Messiaen Masterworks
Messiaen Masterworks
ChicAGO Chapter AGO Celebrates the
100th Anniversary of the Birth of Olivier Messiaen
November 23, 2008 - 3:00 PM
St. Peter’s RC Church in the Loop
110 West Madison Street, Chicago
PROGRAM
Les corps glorieux (1939) Bodies in Glory
Le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité -The Mystery of the Holy Trinity
(Zvonimir Nagy - Organ)
O sacrum convivium (1937) O Sacred Banquet
(Schola Cantorum Cathedralis / Dr. H. Ricardo Ramirez - Director)
Messe de la Pentecôte (1949/50) Pentecost Mass
Communion (les oiseaux et les sources) - Communion (the Birds and the Springs)
(Andrew Fredel - Organ)
L’Ascension (1933/34) - Ascension Day
I. Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père - Majesty of Christ Praying that His Father should Glorify Him
II. Alleluias serein d’une âme qui désire le ciel - Serene Alleluias from a Soul Longing for Heaven
III. Transports de joie d’une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne - Transports of Joy from a Soul Before the Glory of Christ which is its Own
Glory
IV. Prière du Christ montant vers son Père - Prayer of Christ Ascending Towards His Father
(Dr. H. Ricardo Ramirez - Organ)
Intermission
(The last half of the Messiaen program will be held in the Auditorium downstairs.)
Poèmes pour Mi (1937) Poems for Mi
Paysage - Landscape
L’epouse - The Spouse
(Katherine Gray Noon - Soprano/Zvonimir Nagy - Piano
Quatuor pour la fin du temps (1940/41) Quartet for the End of Time
Liturgie de Cristal - Liturgy of Crystal
Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus - Praise to the Immortality of Jesus
(Melody Turner - Violin, Zvonimir Nagy - Piano)
La Mort du nombre (1930) The Death of Numbers
(Katherine Gray Noon - Soprano/Stephen Noon - Tenor Melody Turner - Violin/ Dr. H. Ricardo Ramirez - Piano)
Catalogue d’oiseaux (1956/58) - Catalogue of Birds
L’Alouette Lulu - The Wood Lark
(Zvonimir Nagy - Piano)
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Olivier Messiaen (born in Avignon) was a pupil of Paul Dukas at the Paris Conservatory. He became organist of La Trinite in Paris in 1931 and taught at the Schola Cantorum and the Ecole Normale de Musique (1936-39). In 1942 he was appointed professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught such 20th-century figures as Boulez and Stockhausen. Messiaen’s music is remarkably original and personal, rich in color and texture. It draws from many schools and styles, including electronic and serial music, and is often based on scale formulas of his own invention or on his studies of Asian music and birdsong. His compositions also reflect his profound religious mysticism, which is also expounded in his didactic prose works.
(© Chicago Chapter of the American Guild of Organists)
