Olivier Messiaen’s brain linked various colors to the music he composed. He also embraced unorthodox artistic influences like ...

There can be little doubt that Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) is the most profoundly theological composer of the 20th century. Virtually all his pieces bear some form of explicit Christian intent or ...

Olivier Messiaen, it's safe to say, was a unique guy from the start. With a poet mother and a Shakespeare professor for a father, Messiaen was destined for a distinctive and eclectic life.

Loriod, the vessel for Olivier Messiaen’s piano works, had a rich musical life beyond him, which is captured in a new set of recordings. By Joshua Barone Alec Baldwin chooses Tchaikovsky. Darryl ...

Loriod, the vessel for Olivier Messiaen’s piano works, had a rich musical life beyond him, which is captured in a new set of recordings.

Where was composer Olivier Messiaen, and what was he thinking? He was holed up in his apartment with his wife and young son, finishing his longest and most audacious work up to that time.

Poet Michael Symmons Roberts gets to the heart of composer Olivier Messiaen's obsession with birdsong in this imaginative sonic trip through drama, music and poetry. Show more Poet Michael Symmons ...

Consider one of Messiaen’s early works for organ, La Nativité du Seigneur (The Nativity of the Savior, 1935). The titles of the nine meditations for organ that comprise this hour-long suite refer ...

The composer Olivier Messiaen sought to communicate the mystery of Christ to nonbelievers.

The life and work of the French composer Olivier Messiaen continue to fascinate. A mystic Catholic who sought inspiration from birdsong, vast empty canyons, stained-glass windows and his own ...

Conductors, like most music lovers, keep discovering music that is new to them. My own latest discovery is the Turangalîla-Symphonie, a mind-blowing 75-minute orchestral piece by Olivier Messiaen, ...

Olivier Messiaen, it's safe to say, was a unique guy from the start. With a poet mother and a Shakespeare professor for a father, Messiaen was destined for a distinctive and eclectic life.