''Catalogue d'oiseaux'' ("Catalogue of birds") is a work for piano solo by

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

consisting of thirteen pieces, written between October 1956 and September 1958. It is devoted to birds and dedicated to his second wife

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

Premiere

The work was premiered by Yvonne Loriod on 15 April 1959 in Paris,

Salle Gaveau The Salle Gaveau, named after the French piano maker Gaveau, is a classical concert hall in Paris, located at 45-47 rue La Boétie, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is particularly intended for chamber music. Construction The plans for th ...

, for the concerts of the "

Domaine musical The Domaine musical was a concert society established by Pierre Boulez in Paris, which was active from 1954 to 1973. Composers represented at its concerts included Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Olivier Messiaen, Luciano Berio, John Cage, Sylvano B ...

" organized by

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

Aim of the work

For these pieces, Messiaen did not want to be limited to the evocation of the bird of which each of it bears the title. Booklet of the above referenced CD

Title of the pieces

*1 - The

Alpine chough The Alpine chough (), or yellow-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax graculus'') is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus '' Pyrrhocorax''. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europ ...

(''Chocard des Alpes'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *2 - The

Eurasian golden oriole The Eurasian golden oriole (''Oriolus oriolus'') also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer bird migration, migrant ...

(''Loriot d'Europe'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *3 - The

Blue rock thrush The blue rock thrush (''Monticola solitarius'') is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and M ...

(''Merle bleu'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *4 - The

Western black-eared wheatear The western black-eared wheatear (''Oenanthe hispanica'') is a wheatear, a small migratory passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher (family Muscic ...

(''Traquet stapazin'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *5 - The

Tawny owl The tawny owl (''Strix aluco''), also called the brown owl, is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. It is a stocky, medium-sized owl, whose underparts are pale with dark streaks, an ...

(''Chouette hulotte'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *6 - The

Woodlark The woodlark or wood lark (''Lullula arborea'') is the only extant species in the lark genus ''Lullula''. It is found across most of Europe, the Middle East, western Asia and the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident (non- migratory) ...

(''Alouette lulu'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *7 - The

Eurasian reed warbler The common reed warbler (''Acrocephalus scirpaceus'') is an Old World warbler in the genus '' Acrocephalus''. It breeds across Europe into the temperate western Palaearctic where it is migratory, wintering in sub- Saharan Africa. It is also a re ...

(''Rousserolle effarvatte'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *8 - The

Greater short-toed lark The greater short-toed lark (''Calandrella brachydactyla'') is a small passerine bird. The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ''Calandrella'', is a diminutive of ''kalandros'', the calandra lark, and ''brachydactila'' ...

(''Alouette calandrelle'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *9 - The

Cetti's warbler Cetti's warbler (''Cettia cetti'') is a small, brown bush-warbler which breeds in southern and central Europe, northwest Africa and the east Palearctic as far as Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The sexes are alike. The bird is named after ...

(''Bouscarle de Cetti'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *10 - The

Common rock thrush The common rock thrush (''Monticola saxatilis''), also known as rufous-tailed rock thrush or simply rock thrush, is a chat belonging to the family Muscicapidae. It was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. The scientific name is from Latin. ' ...

(''Merle de roche'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *11 - The

Common buzzard The common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') is a medium-to-large bird of prey which has a large range. A member of the genus ''Buteo'', it is a member of the family Accipitridae. The species lives in most of Europe and extends its breeding range across ...

(''Buse variable'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *12 - The

Black wheatear The black wheatear (''Oenanthe leucura'') is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of the Muscicapidae. This l ...

(''Traquet rieur'') __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ *13 - The

Eurasian curlew The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred t ...

(''Courlis cendré'')

Recordings

Erato Records Erato Records is a record label founded in 1953 as Disques Erato by Philippe Loury to promote French classical music. Loury was head of éditions musicales Costallat. His first releases in France were licensed from the Haydn Society of Boston, a ...

2292-45505-2/VI; ECD 71590 (1970-1973) * Peter Hill:

Regis Regis or Régis may refer to: People * Regis (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (musician), full name Karl O'Connor, an English ...

B000Q7RKW8 (1986) *

Anatol Ugorski Anatol Ugorski (in , born 28 September 1942 in Rubtsovsk, Altai Krai, Soviet Union) is a classical pianist of Russian origin who lives in Germany. Biography Anatol Ugorski was born into a poor background and is the eldest of five children. In ...

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

4743452 (1994) * Hakon Austbo:

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

8.553532.34 (1997), Also includes '' Petites esquisses d'oiseaux'' (composed in 1985). * Paul Kim:

Centaur Records Centaur Records is one of the oldest and largest independent classical labels in America. The company is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was founded by Victor Sachse in 1976. Centaur's catalog includes classical, historical, pops, contemp ...

CRC 2567/68/69 (2001), Also includes '' La Fauvette des jardins'' and '' Petites esquisses d'oiseaux'' *

Roger Muraro Roger César Muraro (born 13 May 1959) is a French classical pianist, known especially for his recordings of the music of Olivier Messiaen. Career Muraro was born in Lyon, France, in 1959, to parents who came from the Venetia region of Northeast ...

: Accord 4657682 (2002) *

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, he was awarded the chamber music priz ...

: Pentatone PTC 5186670 (2018) *Carl-Axel Dominique BIS BIS-CD-594/596 Also includes "La Favuette des jardins" and "Petites esquisses d'oiseaux".

References

External links

Catalogue d'oiseaux
in ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' () is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly magazine in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. Now it is a monthly again, since 2021. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's primary focus, though every issue in ...

''
Three tracks
on Gallica
''Catalogue d'oiseaux''
on Naxos
Messiaen ''Catalogue d'oiseaux''
on Gramophone
Olivier Messiaen, Catalogue d'oiseaux (in 7 books), for piano, I/42 (1956-1958) (Håkon Austbø, piano)
on YouTube ** First Book **
I. Le chocard des alpes
(The

) **
II. Le loriot
(The

) **
III. Le merle bleu
(The

) ** Second Book **
IV. Le traquet stapazin
(The

Black-eared wheatear Black-eared wheatear has been split into the following 2 species: * Western black-eared wheatear, ''Oenanthe hispanica'' * Eastern black-eared wheatear The eastern black-eared wheatear (''Oenanthe melanoleuca'') is a wheatear, a small migrato ...

) ** Third Book **
V.-VI. La chouette hulotte & L'alouette-lulu
(The

& The

) **Fourth Book *
VII. Le rousserolle effarvatte part 1
(The

) *
VII. Le rousserolle effarvatte part 2
**Fifth Book *
VIII. L'alouette calandrelle
(The

) *
IX. La bouscarle
(The

) **Sixth Book *
X. Le merle de roche part 1
(The

) *
X. Le merle de roche part 2
**Seventh Book *
XI. La buse variable
(The

) *
XII. La traquet rieur
(The

) *
XIII. Le courlis cendré
(The

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Catalogue d'oiseaux

Catalogue d'oiseaux ''Catalogue d'oiseaux'' ("Catalogue of birds") is a work for piano solo by Olivier Messiaen consisting of thirteen pieces, written between October 1956 and September 1958. It is devoted to birds and dedicated to his second wife Yvonne Loriod. Pre ...