by Ben Hogwood. Image by Studio Harcourt – RMN, used courtesy of Wikipedia

On this day in 1908, the composer Olivier Messiaen was born…which gives Arcana the perfect excuse to post a performance of his remarkable seasonal composition for organ, La Nativité du Seigneur (The Nativity of the Lord or The Birth of the Saviour), completed in 1935.

To quote from my live encounter with the piece in 2019, “Nothing is ever done by halves with this particular French composer, and his response came in the form of a massive, nine-movement organ suite lasting just over an hour. For Messiaen, contemplation is achieved through massive added-note chords, complex rhythms and large structures. Each section in this 1935 work responds to images from the birth of Jesus, and it is one of the composer’s first works to use birdsong melodies and rhythms from India and Ancient Greece.”

You can enjoy the work in concert below, given by Richard McVeigh from York Minster – with the accompaniment of a score showing the organist’s markings:

Published post no.2,744 – Wednesday 10 December 2025