Saint Samson of Dol
]
Born	c. 485 South Wales
Died	c. 565 Dol, France
Honored in	Wales, Cornwall, Brittany
Major shrine	Dol; Milton Abbas, Dorset
Feast	28 July

Saint Samson of Dol (born late 5th century) was a Christian religious figure who is counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany. Born in southern Wales, he died in Dol-de-Bretagne, a small town in north Brittany.

Life[link]

Samson was of noble blood, the son of Amon of Demetia, Wales and Anna of Gwent, daughter of Meurig ap Tewdrig, King of Glamorgan and Gwent. His father's brother also married his mother's sister and their son Saint Magloire was therefore his cousin. In view of the prophecy concerning his birth his parents placed him under the care of Saint Illtud, abbot of Llantwit Fawr, where he was raised and educated.

Later, after the death of Saint Pyr, Samson became abbot of Llantwit's daughter house on Caldey Island. He was ordained bishop by Bishop Dubricius on the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (February 22) at the beginning of Lent, which can be calculated to have fallen in the year 521, the only certain date in Samson's life.

If the usual practice was observed and he was 35 years old at the time of his ordination this would mean he was born in 486, though he is recorded as having been in attendance at a church Council in Paris held sometime between 556 and 573 at which time he would have been between 70 and 87 years old.

At first, a cenobitic monk and later, an eremtic monk, he travelled widely. It is known that Samson travelled from Llaniltud Fawr to the island monastery of Caldey off the coast of Dyfed (Pembrokeshire), Wales and then on to Ireland where he is said to have founded or revived a monastery^[1], to Cornwall (where he founded a cenobite, at either South Hill or Golant), the Scilly Isles, Guernsey and Brittany.

While in Brittany, he founded the monastery of Dol. Samson participated in Breton politics, organising the excommunication of King Conomor and successfully petitioning the Merovingian king, Childebert I, on behalf of King Judwal. One of the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin, he was buried, with his cousin Magloire, in the Cathedral of Dol.

Records[link]

The primary source for his biography is the Vita Sancti Samsonis, written sometime between 610 and 820, but clearly based on earlier materials.^[2] Not only does it preserve such details about Samson such as his abstinence from alcohol - unlike many of his contemporaries, such as the Abbot Pyr who was killed when he fell down a well while drunk - but valuable details about Celtic Christianity in Britain during Samson's time. This document details the contacts churchmen in Britain had with both Ireland and Brittany, describes their belief, and offers facts that have been used to prove both that religious communities were headed by abbots where the bishops served in a subordinate role, and that these communities were actually headed by bishops as was the usual practice in the rest of Europe. This Vita was later used as a model for the writing of other hagiographies in Brittany. There is an English translation of the Vita by Thomas Taylor, published in 1925 by SPCK. A second life of less interest was edited by Dom Plaine in 1887.

For further information, see^[3][4].

Roman Martyrology[link]

In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Samson is listed under 28 July with the Latin name Samsónis. He is mentioned as follows: 'At Dol in Brittany (died) Samson, abbot and bishop, who having learned the Gospel and monastic discipline in Wales from Illtud, spread these in Domnonia.'^[5] He does not appear in the current Roman Catholic liturgical calendar of saints celebrated annually in Wales.^[6]

Bibliography[link]

• Doble, G. H. (1970) The Saints of Cornwall: part 5. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 80–103
• Journey to Avalon: The Final Discovery of King Arthur By Chris Barber, David Pykitt pp 119 St Samson
• Jones, Alison (1994) The Wordsworth Dictionary of Saints, p. 202

See also[link]

• Blessed Julian Maunoir, "Apostle of Brittany"
• St. Sampson church, Golant

External links[link]

• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• "St. Sampson, Bishop and Confessor", Butler's Lives of the Saints
• A version of Taylor's English translation of the Vita Sancti Samsonis, with emendations based on a recent edition

Samson and Delilah, Lucas Cranach the Elder

Samson, Shimshon (Hebrew: שמשון, Modern Shimshon Tiberian Šimšôn, meaning "man of the sun"^[1]); Shamshoun (Arabic: شمشون‎) or Sampson (Greek: Σαμψών) is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) (Book of Judges chapters 13 to 16).^[2][3][4]

Samson was granted supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies and perform heroic feats^[5] such as wrestling a lion,^[4][6][7][8] slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass,^{[3][4][7][8][9]} and destroying a pagan temple.^[2][4][8] Samson is believed to have been buried in Tel Tzora in Israel overlooking the Sorek valley. There reside two large gravestones of Samson and his father Manoah. Nearby stands Manoah’s altar (Judges 13:19-24).^[10] It is located between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.^[11]

Biblical narrative[link]

Samson's activity takes place during a time when God was punishing the Israelites, by giving them "into the hand of the Philistines".^[12] The Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah, an Israelite from the tribe of Dan, in the city of Zorah, and to his wife, who had been unable to conceive.^[3][6][13] The Angel of the Lord proclaims that the couple will soon have a son who will begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines.^[6] The wife believed the Angel of the Lord, but her husband wasn't present, at first, and wanted the heavenly messenger to return, asking that he himself could also receive instruction about the child that was going to be born.

Requirements were set up by the Angel of the Lord that Manoah's wife (as well as the child) were to abstain from all alcoholic beverages, and her promised child was not to shave or cut his hair. He was to be a "Nazirite" from birth. In ancient Israel, those wanting to be especially dedicated to God for a while could take a nazarite vow, which included things like the aforementioned as well as other stipulations.^[3][6][13] After the Angel of the Lord returned, Manoah soon prepared a sacrifice, but the Angel of the Lord would only allow it to be for God, touching his staff to it, miraculously engulfing it in flames. The Angel of the Lord then ascended up into the sky in the fire revealing that it had been God in angelic form, as the Angel of the Lord and "an" angel are two different things. This was such dramatic evidence as to the nature of the Messenger, that Manoah feared for his life, as it has been said that no-one can live after seeing God; however, his wife soon convinced him that if God planned to slay them, he would never have revealed such things to them to begin with. In due time the son, Samson, is born; he is reared according to these provisions.^[6][13]

Rembrandt's painting of Samson and Delilah

When he becomes a young adult, Samson leaves the hills of his people to see the cities of the Philistines. While there, Samson falls in love with a Philistine woman from Timnah whom he decides to marry, overcoming the objections of his parents who do not know that "it is of the Lord".^[6][13][14] The intended marriage is actually part of God's plan to strike at the Philistines.^[6] On the way to ask for the woman's hand in marriage, Samson is attacked by an Asiatic Lion and simply grabs it and rips it apart, as the spirit of God moves upon him, divinely empowering him. This so profoundly affects Samson that he just keeps it to himself as a secret.^[6][7] He continues on to the Philistine's house, winning her hand in marriage. On his way to the wedding, Samson notices that bees have nested in the carcass of the lion and have made honey.^[6][7] He eats a handful of the honey and gives some to his parents.^[6] At the wedding-feast, Samson proposes that he tell a riddle to his thirty groomsmen (all Philistines); if they can solve it, he will give them thirty pieces of fine linen and garments.^[6][13] The riddle ("Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet") is a veiled account of his second encounter with the lion (at which only he was present).^[6][7] The Philistines are infuriated by the riddle.^[6] The thirty groomsmen tell Samson's new wife that they will burn her and her father's household if she does not discover the answer to the riddle and tell it to them.^[6][7] At the urgent and tearful imploring of his bride, Samson tells her the solution, and she tells it to the thirty groomsmen.^[6][13]

Before sunset on the seventh day they said to him,

"What is sweeter than honey?

and what is stronger than a lion?"

Samson said to them,

"If you had not plowed with my heifer,

you would not have solved my riddle."^[9][14]

Samson in the Treadmill, by Carl Heinrich Bloch.

He flies into a rage and kills thirty Philistines of Ashkelon for their garments, which he gives his thirty groomsmen.^[7][9][13] Still in a rage, he returns to his father's house and found out that his bride was given to another man to be his wife.^[7][9][13] Her father refuses to allow him to see her and wishes to give Samson the younger sister.^[9][13] Samson attaches torches to the tails of three hundred foxes, leaving the panicked beasts to run through the fields of the Philistines, burning all in their wake.^[7][9][13] The Philistines find out why Samson burned their crops and they burn Samson's wife and father-in-law to death.^[8][9][13] In revenge, Samson slaughters many more Philistines, smiting them "hip and thigh".^[9][13]

Samson then takes refuge in a cave in the rock of Etam.^[9][13][15] An army of Philistines went up and demanded from 3000 men of Judah to deliver them Samson.^[13][15] With Samson's consent, they tie him with two new ropes and are about to hand him over to the Philistines when he breaks free.^[8][15] Using the jawbone of an ass, he slays one thousand Philistines.^[4][8][15] At the conclusion of Judges 15 it is said that "Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines".^[15]

Later, Samson goes to Gaza, where he stays at a harlot's house.^[9][16] His enemies wait at the gate of the city to ambush him, but he rips the gate up and carries it to "the hill that is in front of Hebron".^[9][16]

He then falls in love with a woman, Delilah, at the Brook of Sorek.^{[8][9][16][17]} The Philistines approach Delilah and induce her (with 1100 silver coins each) to try to find the secret of Samson's strength.^[9][16] Samson, not wanting to reveal the secret, teases her, telling her that he will lose his strength should he be bound with fresh bowstrings.^[9][16] She does so while he sleeps, but when he wakes up he snaps the strings.^[9][16] She persists, and he tells her he can be bound with new ropes. She ties him up with new ropes while he sleeps, and he snaps them, too.^[9][16] She asks again, and he says he can be bound if his locks are woven together.^[9][16] She weaves them together, but he undoes them when he wakes.^[9][16] Eventually Samson tells Delilah that he will lose his strength with the loss of his hair.^{[8][9][16][17]} Delilah calls for a servant to shave Samson's seven locks.^[9][16][17] Since that breaks the Nazirite oath, God leaves him, and Samson is captured by the Philistines,^[4][9][16] who stab out his eyes with their swords. After being blinded, Samson is brought to Gaza, imprisoned, and put to work grinding grain.^[16]

Death[link]

Samson destroys the temple of Dagon via pushing, 1866 Bible illustration.

