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The piece is essentially a 95-minute piano concerto inspired by Messiaen's visit to Bryce Canyon and Zion Park in 1972.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System
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Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen's birth shouldn't be just another academic exercise in praise of a dead composer.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System
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Massive columns of orchestral sound, carved in brass, stand tall amid swirls of color, jazzy riffs, and the skittish chirping of Messiaen's beloved birdcalls.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System
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At age 12 he met French composer Olivier Messiaen, and later he championed the composer's music and studied with his wife, Yvonne Loriod, at the Paris Conservatoire.
NPR: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Art of the Etude
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Messiaen adds slithery harmonics to end phrases, as if a silken thread of light carries the song that connects the earthborn boulders and birds to a celestial afterworld.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System
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On a more terrestrial level, Messiaen reaches beyond classical confines.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System
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Two years later, Mr. Jacobs toured several U.S. cities performing Messiaen's complete organ works in a series of nine-hour recitals, some of which were broadcast live on public radio.
WSJ: Paul Jacobs | Great Music Needs No Apology | Cultural Conversation by Barrymore Laurence Scherer
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Both on stage and in his recordings he's played music ranging from the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms to music by modern masters such as Pierre Boulez, Olivier Messiaen, and Elliott Carter.
NPR: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Art of the Etude
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In 1973, Aimard won first prize at the Messiaen Competition, and at age 19 he was chosen by Pierre Boulez to become the first solo pianist for the influential new music group, Ensemble InterContemporain.
NPR: Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Art of the Etude
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Messiaen was something of a musical misfit.
NPR: Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System