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Olivier Messiaen

Finding God, Love And The Meaning Of Life In Messiaen's 'Turangalîla-Symphonie'

Composer Olivier Messiaen in 1983, at the organ at the Trinité church in Paris where he held the post of organist for over 60 years. Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images hide caption

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Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Finding God, Love And The Meaning Of Life In Messiaen's 'Turangalîla-Symphonie'

Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop traces her discovery of the rollicking 75-minute symphony and the man behind the music.

Finding God, Love And The Meaning Of Life In Messiaen's 'Turangalîla-Symphonie'

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Talk Like An Opera Geek: Game-Changing Composers In Postwar Europe

György Ligeti's surreal opera Le Grand Macabre was the hit of the New York Philharmonic's 2009-2010 season, in a semi-staged production that featured Barbara Hannigan (left) as Gepopo and Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Go-Go. Chris Lee/New York Philharmonic hide caption

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Chris Lee/New York Philharmonic

Deceptive Cadence

Talk Like An Opera Geek: Game-Changing Composers In Postwar Europe

European opera ranged from realistic to unhinged in the 20th century, as composers wrote with freedom and imagination on all sorts of subjects.

Dark Horses And Indie Labels: An Eclectic Mix At The Classical Grammys

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, recorded on its own label, won the Grammy for Best Classical Album. Courtesy of Chicago Symphony Orchestra hide caption

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Courtesy of Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Deceptive Cadence

Dark Horses And Indie Labels: An Eclectic Mix At The Classical Grammys

When a recording of dense, mystical organ music wins a major award, you know something good has actually happened at the Grammys. Hear an excerpt and see the complete classical winners' list.

Best Classical Album: Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus - Verdi: Requiem ("Dies Irae")

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Review

Song Of The Day

Messiaen At 100: A Song For The Solar System

French composer Olivier Messiaen, who would have turned 100 Wednesday, was something of a musical misfit. His ideas about melody, harmony and rhythm seemed to fall to earth out of nowhere, fitting into no particular school of thought. And yet he changed the way people thought about music as it exists in the infinity that was, for him, his God and the universe.

"The Resurrected and the Song of the Star Aldebaran" by Olivier Messiaen

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Music Lists

Five Modern Classical Pieces for Pop Listeners

In his new book The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, critic Alex Ross explores the richness of classical music created in turbulent times. Out of 100 years of music, Ross picks five classics for curious listeners.

'Music for 18 Musicians (Section 6)' by Steve Reich

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Music

Beauty Amid the Discord: Music in the 20th Century

From the musical buzz in pre-WWI Vienna to the experimental New York scene of the 1960s and on through today, Alex Ross reveals the story of 20th-century music in his new book The Rest Is Noise.

Beauty Amid the Discord: Music in the 20th Century

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