List of compositions by Olivier Messiaen

Musical compositions by Olivier Messiaen.

Published during his lifetime

*"Le banquet céleste", organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece "Le banquet eucharistique" [Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 25] )
*"Préludes", piano (1928-29)
*"Diptyque", organ (1930)
*"La mort du nombre" ("Number's death"), soprano, tenor, violin and piano (1930)
*"Les offrandes oubliées" ("The forgotten offerings"), orchestra (1930)
*"Trois mélodies", song cycle (1930)
*"Le tombeau resplendissant", orchestra (1931)
*"Apparition de l'église éternelle" ("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 [Hill & Simeone (2005), p. 120] )
*"Thème et variations", violin and piano (1932)
*"L'Ascension" ("The Ascension"), orchestra (1932-33; organ version including replacement movement, 1933-34)
*"La Nativité du Seigneur" ("The Lord's nativity"), organ (1935)
*"Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas", piano, (1935)
*"Vocalise", voice and piano (1935)
*"Poèmes 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 fin du temps" ("Quartet for the end of time"), violin, cello, clarinet, piano (1940-41)
*Rondeau, piano (1943)
*"Visions de l'Amen" ("Visions of the Amen"), two pianos (1943)
*"Trois Petites liturgies de la Présence Divine" ("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence"), women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1943-44)
*"Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus" ("Twenty gazes on the Christ-child"), piano (1944)
*"Harawi: Chants d'amour et de mort", ("Harawi: Songs of love and death") song cycle (1944)
*"Turangalîla-Symphonie", piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1946-48)
*"Cinq réchants", 12 singers (1948)
*"Cantéyodjayâ", piano (1949)
*"Messe de la Pentecôte" ("Pentecost mass"), organ (1949-50)
*"Quatre études de rythme" ("Four studies in rhythm"), piano (1949-50)
*# "Île de feu 1"
*# "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités"
*# "Neumes rhythmique"
*# "Île de feu 2"
*"Le merle noir" ("Blackbird"), flute and piano (1952 [Hill & Simeone (2005), pp. 199ff, outlines the chronology of Messiaen's compositions of 1951-52 "Le merle noir" and "Livre d'orgue"] )
*"Livre d'orgue", organ (1951-2)
*"Réveil des oiseaux" ("Dawn chorus"), solo piano and orchestra (1953)
*"Oiseaux exotiques" ("Exotic birds"), solo piano and orchestra (1955-56)
*"Catalogue d'oiseaux" ("Bird catalogue"), piano (1956-58)
**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 effarvatte" ("Reed warbler")
**Book 5
***viii "L'alouette calandrelle" ("Short-toed lark")
***ix "La bouscarle" ("Cetti's 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 cendré" ("Curlew")
*"Chronochromie" ("Time-colour"), orchestra (1959-60)
*"Verset pour la fête de la dédicace", organ (1960)
*"Sept haïkaï" ("Seven haikus"), solo piano and orchestra (1962)
*"Couleurs de la cité céleste" ("Colours of the Celestial City"), solo piano and ensemble (1963)
*"Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum" ("And we await the resurrection of the dead"), wind, brass and percussion (1964)
*"La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ" ("The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ"), large 10-part chorus, piano solo, cello solo, flute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimba solo, vibraphone solo, large orchestra (1965-69)
*"Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité" ("Meditations on the mystery of the Holy Trinity"), organ (1969)
*"La fauvette des jardins" ("Garden warbler"), piano (1970)
*"Des Canyons aux étoiles…" ("From the canyons to the stars…"), solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players (1971-74)
*"Saint-François d'Assise" ("St. Francis of Assisi"), opera (1975-1983)
*"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 à quatre" ("Quadruple concerto"), piano, flute, oboe, cello and orchestra (1990-91, completed Loriod and Benjamin)
*"Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes" ("Piece for piano and string quartet") (1991)
*"Eclairs sur l'au-delà" ("Flashes on the beyond"), orchestra (1988-92)

Published posthumously

A number of works exist which were not published in Messiaen's 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 écossaises", for organ (1928)
*"Fantaisie", for violin and piano (1933, published 2007 - see [http://www.paulfesta.com/messiaen_fantaisie.htm this note] on errors in the score)
*Mass, 8 sopranos and 4 violins (1933)
*"Fêtes des belles eaux", for six ondes Martenots (1937)
*"Musique de scène pour un Œdipe", electronic (1942)
*"Chant des déportés", chorus and orchestra (1946)
*"Timbres-durées", musique concrète (1952), realised by Pierre Henry in the radiophonic workshop of French radio, an experiment which Messiaen later deemed a failure [Messiaen & Samuel (1994), p. 198]

References

*cite book|title=Messiaen|author=Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone|publisher=Yale University Press, New Haven and London|year=2005|id=ISBN 0-300-10907-5
*cite book|title=Conversations with Claude Samuel|author=Olivier Messiaen and Claude Samuel (tr. E. Thomas Glasgow)|publisher=Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon|year=1994|id=ISBN 0-931340-67-5

Notes

External links

* [http://oliviermessiaen.net/lifeandworks/music/bytitle.html oliviermessiaen.net] A comprehensive and annotated works list, hosted by the Boston University Messiaen Project.