''Livre d'orgue'' ("Organ book") is a work for organ by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, composed in 1951–52. A major work of Messiaen, its place in Messiaen's output can be compared to that of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (german: Die Kunst der Fuge, links=no), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fug ...

. According to Messiaen, different parts of the work were composed in different places, influencing their form: "Reprise par interversion", "Pièce en trio I", and "Les yeux dans les roues" were composed in Paris; "Les mains dans l'abîme", "Pièce en trio II", and "Soixante-quatre durées" were composed in the Alps; and "Chant d'oiseaux" was composed in the forest of Saint-Germain. A more detailed chronology is given by Vincent : movements 1, 2, and 6 were composed in Paris in 1951–52; movement 3 was composed in the

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

mountains and the vallée de la Romanche in 1951; movement 4 was begun at the Perrin de Fuligny meadow in the forest of

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

in 1951 and completed the following year at the branderaie de Gardépée, Charente; movement 5 was composed in front of the glacier of Le Râteau and the Tabuchet glacier on

Meije La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins range, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and Isère ''départements''. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its off-piste ...

in 1951; movement 7 was also composed in 1951, at the champs de Petichet.

Structure

The work comprises seven movements: # "Reprise par interversion" (Permuted repeats). # "Pièce en trio I" (First trio). # "Les mains de l'abîme" (The hands of the abyss). # "Chants d'oiseaux" (Bird songs). # "Pièce en trio II" (Second trio). # "Les yeux dans les roues" (The eyes on the wheels). # "Soixante-quatre durées" (64 durations).

Premiere

The piece was premiered by Messiaen himself in 1952 for the inauguration of the organ in the Villa Berg in Stuttgart , though another source gives the date as 23 April 1953 . He later gave the French premiere on 21 March 1955 at the Sainte-Trinité in Paris, as part of the second season of Pierre Boulez's Concerts du Domaine musical—the only time the Domaine musical put on a concert in a church . This performance, for which Boulez only prepared for around 50 people, was notable due to a considerably larger crowd arrived, blocking Messiaen's entrance to the church.

References

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Structure

Premiere

References

Further reading