Olivier Messiaen’s L\u27Ascension for Organ and Improvisation in the Style of Messiaen

French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) left numerous works. Especially his works for solo organ belong to the standard repertoire for organists. Among them, L\u27Ascension (“The Ascension”) is a well-known work for organ solo. Originally, Messiaen composed this work for orchestra in 1932-1933, consisting of four movements. In 1933-1934, Messiaen created a version for organ solo. He adapted the first, second, and fourth movements from the orchestra version and newly composed the third movement. This lecture recital will focus on how Messiaen arranged the second movement Alleluias sereins d’une âme qui désire le ciel for organ. It is worthy to compare both versions, whereby my lecture focusses especially on the aspect of sound. Furthermore, musical elements, such as motifs, melodies, and rhythms used in the second movement will be examined to characterize Messiaen’s style. On the basis of my lecture, I will perform an improvisation in the style of the second movement, whereby my improvisation includes the church hymn Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. The recital-portion of this lecture-recital will end with the third movement, Transports de joie, that has a majestic character. Since my lecture-recital is related to not only organ music, but also improvisation and music analysis, it would be of interest to performers, musicologists, music theorists, church musicians, and Christians in general