List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen

This is a list of compositions by Olivier Messiaen.

Published during his lifetime

Le banquet cleste, organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece Le banquet
eucharistique[1] )
Prludes, piano (192829)
Diptyque, organ (1930)
La mort du nombre (Numbers death), soprano, tenor, violin and piano (1930)
Les orandes oublies (The forgotten oerings), orchestra (1930)
Trois mlodies, song cycle (1930)
Le tombeau resplendissant, orchestra (1931)
Apparition de l'glise ternelle (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] )
Thme et variations, violin and piano (1932)
L'ascension (The Ascension), orchestra (193233; organ version including replacement movement, 193334)
La Nativit du Seigneur (The Lords nativity), organ (1935)
Pice pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas, piano, (1935)
Vocalise, voice and piano (1935)
Pomes 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 n du temps (Quartet for the end of time), violin, cello, clarinet, piano (194041)
Rondeau, piano (1943)
Visions de l'Amen (Visions of the Amen), two pianos (1943)
Trois petites Liturgies de la Prsence Divine (Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence), womens voices,
piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (194344)
Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jsus (Twenty gazes on the Christ-child), piano (1944)
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PUBLISHED DURING HIS LIFETIME

Messiaen in 1930

Harawi: Chants d'amour et de mort, (Harawi: Songs of love and death) song cycle (1944)
Turangalla-Symphonie, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (194648)
Cinq rchants, 12 singers (1948)

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Cantyodjay, piano (1949)
Messe de la Pentecte ("Pentecost mass), organ (194950)
Quatre tudes de rythme (Four studies in rhythm), piano (194950)
1. le de feu 1
2. Mode de valeurs et d'intensits
3. Neumes rhythmiques
4. le de feu 2
Le merle noir (Blackbird), ute and piano (1952[3] )
Livre d'orgue, organ (195152)
Rveil des oiseaux (Dawn chorus), solo piano and orchestra (1953)
Oiseaux exotiques (Exotic birds), solo piano and orchestra (195556)
Catalogue d'oiseaux (Bird catalogue), piano (195658)
Book 1
i Le chocard des alpes ("Alpine chough")
ii Le loriot ("Golden oriole") (loriot and Loriod are homophones)
iii Le merle bleu ("Blue rock thrush")
Book 2
iv Le traquet stapazin ("Black-eared wheatear")
Book 3
v La chouette hulotte ("Tawny owl")
vi L'alouette lulu ("Woodlark")
Book 4
vii La rousserolle earvatte ("Reed warbler")
Book 5
viii L'alouette calandrelle ("Short-toed lark")
ix La bouscarle ("Cettis warbler")
Book 6
x Le merle de roche ("Rock thrush")
Book 7
xi La buse variable ("Buzzard")
xii Le traquet rieur ("Black wheatear")
xiii Le courlis cendr ("Curlew")
Chronochromie (Time-colour), orchestra (195960)
Verset pour la fte de la ddicace, organ (1960)
Sept haka (Seven haikus"), solo piano and orchestra (1962)
Couleurs de la cit cleste (Colours of the Celestial City), solo piano and ensemble (1963)
Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (And I await the resurrection of the dead), wind, brass and percussion
(1964)
La Transguration de Notre Seigneur Jsus-Christ (The Transguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ), large 10part chorus, piano solo, cello solo, ute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimba solo, vibraphone solo, large orchestra
(196569)
Mditations sur le mystre de la Sainte Trinit (Meditations on the mystery of the Holy Trinity), organ (1969)

REFERENCES

La fauvette des jardins ("Garden warbler"), piano (1970)

Des Canyons aux toiles (From the canyons to the stars"), solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo
xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players (197174)
Saint-Franois d'Assise (St. Francis of Assisi), opera (197583)
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 quatre (Quadruple concerto), piano, ute, oboe, cello and orchestra (199091, unnished completed by Loriod and Benjamin)
Pice pour piano et quatuor cordes (Piece for piano and string quartet) (1991)
Eclairs sur l'au-del (Flashes on the beyond), orchestra (198892)

Published posthumously

A number of works exist which were not published in Messiaens 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 cossaises, 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)
Fte des belles eaux, for six ondes Martenots (1937)
Musique de scne pour un dipe, electronic (1942)
Chant des dports, chorus and orchestra (1946)
Timbres-dures, musique concrte (1952), realised by Pierre Henry in the radiophonic workshop of French
radio, an experiment which Messiaen later deemed a failure[4]
Feuillets inedits, for piano and ondes Martenot (unknown, published in 2001)

References
Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone (2005). Messiaen. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 0-30010907-5.
Olivier Messiaen and Claude Samuel (tr. E. Thomas Glasgow) (1994). Conversations with Claude Samuel.
Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon. ISBN 0-931340-67-5.

Notes
[1] Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 25
[2] Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 120
[3] Hill & Simeone (2005), pp. 199, outlines the chronology of Messiaens compositions of 195152 Le merle noir and Livre
d'orgue
[4] Messiaen & Samuel (1994), p. 198

External links
A comprehensive and annotated works list, hosted by the Boston University Messiaen Project.

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6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text
List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Olivier_Messiaen?oldid=
734514510 Contributors: Karol Langner, Jashiin, RobertG, Korg, David Underdown, Stevouk, SmackBot, Siorse, Al Pereira, Ron Oliver,
Jerome Kohl, TXiKiBoT, Ebrownless, Feline Hymnic, Addbot, Cote d'Azur, Luckas-bot, Ptbotgourou, Citation bot, Rigaudon, EmausBot,
Moswento, Xanchester, Tijd-jp, Wikispaghetti, Yuval Filmus, Napalatt, Narky Blert and Anonymous: 8

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