Olivier Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist of the twentieth century, born in Avignon and based for most of his career in Paris, where he served as organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité for over sixty years. A deeply original voice shaped by Catholic mysticism, Asian rhythm, and transcribed birdsong, his output spans orchestral works such as the Turangalîla-Symphonie, the piano cycle Catalogue d’oiseaux, the chamber work Quatuor pour la fin du temps (composed in a German POW camp), and the opera Saint-François d’Assise. He died in a Paris-area hospital in 1992 at the age of 83.

Messiaen is regarded as one of the most influential composers and teachers of the twentieth century, pioneering the use of birdsong transcription, modes of limited transposition, and color as a structural element in music. As a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, he taught and shaped an entire generation of avant-garde composers, including Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Iannis Xenakis, and his music remains a cornerstone of modern organ, piano, and orchestral repertoire.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaen