account
basket
Challenge Records Int. Logo
"If you were music, I would listen to you ceaselessly, and my low spirits would brighten up." - Anna Akhmatova

Olivier Messiaen

The music by Olivier Messiaen is a combination of devout catholicism, extravagant imagination and love for nature. Initially, he made a name for himself by composing large-scale cycles and verbose titles. At several occasions, Messiaen explicated his intentions, which often included theology, symbology, and extensive considerations of colour, church modes and rhythm. Perhaps ironically, this colour composer was able to leave his mark on the less colourful avant-garde of the 1950s as well. With his 'Mode de valeurs et d'intensités', part 4 of his Quatre études de rythme, pointed the way for his students Stockhausen and Boulez, who developed serialism further.  Messiaen's own development is characterised by the integration of birg song, which he recorded in the wild with his sketchbook and tape recorder. The pinnacle of his work is his opera Saint François d'Assise. This colossol work is over four hours long. Its longest scene contains a giant bird choir, with bird species from Umbria (the home country of Saint François) to new Caledonia. 

Featured on

Various composers
Vers la flamme
Severin von Eckardstein
Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Amatis Trio & Ib Hausmann
Modest Mussorgsky, Maurice Ravel, Olivier Messiaen
Mussorgsky, Messiaen, Ravel
Peter Donohoe
25th Anniversary Box
Osiris Trio
Olivier Messiaen
Pour Mi
Liv Elise Nordskog / Signe Bakke
Various composers
Climate Changes
Jan Pas | Stefano Vismara
Olivier Messiaen
Chamber Works
James Clark / Philippe Honoré / Rachel Roberts / David Cohen / Kenneth Smith / Barnaby Robson
Olivier Messiaen, Jean Yves Daniel-Lesur, André Jolivet
French Choral Music 2
Nederlands Kamerkoor
Various composers
French Choral Music
Netherlands Chamber Choir