Messiaen, O.: Poemes Pour Mi / Les Offrandes Oubliees / Un Sourire

Featuring

Jun Märkl
Anne Schwanewilms
Orchestre National de Lyon
Olivier Messiaen

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Composition History

Un sourire (A Smile) was Messiaen's response to a commission to write an orchestral piece 'in the spirit of Mozart' for the bicentenary of Mozart's death.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Messiaen was fascinated by birdsong since adolescence, describing birds as 'probably the greatest musicians to inhabit our planet'.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Messiaen explained that Un sourire paid tribute to Mozart's attitude to life, stating that despite hardships, Mozart 'always smiled. In his music and in his life'.

Composer Biography

Olivier Messiaen, born in 1908, displayed precocious musical talent and was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire by age eleven.

Historical Context

During World War II, Messiaen was a prisoner of war at Görlitz in Silesia, where he wrote his famous Quatuor pour le fin de temps (Quartet for the End of Time).

Composition History

Poèmes pour Mi, a set of nine poems by Messiaen, is essentially a set of love-songs to his first wife, Claire Delbos, whom he affectionately called 'Mi'.