Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s, and: Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musical Signification in the 'Tristan Trilogy' and Three Related Song Cycles, and: Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity: Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations and Opera (review)

Among the numerous concerts, events, articles, and books prompted by the centenary of Messiaen's birth, it is hard to think of any more ambitious than the project undertaken by Siglind Bruhn. Producing a trilogy of books, each devoted to a significant portion of the composer's oeuvre and containing reams of new analytical insight and commentary, is quite an undertaking. For all three books to appear in the course of little more than a year and, at the same time, produce parallel books in German and one in French, is a task befitting the monumental works of Bruhn's subject.

The titles of the books seem like essays in themselves, especially when put alongside the equivalent French and German offerings: Les Visions d'Olivier Messiaen (Paris, 2008); Messiaens musikalische Sprache des Glaubens (Waldkirch, 2006); Messiaen - Troubadour (Waldkirch, 2007); Messiaen - Theologien (Waldkirch, 2008). The first of the trilogy, Messiaen's Contemplations of Covenant and Incarnation: Musical Symbols of Faith in the Two Great Piano Cycles of the 1940s (henceforth Contemplations), is an examination of Visions de l'Amen (1943) and Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus (1944); the second, Messiaen's Explorations of Love and Death: Musical Signification in the 'Tristan Trilogy' and Three Related Song Cycles (henceforth Explorations), looks at what might be regarded as the works devoted to love, namely the 'Tristan trilogy'—Harawi (1945), Turangalîla-symphonie (1946-8), and Cinq rechants (1948)—the song cycles Poèmes pour Mi (1936 ) and Chants de terre et de ciel (1938), and Trois petites Liturgies (1943-4), even if it is stretching matters to call the latter a song cycle. The final volume, Messiaen's Interpretations of Holiness and Trinity: Echoes of Medieval Theology in the Oratorio, Organ Meditations and Opera (henceforth Interpretations) examines three major late works, La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur, Jésus-Christ (1965-9), the organ cycle Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité (1969) (though not, inexplicably, the equivalent cycle Livre du Saint Sacrement (1984)), and Saint François d'Assise (1975-83).

There is a similar pattern to each book, starting with background materials giving contextual information on some of Messiaen's sources, and outlining some general aspects of musical language and style, before undertaking a more detailed consideration of the music. Contemplations, for instance, outlines the musical information that might be regarded as a starter kit for anyone wishing to study Messiaen's music. This has been covered numerous times before, but rarely as well as here. Bruhn also provides perceptive comment on Messiaen's spiritual background and heritage, with a useful digest of the Catholic renewal in France that started in the late nineteenth century. The works are treated separately, though there are numerous cross-references. Bruhn provides useful background information to the specific approach (usually theological) taken in each, before embarking on a hermeneutic traversal of the music.

An invaluable aspect of each volume is the information contained in the appendices. For Contemplations, there is...