Samson destroys the temple of Dagon via pulling, 1890 Bible illustration

One day the Philistine leaders assemble in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands.^[11][16] They summon Samson so that people can gather on the roof to watch.^[11][16][17] Once inside the temple, Samson, his hair having grown long again, asks the servant who is leading him to the temple's central pillars if he may lean against them (referring to the pillars).^[8][11][16]

"Then Samson prayed to God, "remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes" (Judges 16:28)".^[4][11][16] "Samson said, 'Let me die with the Philistines!' (Judges 16:30)^[11][18] He pulled the two pillars together (or possibly pushed them apart^[19]), and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it.^{[4][8][11][17][18]} Thus he killed many more as he died than while he lived." (Judges 16:30).^[8][18]

After his death, Samson's family recovers his body from the rubble and buries him near the tomb of his father Manoah.^[11]

The fate of Delilah is never mentioned.^[17]

Rabbinic literature[link]

Delilah cuts Samson's hair, by Master E. S., 1460/1465

Rabbinical literature identifies Samson with Bedan;^[13] Bedan was a Judge mentioned by Samuel in his farewell address (1 Samuel 12:11) among the Judges that delivered Israel from their enemies.^[20] However, the name "Bedan" is not found in the Book of Judges.^[20] The name "Samson" is derived from the Hebrew word "shemesh", which means the sun, so that Samson bore the name of God, who is called "a sun and shield" in Psalms 84:11; and as God protected Israel, so did Samson watch over it in his generation, judging the people even as did God.^[13] Samson's strength was divinely derived (Talmud, Tractate Sotah 10a).^[13][21]

Jewish legend records that Samson's shoulders were sixty cubits broad.^[13] (Although many talmudic commentaries explain that this is not to be taken literally, for a person that size could not live normally in society. Rather it means he had the ability to carry a burden 60 cubits wide (approximately 30 meters) on his shoulders).^[22] He was lame in both feet,^[23] but when the spirit of God came upon him he could step with one stride from Zorah to Eshtaol, while the hairs of his head arose and clashed against one another so that they could be heard for a like distance.^[13][24] Samson was said to be so strong that he could uplift two mountains and rub them together like two clods of earth,^[25] yet his superhuman strength, like Goliath's, brought woe upon its possessor.^[13][26]

In licentiousness he is compared with Amnon and Zimri, both of whom were punished for their sins.^[13][27] Samson's eyes were put out because he had "followed them" too often.^[13][28] It is said that in the twenty years during which Samson judged Israel he never required the least service from an Israelite,^[29] and he piously refrained from taking the name of God in vain.^[13] Therefore, as soon as he told Delilah that he was a Nazarite of God she immediately knew that he had spoken the truth.^[13][28] When he pulled down the temple of Dagon and killed himself and the Philistines the structure fell backward, so that he was not crushed, his family being thus enabled to find his body and to bury it in the tomb of his father.^[13][30]

In the Talmudic period, some seemed to have denied that Samson was a historic figure and was regarded by such individuals as a purely mythological personage. This was viewed as heretical by the rabbis of the Talmud, and they attempted to refute this. They named Hazelelponi as his mother in Numbers Rabbah Naso 10 and in Bava Batra 91a and stated that he had a sister named "Nishyan" or "Nashyan".^[13]

Interpretations[link]

The Blinded Samson, by Franz Heinrich Louis Corinth, 1912

Academics have interpreted Samson as a demi-god (such as Hercules or Enkidu) enfolded into Jewish religious lore, or as an archetypical folklore hero, among others. These views sometimes interpreted him as a solar deity, popularized by "solar hero" theorists and Biblical scholars alike.^[31][32][33] The name Delilah may also involve a wordplay with the Hebrew word for night, 'layla', which of course consumes the day.^[34] Samson bears many similar traits to the Greek Herakles (and the Roman Hercules adaptation), inspired himself partially from the mesopotamian Enkidu tale: Herakles and Samson both battled a Lion bare handed (Lion of Nemea feat), Herakles and Samson both had a favorite primitive blunt weapon (a club for the first, an ass's jaw for the latter), they were both betrayed by a woman which led them to their ultimate fate (Herakles by Dejanira, while Samson by Delilah). Both heroes, champion of their respective people, die by their own hand: Herakles ends his life on a pyre while Samson makes the Philistine temple collapse upon himself and his enemies.

These views are disputed by traditional and conservative biblical scholars who consider Samson to be a literal historical figure and thus refute any connections to mythological heroes.^[35] that Samson was a "solar hero" has been described as "an artificial ingenuity".^[36] Some biblical scholars suggest that Samson's home tribe of Dan might have been related to the Philistines themselves. "Dan" might be another name for the tribe of Sea Peoples otherwise known as the Denyen, Danuna, or Danaans. If so, then Samson's origin might be entirely Aegean.^[37] These speculations are in stark contrast to the historical depictions expressed in the Bible and are therefore mutually exclusive.

Joan Comay, co-author of Who's Who in the Bible: The Old Testament and the Apocrypha, The New Testament, believes that the biblical story of Samson is so specific concerning time and place that Samson was undoubtedly a real person who pitted his great strength against the oppressors of Israel.^[2] In contrast, James King West finds that the hostilities between the Philistines and Hebrews appear to be of a "purely personal and local sort". He also finds that Samson stories have, in contrast to much of Judges, an "almost total lack of a religious or moral tone".^[38]

Folk culture[link]

Samson parade Mauterndorf/Austria

Statue of Samson in Ashdod

Statue of Samson and the lion in Saint Petersburg

Samson parades are annual parades of a Samson figure in different villages in Lungau, Salzburg and two villages in the north-west Styria (Austria).^{[citation needed]} Samson is one of the giant figures at the "Ducasse" festivities, which take place at Ath, Belgium.^[39]

A regional version of Samson (spelled Sanson) plays a major role in many accounts of Basque mythology, where he is represented as a mighty giant capable of hurling heavy stones, often providing an explanation for the origin of mountains and megalithic monuments. In some places this role is played by a development of the character Roland (Errolan).

See also[link]

• Cultural references to Samson
• Samson Option
• Samson Unit
• Shamash

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Samson

• 'Samson' by Solomon Solomon
• de:Samsonfigur

v t e Samson Popular culture Comics Black Samson · Doc Samson · Mighty Samson · Sam Film Samson (1914) · Samson and Delilah (1922) · Samson and Delilah (1949) · Samson (1961) · Samson and Delilah (1984) · Samson and Delilah (1996) · Samson and Delilah (2009) Music Samson · "Samson and Delilah" · "Sam and Delilah" · "Samson" · "Delilah" Other Sculpture · Painting · Play · Opera · Television series · Television episode Other Bedan · Crane · Delilah · Rabbinic literature · Rock of Etam · Samson Option (book) · Samson Unit

Olivier Messiaen (French pronunciation: [ɔlivje mɛsjɑ̃]; December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex (he was interested in rhythms from ancient Greek and from Hindu sources); harmonically and melodically it is based on modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations. Many of his compositions depict what he termed "the marvellous aspects of the faith", and drew on his deeply held Roman Catholicism.

He travelled widely and wrote works inspired by diverse influences such as Japanese music, the landscape of Bryce Canyon in Utah and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He said he perceived colours when he heard certain musical chords, particularly those built from his modes (a phenomenon known as synaesthesia); combinations of these colours, he said, were important in his compositional process. For a short period Messiaen experimented with the parametrisation associated with "total serialism", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. His style absorbed many exotic musical influences such as Indonesian gamelan (tuned percussion often features prominently in his orchestral works). He was one of the first composers to use an electronic keyboard—in this case, the ondes Martenot—in an orchestral work.

Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and was taught by Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, among others. He was appointed organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post held until his death. He taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris during the 1930s. On the fall of France in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four available instruments—piano, violin, cello and clarinet. The piece was first performed by Messiaen and fellow prisoners for an audience of inmates and prison guards. He was appointed professor of harmony soon after his release in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His many distinguished pupils included Pierre Boulez and Yvonne Loriod, who became his second wife.

