. The orchestra is very large, the woodwind section including seven flutes and eight clarinets, while there is also plenty of tuned and unpitched percussion, and multiple changes of tempo. Dingle added: “It’s fast and furious, with the song flying around the instruments and continually punctuated by a punchy gesture for the whole orchestra. I think it will be breath-taking for the audience and leave the conductor and orchestra breathless!” The world premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s Un oiseau des arbres de Vie took place on 7 August at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms. It was performed by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Nicholas Collon. Passerinette The eagerly awaited recording of La Fauvette Passerinette by Peter Hill relased by Delphian DCD34141. La Fauvette Passerinette – a Messiaen world premiere, with birds, homages and landscapes (Messiaen, Stockhausen, Ravel, Anderson, Dutilleux, Sculthorpe, Young, Takemitsu,Murail and Benjamin). The Gillian Weir Messiaen Prize will be awarded annually for the next 10 years for the best performance by a student at Birmingham City University’s Royal Birmingham Conservatoire of a work or works by French composer Olivier Messiaen. During her illustrious international career, Dame Gillian has been particularly renowned for her performances of Messiaen’s organ music; she made the first commercial recording of the complete works, gave the UK première from the composer's manuscript of the ‘Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité’, and has written, lectured and broadcast extensively on his music. Concerning the gift, she spoke of her admiration of the work being done in the Conservatoire’s Organ Department and congratulated them on their glowing international reputation. The award was facilitated by Conservatoire organ tutor Henry Fairs, whose own career has also included complete performances of the composer’s music. Daniel Moult, the current Head of Organ Studies, commented: “All of us in the Organ Department are honoured and delighted that Dame Gillian should aid our students in such a generous and palpable way. Many young musicians are in need of every conceivable financial assistance, and this prestigious prize will be much coveted and appreciated for years to come in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.” Part of Birmingham City University, the new Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a unique contemporary building, incorporating five public performance spaces including a new 500 seat concert hall for orchestral training and performance, a purpose-built organ studio and private rehearsal and practice rooms. Furthermore, as the first purpose built conservatoire in the UK since 1987, the £57 million institution which opened last year is the only one of its kind in the country designed for the demands of the digital age. The Organ Studio at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, for example, houses a Eule Pipe organ with extensive plans for additional new instruments, and features overhead performance lighting and a Dante audio network for flexible location recording purposes. The venue has a distinctive shape and tranquil atmosphere created by natural light flooding onto the pale wood of the interior. It is completely flexible in terms of the set-up and layout of the performance area and audience seating. Meanwhile, organ music plays a vital role in the life of the city of Birmingham, with regular recitals given by City Organist Thomas Trotter and guests on the Town Hall’s historic instrument by William Hill and Symphony Hall’s Klais organ. Birmingham is also home to the libraries of the Royal College of Organists and the British Institute of Organ Studies. The first Gillian Weir Messiaen Prize competition will took place at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, with the winner awarded £1,000. See Gillian Weir's Homepage