Colston Lecture 2008

Open to the public – admission free

The great French composer Olivier Messiaen, whose centenary is celebrated this year, once nominated the blackbird as the ‘greatest musician’ to have influenced him. Messiaen’s passion for ornithology was at one with his devout religious faith. He viewed birds as having a special significance within creation: their power of flight a means to escape from earthly existence, their ‘song’ a natural, God-given form of music. In 1952 Messiaen embarked on a meticulous study of birds, and a decade followed in which all his compositions were based on his transcriptions of birdsong. Peter Hill’s lecture will explore the composer’s imaginative response to birdsong, following Messiaen through his researches and examining the superbly colourful works that resulted. The lecture will be illustrated by pages from Messiaen’s sketchbooks, by birdsong recordings used by Messiaen in his researches, and by performances at the piano of excerpts from Messiaen’s early Preludes and the Catalogue d’oiseaux.