Messiaen’s Australian Birds: The Impact of H. Sydney Curtis

Abstract

Australian birds feature prominently in Olivier Messiaen’s birdsong transcriptions and compositions, especially in the final works, including his masterpiece Éclairs sur l’Au-delà …. This article catalogues the composer’s Australian birdsong phrases and, when possible, identifies their sources. In particular, it reviews the correspondence between Messiaen and ornithologist H. Sydney Curtis, which spans from 1981 to 1989. Of the dozen letters held in a private collection, ten were exchanged between Messiaen and Curtis, whilst two were exchanged between Curtis and Messiaen’s second wife, Yvonne Loriod. Traces of the ornithologist’s impact on the composer can be found in Messiaen’s compositions, cahiers, and Traité de Rythme, de Couleur, et d’Ornithologie, demonstrating Curtis’s influence to be more significant than previously recognized.