Messiaen the theologian / edited by Andrew Shenton.

Other author Shenton, Andrew, 1962- editor.
Format Book
Publication InfoFarnham, Surrey, England : Burlington, VT : Ashgate Publishing Limited, ©2010.
Descriptionxvii, 290 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm
Subjects
Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992--Criticism and interpretation.
Music--20th century. --History and criticism.
Music--Religious aspects. --Christianity.
Sacred music--History and criticism.

Contents Religious literature in Messiaen's personal library / Yves Balmer -- Messiaen as preacher and evangelist in the context of European modernism / Peter Bannister -- Messiaen's saintly naïveté / Sander von Maas -- Olivier Messiaen and Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger: two views of the liturgical reform according to the second Vatican council / Karin Heller -- Messiaen's relationship to Jacques Maritain's musical circle and neo-thomism / Douglas Shadle -- Messiaen and Aquinas / Vincent P. Benitez -- Dante as guide to Messiaen's gothic spirituality / Robert Fallon -- Five quartets: the search for the still point of the turning world in the war quartets of T.S. Eliot and Olivier Messiaen / Andrew Shenton -- The charm of impossibilities: mystic surrealism as contemplative voluptuousness / Stephen Schloesser -- 'Une œuvre simple, solennelle...': Messiaen's commission from André Malraux / Nigel Simeone -- Olivier Messiaen and the avant-garde poetics of the Messe de la Pentecôte / Robert Sholl -- Messiaen as explorer in Livre du Saint Sacrement / Luke Berryman -- Buddhist temple, Shinto Shrine and the invisible god of Sept Haïkaï / Cheong Wai Ling.
Abstract For Olivier Messiaen, music was a way of expressing his faith. He considered it his good fortune to have been born a Catholic and declared that 'the illumination of the theological truths of the Catholic faith is the first aspect of my work, the noblest and no doubt the most useful'. Messiaen is one of the most widely performed and recorded composers of the twentieth-century and his popularity is increasing, but the theological component of his music has so far been neglected and continues to provide a serious impediment for some of his audience. Messiaen the Theologian makes a significant contribution by providing cultural and historical context to Messiaen's theology. An array of international Messiaen scholars cover a wide variety of topics including Messiaen's personal spirituality, the context of Catholicism in France in the twentieth century, and comparisons of Messiaen with other artists such as Dante and Maritain.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references (pages 271-286) and index.
LCCN 2009016970
ISBN9780754666400 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN0754666409 (hardcover : alk. paper)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML410.M595 M488 2010 ✔ Available Place Hold