Bien Cher Felix...: Letters from Olivier Messiaen and Yvonne Loriod to Felix Aprahamian

by Olivier Messiaen, Yvonne Loriod

55 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 1998

About the author

Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically and melodically he employs a system he called modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from the systems of material generated by his early compositions and improvisations. He wrote music for chamber ensembles and orchestra, vocal music, as well as for solo organ and piano, and also experimented with the use of novel electronic instruments developed in Europe during his lifetime.

Reviews

[c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice collection of letters. I have a few complaints however… first of all, it would have been nice if some more letters *from* Aprahamian to Messiaen and Loriod had been included… then a greater understanding of the development of Messiaen and Aprahamian’s friendship could be presented. Also, some letters mention attachments (programmes, photographs). I would have liked to see some of these. Since Simeone had access to both Aprahamian’s and Messiaen’s files, I don’t see why this didn’t happen…
After the 1950s, most of the two’s communication was in the form of telephone calls, so there are big gaps in letters (20 years)… I’m sure we know a little more about their communication in this period than ‘they called each other’. Could there not be a little bit more information on their interactions in this time?
Overall, however, this is a lovely anthology of letters, and I enjoyed reading. It’s got me interested in reading the writings of Felix Aprahamian, actually…