Olivier Messiaen: Livre du Saint-Sacrement

Livre du Saint-Sacrement (Book of the Holy Sacrament)

A rare opportunity the hear Olivier Messiaen’s last major organ composition performed by a leading interpreter of Messiaens music. Livre du Saint-Sacrement was composed in 1984, and sums up all of Messiaen’s sources of inspiration: theology, mysticism and birdsong(!) as a language for praising God. The different movements meditate on different aspects of the Holy Communion. Messiaens highly personal tonal language include shimmering harmonies, strange and exciting rhythms and composed birdsong; Messiaen was an avid ornithologist and lets us hear birds that Jesus could have heard during his lifetime in the Holy Land.

Swedish organist Hans-Ola Ericsson enjoys worldwide reputation as a leading interpreter of 20^th century and contemporary music. His award-winning recordings of the complete organ music of Olivier Messiaen were prepared in collaboration with the composer himself. Hans-Ola Ericsson is also much in demand as a pedagogue, as a composer and as an organ expert.

Hans-Ola Ericsson organ