''Fête des belles eaux'', or ''Beutiful Water Festival'', is a 1937 composition by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

composer

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 ...

. The work is scored for six ''

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player o ...

s'' and was commissioned for the

1937 Paris Exhibition The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the Mus ...

. The work was written to accompany the movement of the fountains at the Exhibition.

Structure

This composition is in eight movements and takes approximately 30 minutes to perform. The movement list is as follows: The melodic theme used in IV ''L'eau'' was also used later in the fifth movement ("Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus") of Messiaen's ''

Quatuor pour la fin du temps ''Quatuor pour la fin du temps'' (), originally ''Quatuor de la fin du temps'' ("''Quartet of the End of Time''"), also known by its English title ''Quartet for the End of Time'', is an eight-movement piece of chamber music by the French composer ...

''.

References

External links

Olivier Messiaen: Fête des belles eaux (1937)
(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fete des belles eaux 1937 compositions Compositions by Olivier Messiaen Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne World's fair music