Classical Music | Piano Music

Olivier Messiaen

Regard de première communion de la Vierge, from Vingt Regard sur l'Enfant Jésus  Play

Minju Choi Piano

Recorded on 08/24/2004, uploaded on 01/21/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Vingt Regard sur l'Enfant Jésus   Olivier Messiaen

 Première Communion de la Vierge

The vast cycle Vingt regards sur l'Enfant Jésus from which these three movements are taken was written in Paris in 1944.  As much as birdsong is a central component of much of Messiaen's work, so is an intense spirituality, lending inspiration to the cycle.  The premiere was received with strongly mixed reviews, sparking a war of words between critics that would continue for years.  Since then, it has become one of the most monumental and influential works of the 20th century.

Messiaen provided these notes on the <...> movements heard today:

Première Communion de la Vierge (First Communion of the Virgin): After the Annunciation, Mary adores Jesus within her...  "My God, my Son, my Magnificat!  My love without the sound of words"...

Minju Choi