He found birdsong fascinating, believed birds to be the greatest musicians, and considered himself as much an ornithologist as a composer. He notated bird songs worldwide and incorporated birdsong transcriptions into most of his music. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, his use of birdsong and his desire to express religious ideas are among features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.

Life and career[link]

Youth and studies[link]

Messiaen with his mother and father in 1910

Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was born in Avignon, France, into a literary family. He was the elder of two sons of Cécile Sauvage, a poet, and Pierre Messiaen, a teacher of English who translated the plays of William Shakespeare into French. Messiaen's mother published a sequence of poems, L'âme en bourgeon ("The Budding Soul"), the last chapter of Tandis que la terre tourne ("As the Earth Turns"), which address her unborn son. Messiaen later said this sequence of poems influenced him deeply and he cited it as prophetic of his future artistic career.^[1]

At the outbreak of World War I, Pierre Messiaen enlisted and Cécile took their two boys to live with her brother in Grenoble. There Messiaen became fascinated with drama, reciting Shakespeare to his brother with the help of a home-made toy theatre with translucent backdrops made from old cellophane wrappers.^[2] At this time he also adopted the Roman Catholic faith. Later, Messiaen felt most at home in the Alps of the Dauphiné, where he had a house built south of Grenoble where he composed most of his music.^[3]

He took piano lessons having already taught himself to play. His interest included the recent music of French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and he asked for opera vocal scores for Christmas presents.^[4] Around this time he began to compose. In 1918 his father returned from the war and the family moved to Nantes. He continued music lessons; one of his teachers, Jehan de Gibon, gave him a score of Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande, which Messiaen described as "a thunderbolt" and "probably the most decisive influence on me".^[5] The following year Pierre Messiaen gained a teaching post in Paris. Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1919, aged 11.

Paul Dukas's composition class at the Paris Conservatoire, 1929. Messiaen sits at the far right; Dukas stands at the centre

At the Conservatoire, Messiaen made excellent academic progress. In 1924, aged 15, he was awarded second prize in harmony, having been taught in that subject by professor Jean Gallon. In 1926, he gained first prize in counterpoint and fugue, and in 1927 he won first prize in piano accompaniment. After studying with Maurice Emmanuel, he was awarded first prize for the history of music in 1928. Emmanuel's example engendered an interest in ancient Greek rhythms and exotic modes. After showing improvisation skills on the piano Messiaen studied organ with Marcel Dupré and inherited the tradition of great French organists (Dupré had studied with Charles-Marie Widor and Louis Vierne, Vierne in turn was a pupil of César Franck). Messiaen gained first prize in organ playing and improvisation in 1929. After a year studying composition with Charles-Marie Widor,^[6] in the autumn of 1927 he entered the class of the newly appointed Paul Dukas, who instilled in Messiaen a mastery of orchestration. In 1930 Messiaen won first prize in composition.

While a student he composed his first published works—his eight Préludes for piano (the earlier Le banquet céleste was published subsequently). These exhibit Messiaen's use of his modes of limited transposition and palindromic rhythms (Messiaen called these non-retrogradable rhythms). His public début came in 1931 with his orchestral suite Les offrandes oubliées. That year he first heard a gamelan group, sparking his interest in the use of tuned percussion.^[7]

[edit] La Trinité, La jeune France, and Messiaen's war

Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris, where Messiaen was titular organist for 61 years

In the autumn of 1927, Messiaen joined Dupré's organ course. Dupré later wrote that Messiaen, having never seen an organ console, sat quietly for an hour while Dupré explained and demonstrated the instrument, and then came back a week later to play Johann Sebastian Bach's Fantasia in C minor to an impressive standard.^[8] From 1929, Messiaen regularly deputised at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris, for the organist Charles Quef, who was ill at the time. The post became vacant in 1931 when Quef died, and Dupré, Charles Tournemire and Widor among others supported Messiaen's candidacy. His formal application included a letter of recommendation from Widor. The appointment was confirmed in 1931,^[9] and he remained the organist at la Sainte-Trinité for more than sixty years.

He married the violinist and composer Claire Delbos in 1932. Their marriage inspired him to both compose works for her to play (Thème et variations for violin and piano in the year they were married) and to write pieces to celebrate their domestic happiness, including the song cycle Poèmes pour Mi in 1936, which he orchestrated in 1937. Mi was Messiaen's affectionate nickname for his wife. In 1937 their son Pascal was born. The marriage turned to tragedy when Delbos lost her memory after an operation and spent the rest of her life in mental institutions.^[10]

In 1936, along with André Jolivet, Daniel-Lesur and Yves Baudrier, Messiaen formed the group La jeune France ("Young France"). Their manifesto implicitly attacked the frivolity predominant in contemporary Parisian music and rejected Jean Cocteau's 1918 Le coq et l'arlequin manifesto in favour of a "living music, having the impetus of sincerity, generosity and artistic conscientiousness".^[11] Messiaen's career soon departed from this polemical phase.

In response to a commission for a piece to accompany light-and water-shows on the Seine during the Paris Exposition, in 1937 Messiaen demonstrated his interest in using the ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, by composing Fêtes des belles eaux for an ensemble of six.^[12] He included a part for the instrument in several of his subsequent compositions. During this period he composed several multi-movement organ works. He arranged his orchestral suite L'ascension ("The Ascension") for organ, replacing the orchestral version's third movement with an entirely new movement, Transports de joie d'une âme devant la gloire du Christ qui est la sienne ("Ecstasies of a soul before the glory of Christ, which is its own glory"). ( listen (help·info)) This movement became one of Messiaen's most popular pieces. He also wrote the extensive cycles La Nativité du Seigneur ("The Nativity of the Lord") and Les corps glorieux ("The glorious bodies"). The final toccata of La Nativité, Dieu parmi nous ("God among us"), has become another favourite recital piece.

At the outbreak of World War II, Messiaen was drafted into the French army. Due to poor eyesight, he was enlisted as a medical auxiliary rather than an active combatant.^[13] He was captured at Verdun and taken to Görlitz in May 1940, and was imprisoned at Stalag VIII-A. He met a violinist, a cellist and a clarinettist among his fellow prisoners. He wrote a trio for them, which he gradually incorporated into his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the End of Time"). The quartet was first performed in January 1941 to an audience of prisoners and prison guards, with the composer playing a poorly maintained upright piano in freezing conditions. Thus the enforced introspection and reflection of camp life bore fruit in one of 20th-century European classical music's acknowledged masterpieces. The title's "end of time" alludes to the Apocalypse, and also to the way in which Messiaen, through rhythm and harmony, used time in a manner completely different from his predecessors and contemporaries.^[14]

Tristan and serialism[link]

Shortly after his release from Görlitz in May 1941, Messiaen was appointed a professor of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire, where he taught until his retirement in 1978. He compiled his Technique de mon langage musical ("Technique of my musical language") published in 1944, in which he quotes many examples from his music, particularly the Quartet. Although only in his mid-thirties, his students described him as an outstanding teacher,^[15] who, rather than imposing his own ideas, encouraged his pupils to find their own voice. Among his early students were the composers Pierre Boulez and Karel Goeyvaerts and the pianist Yvonne Loriod. Other pupils included Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1952, Alexander Goehr in 1956–57, György Kurtág in 1957, Tristan Murail in 1967–72 and George Benjamin during the late 1970s. The Greek composer Iannis Xenakis was referred to him in 1951; Messiaen urged Xenakis to take advantage of his background in mathematics and architecture in his music.^[16]

In 1943, Messiaen wrote Visions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen") for two pianos for Loriod and himself to perform. Shortly thereafter he composed the enormous solo piano cycle Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus ("Twenty gazes on the child Jesus") for her. Again for Loriod, he wrote Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine ("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence") for female chorus and orchestra which includes a difficult solo piano part. In this way, Messiaen continued to bring liturgical subjects to the piano recital and concert hall.

Two years after Visions de l'Amen, Messiaen composed the song cycle Harawi, the first of three works inspired by the legend of Tristan and Isolde. The second of these works about human (as opposed to divine) love was the result of a commission from Serge Koussevitsky. Messiaen stated that the commission did not specify the length of the work or the size of the orchestra. This was the ten-movement Turangalîla-Symphonie. It is not a conventional symphony, but rather an extended meditation on the joy of human union and love. It does not contain the sexual guilt inherent in Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde because Messiaen believed that sexual love is a divine gift.^[13] The third piece inspired by the Tristan myth was Cinq rechants for twelve unaccompanied singers, described by Messiaen as influenced by the alba of the troubadours.^[17] Messiaen visited the United States in 1947, where his music was conducted by Koussevitsky and Leopold Stokowski. His Turangalîla-Symphonie was first performed in America in 1949, conducted by Leonard Bernstein.

Messiaen taught an analysis class at the Paris Conservatoire, and in 1947 he taught in Budapest and in 1949 at Tanglewood. During the summers of 1949 and 1950 he taught in the new music summer school classes at Darmstadt. While he did not employ the twelve-tone technique, after three years teaching analysis of twelve-tone scores, including works by Arnold Schoenberg, he experimented with ways of making scales of other elements (including duration, articulation and dynamics) analogous to the chromatic pitch scale. The results of these innovations was the "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" for piano (from the Quatre études de rhythme) which has been misleadingly described as the first work of total serialism. It had a large influence on the earliest European serial composers including Pierre Boulez, Karel Goeyvaerts, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. During this period he also experimented with musique concrète, music for recorded sounds.

