Categories
20th Century French

MESSIAEN, Olivier

Olivier Messiaen

Born in Avignon, Dec 10, 1908
Died in Paris, April 27, 1992

  • Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and educator whose music was highly influenced by his Roman Catholic faith and non-European cultures, mainly Indian and Japanese.1
  • In the most basic terms, Messiaen’s musical voice was distinctive and highly personal, filled with unique harmonic language, complex rhythms, and overall richness.
  • As a professor at the Paris Conservatory, he instructed many of the next generation’s prominent composers, such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen.2

Biography
Composer’s website

Sources

  1. Paul Griffiths, “Messiaen, Olivier,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 1, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000018497.
  2. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Olivier Messiaen,” Encyclopedia Britannica (2022), accessed February 2, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olivier-Messiaen.

Pieces