It was unlike Olivier Messiaen, the composer, ever to do things in small measure, especially late in his career. He had a vision of intense realization when he ... of snow and the mighty splendor of the sun - that is also where I could imagine the extent of the awesomeness of the place of the Transfiguration," wrote Messiaen. Composed between 1965 and 1969, La Transfiguration is an intense meditation on the Transfiguration of Christ. Aspects of that divine synthesis are reflected by a dense mosaic of ...
... those who love God, but right now we see through a glass darkly. All we know is that God knows and therefore things are all right. In 1941, while confined as a prisoner of war in Germany, a young Frenchman and “devout Christian” named Olivier Messiaen composed an instrumental piece titled, “The Quartet for the End of Time.” It is based on a passage from Revelation 10. This beautiful piece of music was written to remind the prisoners that no matter how horrible their circumstances looked, at the end ...