Birdsong and the 1960s[link]

When in 1952 Messiaen was asked to provide a test piece for flautists wishing to enter the Paris Conservatoire, he composed the piece Le merle noir for flute and piano. While he had long been fascinated by birdsong, and birds had made appearances in several of his earlier works (for example La Nativité, Quatuor and Vingt regards), the flute piece was based entirely on the song of the blackbird.^[18]

He took this development to a new level with his 1953 orchestral work Réveil des oiseaux—its material consists almost entirely of the birdsong one might hear between midnight and noon in the Jura. From this period onwards, Messiaen incorporated birdsong into all of his compositions and composed several works for which birds provide both the title and subject matter (for example the collection of thirteen pieces for piano Catalogue d'oiseaux completed in 1958, and La fauvette des jardins of 1971). Far from being simple transcriptions of birdsong, these works are sophisticated tone poems evoking both place and atmosphere. Paul Griffiths observed that Messiaen was a more conscientious ornithologist than any previous composer, and a more musical observer of birdsong than any previous ornithologist.^[19]

The Garden Warbler provided the title and much of the material for Messiaen's La fauvette des jardins.

Messiaen's first wife died in 1959 after a long illness, and in 1961 he married pianist Yvonne Loriod. He began to travel widely, to attend musical events and to seek out and transcribe the songs of more exotic birds in the wild. Loriod frequently assisted her husband's detailed studies of birdsong while walking with him, by making tape recordings for later reference. In 1962 he visited Japan, where Gagaku music and Noh theatre inspired the orchestral "Japanese sketches", Sept haïkaï, which contain stylised imitations of traditional Japanese instruments.^[20]

Messiaen's music was by this time championed by, among others, Pierre Boulez, who programmed first performances at his Domaine musical concerts and the Donaueschingen festival. Works performed included Réveil des oiseaux, Chronochromie (commissioned for the 1960 festival) and Couleurs de la cité céleste. The latter piece was the result of a commission for a composition for three trombones and three xylophones; Messiaen added to this more brass, wind, percussion and piano, and specified a xylophone, xylorimba and marimba rather than three xylophones. Another work of this period, Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorem, was commissioned as a commemoration of the dead of the two World Wars and was performed first semi-privately in the Sainte-Chapelle, then publicly in Chartres Cathedral with Charles de Gaulle in the audience.

His reputation as a composer continued to grow and in 1959, he was nominated as an Officier of the Légion d'honneur.^[21] In 1966 he was officially appointed professor of composition at the Paris Conservatoire, although he had in effect been teaching composition for years. Further honours included election to the Institut de France in 1967, the Erasmus Prize in 1971, the award of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 1975, the Sonning Award (Denmark's highest musical honour) in 1977, and the presentation of the Croix de Commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown in 1980.^[22]

Transfiguration, Canyons, St. Francis, and the Beyond[link]

Messiaen's next work was the enormous La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ. The composition occupied him from 1965 to 1969 and the musicians employed include a 100-voice ten-part choir, seven solo instruments and large orchestra. Its fourteen movements are a meditation on the story of Christ's Transfiguration. Shortly after its completion, Messiaen received a commission from Alice Tully for a work to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial. He arranged a visit to the USA in spring 1972, and was inspired by Bryce Canyon in Utah, where he observed the canyon's distinctive colours and birdsong.^[23] The twelve-movement orchestral piece Des canyons aux étoiles… was the result, which was first performed in 1974 in New York.

In 1971, he was asked to compose a piece for the Paris Opéra. While reluctant to undertake such a major project, he was persuaded in 1975 to accept the commission and began work on his Saint-François d'Assise. The composition was intensive (he also wrote his own libretto) and occupied him from 1975 to 1979; the orchestration was carried out from 1979 until 1983.^[24] Messiaen preferred to describe the final work as a "spectacle" rather than an opera. It was first performed in 1983. Some commentators at the time thought that the opera would be his valediction (at times Messiaen himself believed so),^[25] but he continued to compose. In 1984 he published a major collection of organ pieces, Livre du Saint Sacrement; other works include birdsong pieces for solo piano, and works for piano with orchestra.

In the summer of 1978, Messiaen retired from teaching at the Conservatoire. He was promoted to the highest rank of the Légion d'honneur, the Grand-Croix, in 1987.^[26] An operation prevented his participation in the celebration of his 70th birthday in 1978, but in 1988 tributes for Messiaen's 80th included a complete performance in London's Royal Festival Hall of St. François, which the composer attended, and Erato's publication of a seventeen-CD collection of Messiaen's music including recordings by Loriod and a disc of the composer in conversation with Claude Samuel.

Although in considerable pain near the end of his life (requiring repeated surgery on his back)^[27] he was able to fulfil a commission from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, which was premièred six months after his death. He died in Clichy-la-Garenne.

On going through his papers, Messiaen's widow discovered that he had been composing a concerto for four musicians he felt particularly grateful to, namely Loriod, the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, the oboist Heinz Holliger and the flautist Catherine Cantin (hence the title Concert à quatre). Four of the five intended movements were substantially complete; Yvonne Loriod undertook the orchestration of the second half of the first movement and of the whole of the fourth with advice from George Benjamin. It was premiered by the dedicatees in September 1994.

Music[link]

Messiaen's music has been described as outside the western musical tradition, although growing out of that tradition and being influenced by it.^[28] Much of his output denies the western conventions of forward motion, development and diatonic harmonic resolution. This is partly due to the symmetries of his technique—for instance the modes of limited transposition do not admit the conventional cadences found in western classical music.

His youthful love for the fairy-tale element in Shakespeare prefigured his later expressions of what he called "the marvellous aspects of the Roman Catholic Faith"—among which may be numbered Christ's Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Transfiguration, the Apocalypse and the hereafter. Messiaen was not interested in depicting aspects of theology such as sin;^[29] rather he concentrated on the theology of joy, divine love and redemption.

Messiaen continually evolved new composition techniques, always integrating them into his existing musical style; his final work still retains the use of modes of limited transposition. For many commentators this continual development made every major work from the Quatuor onwards a conscious summation of all that Messiaen had composed up to that time. However, very few of these major works lack new technical ideas—simple examples being the introduction of communicable language in Meditations, the invention of a new percussion instrument (the geophone) for Des canyons aux etoiles..., and the freedom from any synchronisation with the main pulse of individual parts in certain birdsong episodes of St. François d'Assise.^[30]

As well as discovering new techniques, Messiaen found and absorbed exotic music, including Ancient Greek rhythms, Hindu rhythms (he encountered Śārṅgadeva's list of 120 rhythmic units, the deçî-tâlas),^[31] Balinese and Javanese Gamelan, birdsong and Japanese music (see Example 1 for an instance of his use of ancient Greek and Hindu rhythms).

While he was instrumental in the academic exploration of his techniques (he compiled two treatises: the later one in five volumes was substantially complete when he died and was published posthumously), and was himself a master of music analysis, he considered the development and study of techniques to be a means to intellectual, aesthetic and emotional ends. Thus Messiaen maintained that a musical composition must be measured against three separate criteria: it must be interesting, beautiful to listen to, and it must touch the listener.^[32]

Messiaen wrote a large body of music for the piano. Although a considerable pianist himself, he was undoubtedly assisted by Yvonne Loriod's formidable piano technique and ability to convey complex rhythms and rhythmic combinations; in his piano writing from Visions de l'Amen onwards he had her in mind. Messiaen said, "I am able to allow myself the greatest eccentricities because to her anything is possible."^[33]

Western artistic influences[link]

Developments in modern French music were a major influence on Messiaen, particularly the music of Claude Debussy and his use of the whole-tone scale (which Messiaen called Mode 1 in his modes of limited transposition). Messiaen very rarely used the whole-tone scale in his compositions because, he said, after Debussy and Dukas there was "nothing to add",^[34] but the modes he did use are all similarly symmetrical.

Messiaen had a great admiration for the music of Igor Stravinsky, particularly the use of rhythm in earlier works such as The Rite of Spring, and his use of colour. He was further influenced by the orchestral brilliance of Heitor Villa-Lobos, who lived in Paris in the 1920s and gave acclaimed concerts there. Among composers for the keyboard, Messiaen singled out Jean-Philippe Rameau, Domenico Scarlatti, Frédéric Chopin, Debussy and Isaac Albéniz.^[33] He loved the music of Modest Mussorgsky and incorporated varied modifications of what he called the "M-shaped" melodic motif from Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov,^[34] although he characteristically modified the final interval in this motif from a perfect fourth to a tritone (Example 3).

Messiaen was further influenced by Surrealism, as may be seen from the titles of some of the piano Préludes (Un reflet dans le vent…, "A reflection in the wind") and in some of the imagery of his poetry (he published poems as prefaces to certain works, for example Les offrandes oubliées).

