Olivier Messiaen
1908-1992 20th century
Seeking God in what already sings; making the ear an organ of prayer.
Who was Olivier Messiaen?
Organist of La Trinité in Paris for more than sixty years, he noted down birdsong in the forests as others copy out psalms, and made it the matter of his work. A prisoner in Silesia, he wrote and premiered in the camp the Quartet for the End of Time, one January evening, before the inmates gathered in the cold. He said all his music had only one subject.
In their own words
I was born a believer.