Olivier Messiaen
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was born in Avignon and died in Clichy. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at eleven, studied with Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, and took first prize in composition in 1930. He was organist of La Trinité in Paris from 1931 until his death. He wrote the Quatuor pour la fin du temps in 1940 while a prisoner at Stalag VIII-A, and the Turangalîla-Symphonie. His pupils included Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Harawi (1945), a song cycle, is the first of his three works on the Tristan and Isolde legend.
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was born in Avignon and died in Clichy. He entered the Paris Conservatoire at eleven, studied with Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, and took first prize in composition in 1930. He was organist of La Trinité in Paris from 1931 until his death. He wrote the Quatuor pour la fin du temps in 1940 while a prisoner at Stalag VIII-A, and the Turangalîla-Symphonie. His pupils included Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Harawi (1945), a song cycle, is the first of his three works on the Tristan and Isolde legend.
Turangalîla Symphony (2LP box)
1978 2LP box set on EMI with one of the most acclaimed recordings of the monumental 1948 masterpiece for orchestra, ondes martenot, piano and a wild array of percussion. Powerful and marvellous.
November Steps / Et exspecto resurrectionem (LP)
Appropriate pairing of two orchestral avant-garde masterpieces composed in the 1960's on Philip's 1970 LP in the "Collection Trésors Classiques".
Et Exspecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum / Couleurs De La Cité Céleste (LP)
1970's re-issue on Erato's "Musique De Notre Temps" contemporary music series of two powerful works from the 60's for orchestra and for piano, wind and percussion ensemble, conducted by Pierre Boulez and featuring Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
Cinq Rechants / O Sacrum Convivium! / Nuits (LP)
Choral music by Xenakis and Messiaen composed between 1938 and 1969, performed by the Groupe Vocal De France and released on Arion's "Musique française d'aujourd'hui" series in 1984
Evryali / Herma / Quatre Études De Rythme (LP)
1976 Japanese LP on Denon with piano music by Xenakis and Messiaen played by Yuji Takahashi. With inserts but no OBI.
George Bennette, Pianist Plays The Preludes Of Messiaen, The Fantasy Pieces Of Del Tredici, And Portrait By Helps (LP)
1970 recordings of piano music by Messiaen, Del Tredici and Helps released by Desto.
Les Bandar-log Op. 176 / Le Soleil Des Eaux / Chronochromie (LP)
1965 UK LP of post-serialist orchestral and vocal music performed by the BBC Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Pierre Boulez and Antal Dorati.
Les Bandar-log Op. 176 / Le Soleil Des Eaux / Chronochromie (LP)
1965 French LP of post-serialist orchestral and vocal music performed by the BBC Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Pierre Boulez and Antal Dorati.
Music For Solo Flute / Music For Flute And Piano (LP)
condition (record/cover): VG+ (surface noise) / EX (minimal spine wear) Gatefold sleeve. An essential collaboration between two titans of contemporary music interpretation! Severino Gazzelloni (1919-1992), the legendary Italian flutist who redefined the instrument's possibilities in the post-war avant-garde, joins forces with Aloys Kontarsky (1931-2017), the German pianist renowned for his definitive interpretations of Stockhausen, Boulez, and the European serialist repertoire. This Time Records…
Catalogue d’oiseaux & Petites esquisses d’oiseaux
Olivier Messiaen saw birds as his greatest teachers, capturing their songs with passion and precision. His piano works, especially Catalogue d’oiseaux and Petites esquisses d’oiseaux, translate birdsong into rich, colorful music. Messiaen’s fascination with rhythm, color, and nature shaped his compositions, blending ornithology with spirituality. Pianist Alfonso Gómez delivers an astonishing interpretation on this recording, adding to his acclaimed discography for this label. As Messiaen himself…
Études Pour Piano (- Premier Livre -) / Vingt Regards Sur L'Enfant-Jésus (Sélection)
2025 stock In 1985 György Ligeti created six piano studies. The exceptionally new of these studies is the possibility of having one player generate the vision of several different simultaneous tempo layers. The extremely high level of difficulty of these studies demands the pianist's utmost virtuosity. With Volker Banfield, Ligeti found the right pianist for his studies. The fourth study, 'Fanfares', is dedicated to Banfield. Olivier Messiaen's 'Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus', too, makes hug…
Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus
** In process of stocking ** “The mystery of incarnation is the most beautiful aspect of divinity – and it is the reason why I am a Christian. I do not consider the differences between Orthodox, Protestant or Catholic: a Christian is someone who understands that God has come.” This was taken from an interview with Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) where he talked about Christmas being the one festival in the Christian calendar most important to him. In his music about the incarnation of God, Messiaen…
Èclairs sur l'Au-Delà...
“I will say: I have given this flame to these eyes; I have drawn from the ambiguous smile of the moon […] these two naïve stars open to the infinite”, wrote the poetess Cécile Sauvage in 1908 to her unborn son, Olivier Messiaen. It is amazing that the poem in a sense expresses in a prophetic manner Messiaen’s interest in and passion for themes that were to accompany him throughout his life: the cosmos, infinity. It goes without saying that the poetic lifestyle of his mother was to have a strong …
Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus (from Quatuor pour la fin du temps) - 10"
Louange à l'éternité de Jésus is the fifth movement for cello and piano from Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time), adapted here for cello and organ. It was composed while Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Stalag VIII-A, Görlitz, Germany, and first performed with other detained musicians inside the Nazi camp in January 1941. Inspired by the Book of Revelation, this music invokes the composers vision of "immutable peace", in its infinitely slow, ecstatic pa…
Harawi
Olivier Messiaen's Harawi (1945), a cycle of twelve songs for soprano and piano on the composer's own text, sung by Sarah Maria Sun with Stefka Perifanova, on a deluxe 2LP set with a 12-page book.
Serenata I/Sonatine/Canteyodjaya/Zeitmasze
**Edition of 500. 180 gram vinyl** Fantôme Phonographique present a reissue of Serenata I/Sonatine/Canteyodjaya/Zeitmasze, originally released in 1958. The avant-garde composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was a titan of post-war experimental classical music. Born in the small cheesemaking town of Montrbrison in central France in 1925, Boulez studied at the Paris Conservatoire with the composer and organist Charles Messiaen and received private tuition from pianist Andrée Vaurabourg; after moving…
Among the Tarnished Stars / Quatuor pour la fin du temps
UK ensemble Apartment House performs two landmark works for the same instrumentation of violin, cello, clarinet and piano: Olivier Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1941) and Toronto based composer Linda Catlin Smith's Among the Tarnished Stars (1998). Released by Another Timbre in August 2019, this recording takes a fresh modern approach to the Messiaen, drawing out its experimental character, while revealing the sense of drama and intricate gradations of sonority in Smith's rich and mys…