Colour[link]

Colour lies at the heart of Messiaen's music. He believed that terms such as "tonal", "modal" and "serial" are misleading analytical conveniences.^[35] For him there were no modal, tonal or serial compositions, only music with or without colour.^[36] He said that Claudio Monteverdi, Mozart, Chopin, Richard Wagner, Mussorgsky and Stravinsky all wrote strongly coloured music.^[37]

In certain of Messiaen's scores, he notated the colours in the music (notably in Couleurs de la cité céleste and Des canyons aux étoiles...)— the purpose being to aid the conductor in interpretation rather than to specify which colours the listener should experience. The importance of colour is linked to Messiaen's synaesthesia, which he said caused him to experience colours when he heard or imagined music (he said that he did not perceive the colours visually). In his multi-volume music theory treatise Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d'ornithologie ("Treatise of Rhythm, Colour and Birdsong"), Messiaen wrote descriptions of the colours of certain chords. His descriptions range from the simple ("gold and brown") to the highly detailed ("blue-violet rocks, speckled with little grey cubes, cobalt blue, deep Prussian blue, highlighted by a bit of violet-purple, gold, red, ruby, and stars of mauve, black and white. Blue-violet is dominant").^[38]

When asked what Messiaen's main influence had been on composers, George Benjamin said, "I think the sheer [...] colour has been so influential, [...] rather than being a decorative element, [Messiaen showed that colour] could be a structural, a fundamental element, [...] the fundamental material of the music itself."^[39]

Symmetry[link]

Many of Messiaen's composition techniques made use of symmetries of time and pitch.

Time[link]

From his earliest works, Messiaen used non-retrogradable (palindromic) rhythms (Example 2). He sometimes combined rhythms with harmonic sequences in such a way that if the process were allowed to proceed indefinitely the music would eventually run through all the possible permutations and return to its starting point. For Messiaen, this represented the "charm of impossibilities" of these processes. He only ever presented a portion of any such process, as if allowing the informed listener a glimpse of something eternal. In the first movement of Quatuor pour la fin du temps the piano and cello together provide an early example.^[40]

Pitch[link]

Messiaen used modes which he called modes of limited transposition. They are distinguished as groups of notes which can only be transposed by a semitone a limited number of times. For example the whole-tone scale (Messiaen's Mode 1) only exists in two transpositions: namely C–D–E–F♯–G♯–A♯ and D♭–E♭–F–G–A–B. Messiaen abstracted these modes from the harmony of his improvisations and early works.^[41] Music written using the modes avoids conventional diatonic harmonic progressions, since for example Messiaen's Mode 2 (identical to the octatonic scale used also by other composers) permits precisely the dominant seventh chords whose tonic the mode does not contain.^[42] For Messiaen the modes possessed colours.

Time and rhythm[link]

Messiaen considered his rhythmic contribution to music to be his distinguishing mark among modern composers. As well as making use of non-retrogradable rhythms, and the Hindu decî-tâlas, Messiaen also made use of "additive" rhythms. This involves lengthening individual notes slightly or interpolating a short note into an otherwise regular rhythm (see Example 3), or shortening or lengthening every note of a rhythm by the same duration (adding a semiquaver to every note in a rhythm on its repeat, for example). This led Messiaen to use rhythmic cells that irregularly alternate between two and three units, a process which also occurs in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, which Messiaen admired.

A factor that contributes to Messiaen's suspension of the conventional perception of time in his music is the extremely slow tempos he often specifies (the fifth movement Louange à l'eternité de Jésus of Quatuor is actually given the tempo marking infiniment lent); and even in his quick music he often uses repeated phrases and harmonies to make the speed seem static.

Messiaen also used the concept of "chromatic durations", for example in his Soixante-quatre durées from Livre d'orgue ( listen (help·info)), which is built from, in Messiaen's words, "64 chromatic durations from 1 to 64 demisemiquavers [thirty-second notes] – invested in groups of 4, from the ends to the centre, forwards and backwards alternately – treated as a retrograde canon. The whole peopled with birdsong."^[43]

Harmony[link]

In addition to making harmonic use of the modes of limited transposition, he cited the harmonic series as a physical phenomenon which provides chords with a context which he felt to be missing in purely serial music.^[44] An example of Messiaen's harmonic use of this phenomenon, which he called "resonance", is the last two bars of his first piano Prélude, La colombe ("The dove"): the chord is built from harmonics of the fundamental base note E.^[45]

Related to this use of resonance, Messiaen also composed music in which the lowest, or fundamental, note is combined with higher notes or chords played much more quietly. These higher notes, far from being perceived as conventional harmony, function as harmonics that alter the timbre of the fundamental note like mixture stops on a pipe organ. An example is the song of the golden oriole in Le loriot of the Catalogue d'oiseaux for solo piano (Example 4).

In his use of conventional diatonic chords, Messiaen often transcended their historically banal connotations (for example, his frequent use of the added sixth chord as a resolution).

Birdsong[link]

Birdsong fascinated Messiaen from an early age, and in this he found encouragement from his teacher Dukas, who reportedly urged his pupils to "listen to the birds".^[46] Messiaen included stylised birdsong in some of his early compositions (including L'abîme d'oiseaux from the Quatuor pour la fin du temps), integrating it into his sound-world by techniques like the modes of limited transposition and chord colouration. His evocations of birdsong became increasingly sophisticated, and with Le réveil des oiseaux this process reached maturity, the whole piece being built from birdsong: in effect it is a dawn chorus for orchestra. The same can be said for "Epode", the five-minute sixth movement of "Chronochromie", which is scored for eighteen violins, each one playing a different birdsong. Messiaen notated the bird species with the music in the score (Examples 1 and 4). The pieces are not simple transcriptions; even the works with purely bird-inspired titles, such as Catalogue d'oiseaux and Fauvette des jardins, are tone poems evoking the landscape, its colours and atmosphere.

Serialism[link]

For some compositions, Messiaen created scales for duration, attack and timbre analogous to the chromatic pitch scale. He expressed annoyance at the historical importance given to one of these works, Mode de valeurs et d'intensités, by musicologists intent on crediting him with the invention of "total serialism".^[32]

Messiaen later introduced what he called a "communicable language", a "musical alphabet" to encode sentences. He first used this technique in his Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité for organ; where the "alphabet" includes motifs for the concepts to have, to be and God, while the sentences encoded feature sections from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.^[47]

Works[link]

Compositions[link]

An ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument, for which Messiaen included a part in several of his compositions: the orchestra for his opera Saint François d'Assise includes three of them

Published[link]

• Le banquet céleste ("The heavenly banquet"), organ (1928, a recomposition of a section from his unpublished orchestral piece Le banquet eucharistique^[48])
• Préludes, piano (1928–29)
• Diptyque ("Diptych"), organ (1930)
• La mort du nombre ("The death of numbers"), soprano, tenor, violin and piano (1930)
• Les offrandes oubliées ("The forgotten offerings"), orchestra (1930)
• Trois mélodies, song cycle (1930)
• Le Tombeau Resplendissant, orchestra (1931)
• Apparition de l'église éternelle ("Apparition of the eternal church"), organ (1932)
• Fantaisie burlesque, piano (1932)
• Hymne au Saint Sacrement ("Hymn to the Holy Sacrament"), orchestra (1932, lost 1943, reconstructed from memory 1946^[49])
• Thème et variations, ("Theme and Variations") violin and piano (1932)
• L'ascension ("The Ascension"), orchestra (1932–33; organ version including replacement movement, 1933–34)
• La Nativité du Seigneur ("The Lord's nativity"), organ (1935)
• Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas ("Piece written as a memorial of Paul Dukas"), piano, (1935)
• Vocalise, voice and piano (1935)
• Poèmes pour Mi ("Poems for Mi"), song cycle (1936, orchestral version 1937)
• O sacrum convivium!, choral motet (1937)
• Chants de terre et de ciel ("Songs of earth and heaven"), song cycle (1938)
• Les corps glorieux ("Glorious bodies"), organ (1939)
• Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time"), violin, cello, clarinet, piano (1940–41)
• Rondeau, piano (1943)
• Visions de l'Amen ("Visions of the Amen"), two pianos (1943)
• Trois petites liturgies de la présence divine ("Three small liturgies of the Divine Presence"), women's voices, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1943–44)
• Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus ("Twenty gazes on the Christ-child"), piano (1944)
• Harawi: Chants d'amour et de mort, ("Harawi: Songs of love and death") song cycle (1944)
• Turangalîla-Symphonie, piano solo, ondes Martenot solo, orchestra (1946–48)
• Cinq rechants, 12 singers (1948)
• Cantéyodjayâ, piano (1949)
• Messe de la Pentecôte ("Pentecost mass"), organ (1949–50)
• Quatre études de rythme ("Four studies in rhythm"), piano (1949–50)
  1. Île de feu 1
  2. Mode de valeurs et d'intensités
  3. Neumes rhythmiques
  4. Île de feu 2
• Le merle noir ("Blackbird"), flute and piano (1952^[50])
• Livre d'orgue, organ (1951–2)
• Réveil des oiseaux ("Dawn chorus"), solo piano and orchestra (1953)
• Oiseaux exotiques ("Exotic birds"), solo piano and orchestra (1955–56)
• Catalogue d'oiseaux ("Bird catalogue"), piano (1956–58)
  • Book 1
    • i Le chocard des alpes ("Alpine chough")
    • ii Le loriot ("Golden oriole") (loriot and Loriod are homophones)
    • iii Le merle bleu ("Blue rock thrush")
  • Book 2
    • iv Le traquet stapazin ("Black-eared wheatear")
  • Book 3
    • v La chouette hulotte ("Tawny owl")
    • vi L'alouette lulu ("Woodlark")
  • Book 4
    • vii La rousserolle effarvatte ("Reed warbler")
  • Book 5
    • viii L'alouette calandrelle ("Short-toed lark")
    • ix La bouscarle ("Cetti's warbler")
  • Book 6
    • x Le merle de roche ("Rufous-tailed rock thrush")
  • Book 7
    • xi La buse variable ("Buzzard")
    • xii Le traquet rieur ("Black wheatear")
    • xiii Le courlis cendré ("Curlew")
• Chronochromie ("Time-colour"), orchestra (1959–60)
• Verset pour la fête de la dédicace ("Verse for the festival of dedication"), organ (1960)
• Sept haïkaï ("Seven haikus"), solo piano and orchestra (1962)
• Couleurs de la cité céleste ("Colours of the Celestial City"), solo piano and ensemble (1963)
• Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum ("And I look forward to the resurrection of the dead"), wind, brass and percussion (1964)
• La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ ("The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ"), large 10-part chorus, piano solo, cello solo, flute solo, clarinet solo, xylorimba solo, vibraphone solo, large orchestra (1965–69)
• Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité ("Meditations on the mystery of the Holy Trinity"), organ (1969)
• La fauvette des jardins ("Garden warbler"), piano (1970)
• Des canyons aux étoiles… ("From the canyons to the stars..."), solo piano, solo horn, solo glockenspiel, solo xylorimba, small orchestra with 13 string players (1971–74)
• Saint-François d'Assise ("St Francis of Assisi"), opera (1975–1983)
• Livre du Saint Sacrement ("Book of the Holy Sacrament"), organ (1984)
• Petites esquisses d'oiseaux ("Small sketches of birds"), piano (1985)
• Un vitrail et des oiseaux ("Stained-glass window and birds"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1986)
• La ville d'en-haut ("The city on high"), piano solo, brass, wind and percussion (1987)
• Un sourire ("A smile"), orchestra (1989)
• Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes ("Piece for piano and string quartet") (1991)
• Éclairs sur l'au-delà… ("Illuminations on the beyond..."), orchestra (1988–92)

