MESSIAEN AS TEOLOOG: VERKONDIGING EN LOFPRYSING IN DIE ORRELWERK “DIEU PARMI NOUS”
Abstract
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was one of the
most influential 20th-century composers, teachers
and performers. For him, the proclaiming nature of
his music was its most important and most noble
aim. Despite this fact, his sacred works, including
those for organ, were controversial from the
outset, and they have often been experienced
as inaccessible. In this article, the degree to
which radical and exotic compositional means
may be understood as proclamation and praise
in the large-scale work for organ, “Dieu Parmi
Nous”, the final piece in his cycle La Nativité
du Seigneur (1935), is investigated. It is found
that the said aspect of the work may only be
interpreted via contextualisation, whereby the
composer’s own elucidation plays a crucial role.
Non-conformist aspects of the work point to
Messiaen’s ecumenically enriched views on faith.