Olivier Messiaen

*Quartet for the End of Time* is widely considered Messiaen's most famous work, composed in 1941 while he was a prisoner of war in Stalag VIII-A, a German camp in what is now Poland. It was first performed in the camp for an audience of fellow prisoners and guards, with Messiaen playing piano alongside three other inmate musicians.

Messiaen traveled extensively across France to transcribe actual bird songs by hand, believing birds were the greatest musicians on Earth. He incorporated these transcriptions into major works like *Catalogue d'oiseaux* (1956–58) for solo piano and the massive *Éclairs sur l'Au-Delà* (1988–92) for orchestra.

The *Turangalîla-Symphonie* is a large-scale ten-movement orchestral work composed in 1946–48, commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It features the ondes Martenot, an early electronic instrument, and explores themes of love and joy inspired in part by the Tristan and Isolde legend.

Messiaen served as the principal organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris from 1931 until his death in 1992, holding the position for over 60 years. He composed numerous significant works for the organ, including *La Nativité du Seigneur* (1935) and *Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité* (1969).