L'Ascension

"L'Ascension" ("The Ascension") is a piece for orchestra, composed by Olivier Messiaen in 1932-33. Messiaen described it as "4 Meditations for orchestra".

The orchestral piece is in four brief sections:

# "Majesté du Christ demandant sa gloire à son Père" ("The majesty of Christ demanding its glory of the Father")
# "Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel" ("Serene alleluias of a soul that longs for heaven")
# "Alleluia sur la trompette, alleluia sur la cymbale" ("Alleluia on the trumpet, alleluia on the cymbal")
# "Prière du Christ montant vers son Père" ("Prayer of Christ ascending towards his Father")

A complete performance takes around 27 minutes.

Organ version

In 1933-34, Messiaen made a version for solo organ. The first, second and fourth movements are arrangements of the orchestral pieces, but Messiaen composed a new third movement, "Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne" ("Ecstasies of a soul before the glory of Christ, which is its own glory"), usually just known as "Transports de joie". (Audio|Messiaen-ascension-3-latry.ogg|listen).