Unpublished, posthumously published, or lost[link]

A number of Messiaen's compositions were not sanctioned by the composer for publication. They include the following, some of which have been published posthumously, and some of which are lost.

• La dame de Shallott, for piano (1917)
• La banquet eucharistique, for orchestra (1928)
• Variations écossaises, for organ (1928)
• Mass, 8 sopranos and 4 violins (1933)
• Fantaisie, for violin and piano (1933; published 2007)
• Fêtes des belles eaux, for six ondes Martenots (1937)
• Musique de scène pour un Œdipe, electronic (1942)
• Chant des déportés, chorus and orchestra (1945, then lost, rediscovered 1991)
• Timbres-durées, musique concrète (1952), realised by Pierre Henry in the radiophonic workshop of French radio, an experiment which Messiaen later deemed a failure^[51]
• Feuillets inedits for piano and ondes martenot (published 2001)
• Concert à quatre ("Quadruple concerto"), piano, flute, oboe, cello and orchestra (1990–91, almost finished at the time of his death, completed by Loriod and Benjamin, premiered in 1994, published in 2003)

Treatises[link]

• Technique de mon langage musical ("The technique of my musical language"). Paris: Leduc, 1944.
• Vingt leçons d'harmonie ("20 harmony lessons"). Paris: Leduc, 1944.
• Traité de rythme, de couleur, et d’ornithologie (1949–1992) ("Treatise on rhythm, colour and ornithology"), completed by Yvonne Loriod. 7 parts bound in 8 volumes. Paris: Leduc, 1994–2002.
• Analyses of the Piano Works of Maurice Ravel, edited by Yvonne Loriod, translated by Paul Griffiths. [Paris]: Durand, 2005.

References and further reading[link]

General references[link]

• Benitez, Vincent P. (2008). Olivier Messiaen: A Research and Information Guide. Routledge, New York and London. ISBN 0-415-97372-4. 
• Bruhn, Siglind (2007). Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-129-6.
• Bruhn, Siglind (2008). Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musico-poetic Signification in the Tristan Trilogy and Three Related Song Cycles. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-136-4.
• Bruhn, Siglind (2008). Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity. Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations, and Opera. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-57647-139-5.
• Dingle, Christopher (2007). The Life of Messiaen. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge & New York. ISBN 0-521-63547-0 (paperback), ISBN 0-521-63220-X (hardback). 
• Dingle, Christopher & Simeone, Nigel (eds) (2007). Olivier Messiaen: Music, Art and Literature. Ashgate, Aldershot. ISBN 0-7546-5297-1. 
• Hill, Peter, and Simeone, Nigel (2005). Messiaen. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN 0-300-10907-5. 
• Hill, Peter, ed. (1995). The Messiaen Companion. Faber and Faber, London. ISBN 0-571-17033-1. 
• Griffiths, Paul (1985). Olivier Messiaen and the Music of Time. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. ISBN 0-8014-1813-5. 
• Sherlaw Johnson, Robert (1975). Messiaen. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-02812-0. 
• Shenton, Andrew (2008). Olivier Messiaen's System of Signs: Notes towards Understanding his Music. Ashgate, Aldershot. ISBN 978-0-7546-6168-9.  Winner of the 2009 Max B Miller Award from the American Guild of Organists.
• Shenton, Andrew (2010). Messiaen the Theologian. Ashgate, Aldershot. ISBN 978-0-7546-6640-0. 
• Sholl, Robert (2008). Messiaen Studies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge & New York. ISBN 978-0-521-83981-5. 

Conversations with the composer[link]

• Goléa, Antoine (1960). Rencontres avec Olivier Messiaen. Julliard, Paris. 
• Samuel, Claude (tr. E. Thomas Glasow) (1994). Olivier Messiaen: Music and Color: Conversations with Claude Samuel. Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon. ISBN 0-931340-67-5. 

Films[link]

• Apparition of the Eternal Church – Paul Festa's 2006 film about responses of 31 artists to Messiaen's music.
• Messiaen at 80 (1988). Directed by Sue Knussen. BFI database entry.
• Olivier Messiaen – The Crystal Liturgy (2007 [DVD release date]). Directed by Olivier Mille.
• Olivier Messiaen: Works (1991). DVD on which Messiaen performs "Improvisations" on the organ at the Paris Trinity Church.
• The South Bank Show: Olivier Messiaen: The Music of Faith (1985). Directed by Alan Benson. BFI database entry.

Other references[link]

