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Charm and Simplicity: Messiaen's final works

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Christopher Dingle
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Extract

Oliver Messiaen is a classically–minded composer with a strong affinity to Mozart, Rameau and Scarlatti. His often intimate music is full of irrepressible charm and frequently betrays a whimsical sense of humour. Simplicity of expression is Messiaen's overwhelming trait and while he has composed on a large scale, he has a penchant for miniatures …

Type
Research Article
Information
Tempo , Issue 192 , April 1995 , pp. 2 - 8
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

1 In conversation with Hill, Peter – ed. Hill, Peter: The Messiaen Companion, (London: Faber, 1995), p. 301 Google Scholar.

2 ibid..

3 ‘Illuminations of the Beyond’ – Éclairs literally means lightning flashes.

4 ‘A smile’.

5 He also composed a three minute miniature called Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes for the ninetieth birthday of Alfred Schlee (head of Universal Edition).

6 ‘Abide in Love…’.

7 ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes…’.

8 In the programme booklet for the world première.

9 See Revelation, 21:2.