Top 8 Quotes & Sayings by Olivier Messiaen

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Last updated on December 25, 2024.
Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically and melodically he employs a system he called modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from the systems of material generated by his early compositions and improvisations. He wrote music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, vocal music, as well as for solo organ and piano, and also experimented with the use of novel electronic instruments developed in Europe during his lifetime.

I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them, make rhythms for those who know only military marches or jazz, and paint colors for those who see none.
No one should be allowed to make music as if he were made of wood. One must reproduce the musical text exactly, but not play like a stone.
My faith is the grand drama of my life. I'm a believer, so I sing words of God to those who have no faith. — © Olivier Messiaen
My faith is the grand drama of my life. I'm a believer, so I sing words of God to those who have no faith.
The human being is flesh and consciousness, body and soul; his heart is an abyss which can only be filled by that which is godly.
My faith is the grand drama of my life. I'm a believer, so I sing words of God to those who have no faith. I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities and have never heard them, make rhythms for those who know only military marches or jazz, and paint colors for those who see none.
It's probable that in the artistic hierarchy birds are the greatest musicians existing on our planet.
A true music, that is to say, spiritual, a music which may be an act of faith; a music which may touch upon all subjects without ceasing to touch upon God; an original music, in short, whose language may open a few doors, take down some yet distant stars.
Birds are the first and the greatest performers.
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