La Nativité du Seigneur [SEP] instrumentation
La Nativité du Seigneur
La Nativité du Seigneur ("The Nativity of the Lord" or "The Birth of the Saviour") is a work for organ, written by the French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1935.
"La Nativité du Seigneur" is a testament to Messiaen's Christian faith, being divided into nine "meditations" inspired by the birth of Jesus. In volume one, Messiaen outlines his inspirations, both theological, instrumental and compositional. As the composer notes in his preface, he sought "the
Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (1913) is famous for its "savage" rhythms. Five measures from "Sacrificial Dance" are shown below:
In such cases, a convention that some composers follow (e.g., Olivier Messiaen, in his "La Nativité du Seigneur" and "Quatuor pour la fin du temps") is to simply omit the time signature. Charles Ives's "Concord Sonata" has measure bars for select passages, but the majority of the work is unbarred.