The Music of Olivier Messiaen

There is one composer who I’ve never devoted a full show to that
fills me with the same devotion and ecstasy as the people who
claim that Wagner almost immediately dissolves them into tears.
His music is widely played, but it has never been totally
embraced by the wider classical music audience. There are a
variety of reasons for this, but his uniquely 20th century
language of tonality mixed with atonality mixed with something
completely different from anyone who has ever written music makes
it sometimes difficult to pin down his vast contribution to the
world of music. His music is as deeply connected to his religious
faith as any composer in history, and yes, that includes Bach.
His music is as deeply connected to Nature as any composer who
ever lived, and his music is tied directly to the colors he saw
as he played and listened to it. His name is Olivier Messiaen,
and he is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. I
wish I could describe to you the otherworldly feeling I get when
I listen to his music, but for a very long time, I shied away
from it.  Perhaps the reason is that it’s extremely hard to
talk about Messiaen’s musical outlook without talking about his
religious faith. I’m a non-religious Jewish person, so the depths
of devotion that Messiaen describes regularly as his inspirations
were and are foreign to me. And yet, the first time I heard his
L’Ascension, every single hair on my body seemed to stand on end.
I was completely blown away by these ravishing harmonies, how
light seemed to shine off of them, how Messiaen translated his
religious devotion into sound. I’ve not talked about Messiaen’s
music on the show because it’s not easy to grapple with, but I
can’t wait any longer. Today I’ll tell you a bit about Messiaen’s
life, his upbringing, his musical and religious revelations, and
then I’ll discuss some of his greatest pieces using three
frameworks - religion, nature and specifically birdsong, and
color. Join us!