Highly Personal Messiaen organ music - heard by GERALD FENECH 'An excellent introduction to Messiaen's unique sound-world ...'

Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was undoubtedly one of France's towering musical figures of the twentieth century. His highly personal musical language has as its basis the natural world, the music of Eastern cultures, and above all, the fragrance of his deep-rooted Catholicism. A talented pianist, Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1919 at the surprisingly young age of eleven, and in 1927 he became a pupil in Dupré's organ class, in spite of never having set eyes on an organ console. In 1931 he was appointed to the post of organist at the Eglise de la Sainte-Trinite in Paris after strong support for his candidacy by two of France's most eminent organ composers, Tournemire and Widor...

OLIVIER MESSIAEN

NAXOS

ORGAN MUSIC

EDINBURGH

SCOTLAND