
More than any other theme, Messiaen's Catholic faith runs like a wide, smooth, shining ribbon through his works, even as he absorbed ideas from other cultures. Unlike other French organist-composers, who would compose works primarily for liturgical use, Messiaen's devotional works are for performance outside of a ritualistic setting. A few of the highlights of these pieces are Trois petites liturgies de la Présence divine, Visions de l'Amen, Méditations sur le mystère de Sainte Trinité, and Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus.
Maîtrise & Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Myung-Whun Chung, cond. - Trois petites liturgies de la Présence divine
Andreas Grau, Gotz Schumacher, pianos - Visions de l'Amen: Amen de la Création
Gillian Weir, organ - Méditations sur le mystère de Sainte Trinité: Le Père ingendré
Peter Serkin, piano - Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus: Regard du Père

Kenneth Smith, flute - Le merle noir
Anatol Ugorski, piano - Catalogue d'oiseaux: The golden oriole
Family and personal events also play a large role in Messiaen's music. His mother was the poet Cécile Sauvage, on whose set of poems L'âme en bourgeon ("The Budding Soul") -- which she wrote when she was pregnant with Olivier -- he recorded organ improvisations. He wrote the song cycle Poèmes pour Mi for his first wife and Chants de terre et de ciel after the birth of his son in 1937. The Quatuor pour la fin du temps was written for himself and three other inmates of Stalag VIII-A, where he was a prisoner of war in 1940-1941. Many of his compositions after the war were written with pianist Yvonne Loriod in mind, including Visions de l'Amen (for two pianos) and Vingt regards (piano solo), Harawi (song cycle), and the masterpiece Turangalîla-symphonie. She was one of his students at the Paris Conservatoire and became his second wife two years after the death of his first wife.
Françoise Pollet, soprano; Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, cond. - Poèmes pour Mi: Action des grâces
Suzie Leblanc, soprano; Robert Kortgaard, piano - Chants de terre et de ciel: Antienne du silence
Soloists of the Philharmonia Orchestra - Quatour pour la fin du temps: Liturgie de cristal
Judith Vindevogel, soprano; Alain Franco, piano - Harawi: La ville qui dormait, toi
Orchestre de l'Opéra Bastille; Myung-Whun Chung, cond. - Turangalîla-symphonie:Chant d'amour I

Marja Bon, piano; Asko Ensemble; Schonberg Ensemble; Slagwerkgroep den Haag; Reinbert de Leeuw, cond. - Des canyons aux étoiles...: Zion Park et la Cité céleste
No matter where you start, listening to Messiaen's music can be a visionary, mystical, majestic, and yet personal and always intense experience.