• Anderson, Christine Lynn (1982). A Singer's Examination of Olivier Messiaen's "Harawi: Chant d'Amour et de Mort". D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.
• Anderson, Shane Dewayne (1999). "Vingt regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus" by Olivier Messiaen: An Analysis of Its Content, Spiritual Significance and Performance Practice. D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
• Aston, Stephanie Lynn (2011). "Journeys of Expression: An Examination of Four Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Vocal Works". D.M.A. diss. San Diego: University of California, San Diego.
• Baggech, Melody Ann (1998). An English Translation of Olivier Messiaen's "Traite de Rythme, de Couleur, et d'Ornithologie". Norman: The University of Oklahoma.
• Barash, Amari Pepper (2002). "Cadential Gestures in Post-Tonal Music: The Constitution of Cadences in Messiaen's "Ile de feu I" and Boulez' "Premiere Sonate", First Movement". D.M.A. diss. New York: City University of New York.
• Barber, Charles (1991). "Messiaen and his Turangalila-symphonie". D.M.A. diss. Stanford: Stanford University.
• Benitez, Vincent Perez, Jr (2001). "Pitch Organization and Dramatic Design in "Saint Francois d'Assise" of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Bloomington: Indiana University.
• Benitez, Vincent P. (2004). "Aspects of Harmony in Messiaen's Later Music: An Examination of the Chords of Transposed Inversions on the Same Bass Note." Journal of Musicological Research 23/2:187–226.
• Bernard, Jonathan W. (1986). "Messiaen's Synaesthesia: The Correspondence between Color and Sound Structure in His Music." Music Perception 4:41–68.
• Boden, Ruth Adair (2008). "Performance Strategies for "Serenade" from Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, and "Praise for the Eternity of Jesus" from Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time". D.M.A. diss. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama.
• Boivin, Jean (1993). "La Classe de Messiaen: Historique, reconstitution, impact". Ph.D. diss. Montreal: Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal.
• Boswell-Kurc, Lilise (2001). "Olivier Messiaen's Religious War-Time Works and Their Controversial Reception in France (1941–1946) ". Ph.D. diss. New York: New York University.
• Bowlby, Christopher S. (2005). "Vingt régards sur l'enfant-Jesus: Messiaen's Means of Conveying Extra-Musical Subtext". D.M.A. diss. Seattle: University of Washington.
• Bradbury, William C, II (1991). "Huracan for Wind Ensemble (Original Composition); and 'Messiaen and Gamelan: An Analysis of Gamelan in the Turangalila-symphonie". D.M.A. diss. Ithaca: Cornell University.
• Bruhn, Siglind (1997). Images and Ideas in Modern French Piano Music: The Extra-Musical Subtext in Piano Works by Ravel, Debussy, and Messiaen. Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press. ISBN 0-945193-95-5. 
• Burger, Cole Philip (2009). "Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Régards sur l'enfant-Jesus: Analytical, Religious, and Literary Considerations". D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
• Burns, Jeffrey Phillips (1995). "Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition Reconsidered". M.M. thesis, Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Carroll, Kenneth Don (1992). "The Influence of Olivier Messiaen on Brillance and the Concerto pour Saxophone-alto et Orchestre by Ida Gotkovsky: An Analytical Study". D.M.A. diss. Athens, GA: University of Georgia
• Case, Del Williams (1973). "A Study and Performance of Three Organ Works by Langlais, Dupre, and Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Los Angeles: University of Southern California.
• Chen, Jo-Yu (2005). "A Curricular Prototype to Enhance Compositional Skills Through Improvisation Based on Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps". Ed.D. diss. New York: Columbia University Teachers College.
• Conrad, Bridget F. (1994). "The Sources of Jolivet's Musical Language and His Relationships with Varese and Messiaen". 2 volumes. Ph.D. diss. New York: City University of New York.
• Derfler, Barbara Joan (1999). "Claude Debussy's Influence on Olivier Messiaen: An Analysis and Comparison of Two Preludes". M.Mus. thesis. Edmondton: University of Alberta.
• Donelson, Jennifer (2008). "Musical Technique and Symbolism in 'Noel' from Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus": A Defense of Messiaen's Words and Music". D.M.A. diss. Lincoln: The University of Nebraska - Lincoln,
• Dukes, Leslie Dianne (1998). "An Exploration of Olivier Messiaen's Piano Style and Application of Color in Le baiser de l'Enfant-Jesus and Le courlis cendre". Tucson: The University of Arizona.
• Fallon, Robert Joseph (2005). "Messiaen's Mimesis: The Language and Culture of The Bird Styles". Ph.D. diss. Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley.
• Fancher, Joseph Eugene (2003). "Pitch Organization in the Turangalila-Symphonie of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Eugene: University of Oregon.
• Festa, Paul (2008). Oh My God: Messiaen in the Ear of the Unbeliever. San Francisco: Bar Nothing Books. 
• Gillock, Jon (2009). Performing Messiaen's Organ Music: 66 Masterclasses. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 978-0-253-35373-3
• Hardink, Jason M. (2007). "Messiaen and Plainchant". D.M.A. diss. Houston: Rice University.
• Harris, Joseph Edward (2004). "Musique coloree: Synesthetic Correspondence in the Works of Olivier Messiaen". Ph.D. diss. Ames: The University of Iowa.
• Hickman, Melinda Lee (2001). "Meaning in Piano Music with a Religious Theme: A Philosophical and Historical Approach". D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati
• Hill, Camille Crunelle (1996). "The Synthesis of Messiaen's Musical Language in His Opera Saint Francois d'Assise". Ph.D. diss. Lexington: University of Kentucky.
• Hill, Matthew Richard (1995). "Messiaen's Regard du silence as an Expression of Catholic Faith". D.M.A. diss. Madison: The University of Wisconsin, Madison.
• Hill, Peter; Simeone, Nigel (2007). Olivier Messiaen: Oiseaux exotiques. Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-5630-2. 
• Hopkins, Stephen O'Bryan (1993). "A Comparative Analysis of Selected Works of Alexander Scriabin and Olivier Messiaen for Solo Piano". Ph.D. diss. Tallahasse: The Florida State University.
• Hwang, Hyun Jung (2006). "Incorporating Spiritual Symbolism in Musical Composition: Olivier Messiaen's Orchestral Works, 1963—1969, and 'The Scripture Was Fulfilled', Choral Setting for Mixed Choir and orchestra". 2 vols. Ph.D. diss. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.
• Irvine, Catherine Anne (1999). "The Interrelations of Formal Structure, Harmony, Register, and Instrumentation in Messiaen's Un sourire". M.Mus. thesis. London, ONT: The University of Western Ontario.
• Jancarz, Christine Louise (2007). "Symphonic Imagery, An Original Composition and an Examination of Three Similar Programmatic Compositions". D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami
• Kraft, David (2000). "Birdsong in the Music of Olivier Messiaen". PhD diss., University of Middlesex.
• Laycock, Gary Eng Yeow (2010). "Re-evaluating Olivier Messiaen's Musical Language from 1917 to 1935". Ph.D. diss. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2010
• Lee, Chi-Kuen (Martin) (2011). "The Charm of Impossibilities: Musical Language, Theology and Narrative Discourse in Olivier Messiaen's Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum" Ph.D. diss. Buffalo: State University of New York at Buffalo.
• Lee, Hyeweon (1992). "Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus: A Study of Sonority, Color, and Symbol". D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati.
• Lee, Hye-Young (2006). "Tracing Messiaen in Naji Hakim's Le Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Denton: University of North Texas.
• Lee, Yun (2009). "Symmetry and Symbolic Language in Olivier Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi: A Musical Reflection on Divine and Conjugal Love". D.M.A. diss. Boston: Boston University
• Leigh, Jeff (2010). "A Hidden Theology: Pitch Association and Symbolism in Olivier Messiaen's Meditations sur le Mystere de la Sainte Trinite" Ph.D. diss. New York: City University of New York.
• Leonard, Jill (2007). "Three Solos de Concours from the Paris Conservatoire". M.M. thesis. Long Beach: California State University, Long Beach.
• Lin, Yi-Ting (1999). "A Comparison of Scriabin's Last Five Piano Sonatas and Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus: Analyses of Sonata No. 7, and Contemplations I, IV, and XX". D.M.A. diss. Fort Worth: Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• Luchese, Diane (1998). "Olivier Messiaen's Slow Music: Glimpses of Eternity in Time". Ph.D. diss. Evanston: Northwestern University
• McGinnis, Margaret Elizabeth (2003). "Playing the Fields: Messiaen, Music, and the Extramusical". Ph.D. diss. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Matossian, Nouritza. 1986. Xenakis. London: Kahn and Averill. ISBN 1-871082-17-X
• Ming, Christina Tio (2000). "The Avant Garde and Its 'Others': Orientalism in Contemporary Art Music". Ph.D. diss. Southampton: University of Southampton.
• Nelson, David Lowell (1992). "An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen's Chant Paraphrases". 2 vols. Ph.D. diss. Evanston: Northwestern University
• Ngim, Alan Gerald (1997). "Olivier Messiaen as a Pianist: A Study of Tempo and Rhythm Based on His Recordings of Visions de l'amen". D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami.
• Nguyen, Quynh T. (2009). "An Analysis of Olivier Messiaen's Last Piano Solo Work: Les Petites Esquisses d'oiseaux". D.M.A. diss. New York: City University of New York.
• Oh, Seung-Ah (2005). "Olivier Messiaen's Composition Techniques in Reveil des Oiseaux". Ph.D. diss. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University * Puspita, Amelia (2008). "The Influence of Balinese Gamelan on the Music of Olivier Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati
• Peterson, Larry Wayne (1973). "Messiaen and Rhythm: Theory and Practice". Ph.D. diss. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Randles, Kathleen Martha (1992). "Exoticism in the Melodie: The Evolution of Exotic Techniques as Used in Songs by David, Bizet, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Roussel, Delage, Milhaud, and Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Columbus: The Ohio State University.
• Reverdy, Michèle (1988). L'Œuvre pour orchestre d'Olivier Messiaen. Paris: Alphonse Leduc. ISBN 2-85689-038-5. 
• Rischin, Rebecca (2003). For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4136-6. 
• Rogers Reeves, Janice Elaine (1997). "Theological Symbolism in Olivier Messiaen's Poemes pour Mi: An Interpretive and Set Theoretic Analysis". D.M.A. diss. Kansas City: University of Missouri, Kansas City.
• Rogosin, David (1996). "Aspects of Structure in Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus". D.M.A. diss. Vancouver: The University of British Columbia.
• Romza, Patricia-Andrea (1997). "Female-Choir Music by French Composers: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works". D.M.A. diss. Athens, GA: University of Georgia.
• Savli, Peter (1999). "Harmonic Density in Messiaen". D.M.A. diss. Ithaca: Cornell University.
• Shenton, Andrew David James (1998). "The Unspoken Word: Olivier Messiaen's 'langage communicable'". Ph.D. diss. Cambridge: Harvard University.
• Snavely, Andrea L. (2004). "The Role of Statistical Cues in the Segmentation of Post-Tonal Music". Ph.D. diss. Madison: The University of Wisconsin.
• Stephens, Michael (2007). "Two Ways of Looking at Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus, with, Baptism (An Original Composition for Chamber Orchestra)". Ph.D. diss. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh
• Stimson, Ann Michelle (1996). "Musical Time in the Avant-Garde: The Japanese Connection". Ph.D. diss. Santa Barbara: University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Sun, Shu-Wen (1995). Birdsong and Pitch-Class Sets in Messiaen's "L'Alouette Calandrelle". D.M.A. diss. Eugene: University of Oregon.
• Toop, Richard (1974). "Messiaen / Goeyvaerts, Fano / Stockhausen, Boulez." Perspectives of New Music 13, no. 1 (Fall-Winter): 141–69.
• Wardell, Xiaoman Zhang (1996). An Examination of Selected Contemporary Works Composed by Means of Numbers. D.M.A. diss. Claremont: The Claremont Graduate University.
• Waumsley, Stuart (1975). The Organ Music of Olivier Messiaen (New ed.). Paris: Alphonse Leduc. OCLC 2911308; LCCN 77-457244. 
• Welsh Ibanez, Deborah (2005). Color, Timbre, and Resonance: Developments in Olivier Messiaen's Use of Percussion Between 1956—1965. D.M.A. diss. Coral Gables: University of Miami
• White Luckow, Heather (2011). La Marque du maitre: Messiaen's Influence on Québécois Composers Serge Garant, Clermont Pepin and Andre Prevost. Ph.D. diss. Montreal: McGill University.
• Whitmore, Brooks Blaine (2000). Rhythmic Techniques in Olivier Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus". D.M.A. diss. Austin: The University of Texas at Austin.
• Wong, Ren-Liang (1992). Volume I. A Brief Analysis of the "Turangalila" movements of Olivier Messiaen's "Turangalila" Symphony. Volume II. Tone poem for full orchestra. (Original composition). Ph.D. diss. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.
• Zheng, Zhong (2004). A Study of Messiaen's Solo Piano Works. Ph.D. diss. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Olivier Messiaen

