Olivier Messiaen

At the time of his death in 1992, Olivier Messiaen was widely regarded as the greatest French composer of his day. He spent his childhood in Grenoble, where he became familiar with the world of literature and the theatre, and was still only eight when, discovering the rudiments of harmony, he wrote his first piano piece, La dame de Shalott. Three years later he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied the greatest number of subjects permissible. In 1928, Le banquet céleste for organ revealed the richness of a style that combines melodic and harmonic sensuality with a highly personal language in which he expressed the Catholic faith that sustained him throughout his life. He gradually drew upon other techniques, including plainsong and Greek metre, studying classical and modern writers and, above all, using in his music the thousands of birdcalls that he noted down in the course of his journeys to North America, Argentina, and Japan. His reputation continued to grow, and from 1931 until his death his improvisations on the organ at La Trinité in Paris drew audiences from near and far. He became professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire in 1941, exerting a lasting influence on many young composers, not least of whom was Pierre Boulez. Although performances of his works were sometimes attended by scandal, he was showered with official commissions and prestigious honours from all round the world. Among his undoubted masterpieces are his Quartet for the End of Time, his Turangalîla Symphony, and his only opera, Saint François d'Assise.