List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen

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Musical compositions by Olivier Messiaen.

Contents

[edit] Published during his lifetime

  • Le banquet céleste, organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece Le banquet eucharistique[1])
  • Préludes, piano (1928-29)
  • Dyptique, organ (1930)
  • La mort du nombre ("Number's death"), soprano, tenor, violin and piano (1930)
  • Les offrandes oubliées ("The forgotten offerings"), orchestra (1930)
  • Trois mélodies, song cycle (1930)
  • Le tombeau resplendissant, orchestra (1931)
  • Apparition de l'église éternelle ("Apparition of the eternal church"), organ (1932)
  • Fantaisie burlesque, piano (1932)
  • Hymne au Saint Sacrament ("Hymn to the Holy Sacrament"), orchestra (1932, lost 1943, reconstructed from memory 1946[2])
  • Thème et variations, violin and piano (1932)
  • L'Ascension ("The Ascension"), orchestra (1932-33; organ version including replacement movement, 1933-34)
  • La Nativité du Seigneur ("The Lord's nativity"), organ (1935)
  • Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas, piano, (1935)
  • Vocalise, voice and piano (1935)
  • Poèmes pour Mi, song cycle (1936, orchestral version 1937)
  • O sacrum convivium!, choral motet (1937)
  • Chants de terre et de ciel ("Songs of earth and heaven"), song cycle (1938)
  • Les corps glorieux ("Glorious bodies"), organ (1939)
  • Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time"), violin, cello, clarinet, piano (1940-41)
  • Rondeau, piano (1943)
  • Visions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen"), two pianos (1943)
  • Trois Petites liturgies de la Présence Divine ("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence"), women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1943-44)
  • Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus ("Twenty gazes on the Christ-child"), piano (1944)
  • Harawi: Chants d'amour et de mort, ("Harawi: Songs of love and death") song cycle (1944)
  • Turangalîla-Symphonie, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1946-48)
  • Cinq réchants, 12 singers (1948)
  • Cantéyodjayâ, piano (1949)
  • Messe de la Pentecôte ("Pentecost mass"), organ (1949-50)
  • Quatre études de rythme ("Four studies in rhythm"), piano (1949-50)
    1. Île de feu 1
    2. Mode de valeurs et d'intensités
    3. Neumes rhythmique
    4. Île de feu 2
  • Le merle noir ("Blackbird"), flute and piano (1952[3])
  • Livre d'orgue, organ (1951-2)
  • Réveil des oiseaux ("Dawn chorus"), solo piano and orchestra (1953)
  • Oiseaux exotiques ("Exotic birds"), solo piano and orchestra (1955-56)
  • Catalogue d'oiseaux ("Bird catalogue"), piano (1956-58)
  • Chronochromie ("Time-colour"), orchestra (1959-60)
  • Verset pour la fête de la dédicace, organ (1960)
  • Sept haïkaï ("Seven haikus"), solo piano and orchestra (1962)
  • Couleurs de la cité céleste ("Colours of the Celestial City"), solo piano and ensemble (1963)
  • Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum ("And we await the resurrection of the dead"), wind, brass and percussion (1964)
  • La Transfiguration de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ ("The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ"), large 10-part chorus, piano solo, cello solo, flute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimba solo, vibraphone solo, large orchestra (1965-69)
  • Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité ("Meditations on the mystery of the Holy Trinity"), organ (1969)
  • La fauvette des jardins ("Garden warbler"), piano (1970)
  • Des Canyons aux étoiles… ("From the canyons to the stars…"), solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players (1971-74)
  • Saint-François d'Assise ("St. Francis of Assisi"), opera (1975-1983)
  • Livre du Saint Sacrament ("Book of the Holy Sacrament"), organ (1984)
  • Petites esquisses d'oiseaux ("Small sketches of birds"), piano (1985)
  • Un vitrail et des oiseaux ("Stained-glass window and birds"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1986)
  • La ville d'En-haut ("The city on high"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1987)
  • Un sourire ("A smile"), orchestra (1989)
  • Concert à quatre ("Quadruple concerto"), piano, flute, oboe, cello and orchestra (1990-91, completed Loriod and Benjamin)
  • Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes ("Piece for piano and string quartet") (1991)
  • Eclairs sur l'au-delà ("Flashes on the beyond"), orchestra (1988-92)

[edit] Published posthumously

A number of works exist which were not published in Messiaen's lifetime, including the following, some of which have been published posthumously, and some of which are lost.

  • La dame de Shallott, for piano (1917)
  • La banquet eucharistique, for orchestra (1928)
  • Variations écossaises, for organ (1928)
  • Fantaisie, for violin and piano (1933, published 2007 - see this note on errors in the score)
  • Mass, 8 sopranos and 4 violins (1933)
  • Fêtes des belles eaux, for six ondes Martenots (1937)
  • Musique de scène pour un Œdipe, electronic (1942)
  • Chant des déportés, chorus and orchestra (1946)
  • Timbres-durées, musique concrète (1952), realised by Pierre Henry in the radiophonic workshop of French radio, an experiment which Messiaen later deemed a failure[4]

[edit] References

  • Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone (2005). Messiaen. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 0-300-10907-5. 
  • Olivier Messiaen and Claude Samuel (tr. E. Thomas Glasgow) (1994). Conversations with Claude Samuel. Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon. ISBN 0-931340-67-5. 

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 25
  2. ^ Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 120
  3. ^ Hill & Simeone (2005), pp. 199ff, outlines the chronology of Messiaen's compositions of 1951-52 Le merle noir and Livre d'orgue
  4. ^ Messiaen & Samuel (1994), p. 198

[edit] External links

  • oliviermessiaen.net A comprehensive and annotated works list, hosted by the Boston University Messiaen Project.
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