• BBC Messiaen Profile
• Online Messiaen resource by Malcolm Ball
• Infography about Olivier Messiaen
• oliviermessiaen.net, hosted by the Boston University Messiaen Project [BUMP]. Includes detailed information on the composer's life and works, events, and links to other Messiaen websites.
• www.philharmonia.co.uk/messiaen, the Philharmonia Orchestra's Messiaen website. The site contains articles, unseen images, programme notes and films to go alongside the orchestra's series of concerts celebrating the Centenary of Olivier Messiaen's birth.
• David Schiff, Music for the End of Time, The Nation, posted January 25, 2006 (February 13, 2006 issue). Formally a review of Messiaen by Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone, but provides an overview of Messiaen's life and works.
• "Couleurs de la Cité Céleste d’Olivier Messiaen" by Philippe Lalitte (Multimedia Analysis).
• Nigel Simeone, Olivier Messiaen: A Biographical Sketch from the Messiaen Music Festival 2008 website
• Music and the Holocaust – Olivier Messiaen
• (French) A biography of Olivier Messiaen, from IRCAM's website.
• My Messiaen Modes - A visual representation of Messiaen's modes of limited transposition

Listening[link]

• Louis Thiry playing «La Messe de Pentecôte» by Olivier Messiaen on the Sint-Bavokerk's organ in Haarlem (Nederlands)
• Thème et variations – Helen Kim, violin; Adam Bowles, piano Luna Nova New Music Ensemble
• Le merle noir – John McMurtery, flute; Adam Bowles, piano Luna Nova New Music Ensemble
• Quatuor pour la fin du temps – Luna Nova New Music Ensemble
• Regard de l'esprit de joie from Vingt regards..., Tom Poster, pianist
• Birdsong in Messiaen
• Example of Birdsong in Messiaen played on a Mühleisen pipe organ
• In-depth feature on Olivier Messiaen by Radio France International's English service
• Excerpts from sound archives of Messiaen's works.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2010)

Ashok Kumar
Born	Kumudlal Kunjilal Ganguly (1911-10-13)13 October 1911 Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	10 December 2001(2001-12-10) (aged 90) Mumbai, Maharastra, India
Cause of death	Heart Failure
Residence	Chembur, Mumbai, India
Other names	Sanjay Ashok Kumar
Occupation	Actor, painter
Years active	1936–1997
Spouse	Shobha Devi
Relatives	Anoop Kumar, Kishore Kumar(Brothers), Sati Devi (Sister)

Ashok Kumar ( Bengali অশোক কুমার গাঙ্গুলী, 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001) also fondly called Dadamoni in Bengali, was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema. The Government of India honoured him with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Bhushan in 1998 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Family[link]

His father Kunjalal Ganguly was a lawyer and his mother Gouri Devi came from a wealthy Bengali Kulin Brahmin family. The "Ganguly family" was based in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. His brothers Anoop Kumar and Kishore Kumar also acted in films. The three brothers worked together in the comedies Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi and Badhti Ka Naam Dadhi. Ashok, though the eldest of the three by quite a margin, survived them both. In fact, he stopped celebrating his birthday after the youngest brother, Kishore, died on that day in 1987. His sister, Sati Devi, was married to Sashadhar Mukherjee of the Mukherjee-Samarth family.

Ashok Kumar married Shobha. They had a troubled marriage due to his wife being an alcoholic.^[1] His daughter, Preeti Ganguly acted in numerous Hindi film, during 1970s,^[2] later she started the 'Ashok Kumar's Academy of Dramatic Arts', Mumbai in 1993.^[3] His other daughter, Rupa Ganguly and son Arun Ganguly never joined films,^[4] Rupa is married to actor Deven Verma^[5]

Early career[link]

Reverently called Dadamoni (affectionate term for elder brother), he was born in Bhagalpur and educated at Presidency College of the University of Calcutta, Kolkata). He started his career in Bombay (Mumbai), albeit accidentally, with the Bombay Talkies production Jeevan Naiya in 1936. The male lead, Najam-ul-Hussain, went absconding with the heroine Devika Rani, the director's wife who returned later on. The director and studio head, Himanshu Rai, in retaliation dismissed the hero and called upon his laboratory assistant Ashok Kumar to take the part and thus began a six-decade-long acting career. However, it was his subsequent venture with Devika Rani in Achhut Kanya in the same year that set him up for the big league. The movie itself stands out as one of the heralding social dramas of pre-independence Indian film. It was the story of a Brahmin boy falling in love with a girl from the so-called untouchables in Indian society. It was a big hit and started the trend of socially committed films.

Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar in Achhut Kanya, 1936

Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar did a string of films after this including Izzat (1937), Savitri (1937) and 'Nirmala' (1938). But she was the bigger star and Ashok Kumar was definitely in her shadow. He came into his own with three films opposite Leela Chitnis: Kangan (1939), Bandhan (1940), Jhoola (1941), singing his own songs as was the custom then. He came away with several hits including most famously Main Ban ka Panchhi.

He was one of the first anti-heroes of Indian Cinema with his role in Kismet in 1943. This movie went on to create a record for the highest grossing film in India at the time of its release.

He produced several films for Bombay Talkies during the final years of the company including the famous Mahal in 1949 in which he co-starred with Madhubala. In the 1950s, he played the suave cigarette-smoking criminal or police officer in several films of what was the Indian film-noir movement. In the late 1960s he switched to character roles playing the parent, grandparent, dirty old man and suave criminal, being careful never to be typecast. He paired up 20 times with the 'queen of tragedy' Meena Kumari, in films such as Parineeta, Bahu Begum, Pakeezah, Ek Hi Raasta, Bandish and Aarti and Chitralekha (1964).

Later career and death[link]

He acted in fewer films in the 1980s and 1990s and occasionally appeared on television, most famously anchoring the first Indian soap opera Hum Log and appearing as the title character in the unforgettable Bahadur Shah Zafar. His last film role was in Aankhon Mein Tum Ho in 1997. Besides acting, he was an avid painter and a practitioner of homeopathy.^{[citation needed]} Altogether, he starred in over 275 films. He has done more than 30 Bengali dramas in Dhakuria.

Ashok Kumar died at the age of 90 in Mumbai on 10 December 2001 of heart failure at his residence in Chembur. The then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee described him as "an inspiration... for many generations of aspiring actors."^[6]

Awards and recognition[link]

• 1959 - Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• 1962 - Filmfare Best Actor Award, Rakhi
• 1963 - Bengal Film Journalists' Association - Best Actor Award (Hindi), Gumrah^[7]
• 1966 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Afsana
• 1969 - Filmfare Best Actor Award, Aashirwaad
• 1969 - National Film Awards for Best Actor, Aashirwaad
• 1969 - Bengal Film Journalists' Association - Best Actor Award (Hindi), Aashirwaad^[8]
• 1988 - Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award for cinematic excellence
• 1994 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1995 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1998 - Padma Bhushan
• 2001 - Awadh Samman by the Government of Uttar Pradesh
• 2007 - "Special Award" by Star Screen Awards^[9]

Filmography[link]

Some of his most remembered films include:

• Achhut Kanya (1936)
• Kismet (1943)
• Parineeta (1953)
• Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
• Chitralekha (1964)
• Hatey Bazarey (1967)
• Aashirwad (1968)
• Choti Si Baat (1975)
• Mili (1975)
• Khoobsurat (1980)
• Khatta Meetha (1981)
• Mr. India (1987)
• Sangram

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ashok Kumar at the Internet Movie Database
• A Good article by Anuradha Choudhary
• Complete list of Ashok Kumar Movies (over 250)