MT&D Faculty and Students celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Olivier Messaien

September 2008

Elizabeth Goolian

Olivier Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time (Quatuor pour la fin du temps) will be performed on Monday, October 6, at 4:00 p.m. at Hill Auditorium as part of the 48th Conference on Organ Music, this year themed “The Music of France and Germany.”

Messiaen wrote the Quartet for the End of Time while a prisoner of war in a German camp in 1941. Of its premiere, before 400 fellow prisoners, Messiaen said, “Never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension.”

Composer, organist, and ornithologist, Olivier Messiaen was born in 1908. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and developed an original style that included innovations in harmony, melody, rhythm, and color (Messiaen had mild synaesthesia that caused him to see colors when he heard music). He also loved birdsong and incorporated it into his music, using what he called the “style oiseau.” He wrote music in every genre, making special contributions to the organ repertoire. His students included Pierre Boulez and Karl Stockhausen. The 48th Conference on Organ Music continues through Wednesday, October 8 (see calendar of events for details).

The Messiaen celebration at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance continues on Sunday, October 5 in a faculty recital by noted soprano Carmen Pelton, in a program that will include a selection from Messiaen’s 1930 song cycle Trois Mélodies.   Brian Connelly, a Professor of Piano at Rice University will present a guest recital on Tuesday, October 7, performing the Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. Then, on October 15 at 8:00 p.m. at Hill Auditorium, the University Symphony Band, Chamber Choir, and University Choir will perform Messiaen’s La Ville d’en haut (The City on High). Also on the bill that night is the Bruckner Mass in E Minor.