MESSIAEN, Olivier

MESSIAEN, Olivier (10 December 1908–27 April 1992). While Messiaen is among the most widely recorded, and highly regarded, of twentieth-century composers, he is still frequently mischaracterized, particularly in the United States. Certain elements of his style—the use of repetition, the incorporation of birdsong—have been deemed banal or perverse by those who lack a proper understanding of his basic orientation. Most fundamentally, Messiaen was unconcerned with forward-moving harmonic…