Messiaeniana – Organ Solo Fantastique
The Organ Solo Fantastique, Messiaeniana is an ideal piece for recital preludes or encores, suitable for intermediate to advanced organists. This work is triumphal and fanfare-like, paying tribute to the renowned twentieth-century French organist and composer Olivier Messiaen. It was composed for Nicholas Arden, who premiered the piece on the 1856 gold medal award-winning organ at the Abbey Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Sherborne, a town in Dorset, England.
Listen on YouTube
An audio-visualisation of ‘Messiaeniana’ is available to view on YouTube – Click HERE or use the YouTube link at the foot of the page.
For the keen listener
As with several other of the composer’s works of special dedication, for example, the orchestral pieces, Morte d’Arthur and Bon Voyage, the dedicatee’s name is hidden, encoded in the music.
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
The name ARDEN may be heard in the pedal theme, substituting the letters R and N for the letter notes on the top row.
Related Works by Wilkinson
Wilkinson’s Second Symphony is now available from UMP Ltd. Symphony No. 2 is an Organ Symphony and is presented in a new, 25th anniversary edition. Read the full post here.
United Music Publishing Limited now presents five choral pieces with organ