December 20, 2010

Beethoven's 240th birthday anniversary eclipsed several events that are very much worth noting. One of the greatest composers of the 20th century, Olivier Messiaen, was born on December 10, 1908. Messiaen was a bird-lover (as was one of his heroes, St. Francis of Assisi), considered himself an ornithologist, and incorporated birdsongs in many of his compositions. During World War II he spent a year in a prison camp where he composed one of his most profound pieces, Quartet for the End of Time (Quatuor pour la fin du temps). Here is Première communion de la vierge, from Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus, played by the French pianist Jean-François Latour. And yes, you can hear the birds.

Another great French composer, Hector Berlioz, was born on December 12, 1803. Even though musically Messiaen and Berlioz are worlds apart, a historical curiosity links the two: for many years Messiaen worked as an organist at the church of Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris - the same church in which Berlioz's funeral was held on March 11, 1869. Berlioz wrote operas, songs, but is probably best remembered as a great symphonist. Here is the first movement, "Rêveries - Passions" (Daydreams - Passions) of his Symphonie Fantastique in the old noncommercial recording by Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the direction of Igor Markevitch.

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