Oliven Messiaen

Volume 4 is the latest in the Antho­logy of Noise com­pi­la­tions, a series that reveals and narra­tes the hid­den tale of an ambi­guous Noise genre. This time it boasts a his­tory of noise that can be tra­ced back as far as 1937, a cer­tain track by Oli­vier Mes­siaen, a haun­ting seven minute Orai­son per­for­med by the Ensem­ble d’Ondes Mar­te­not de Montréal. This collec­tion is sig­ni­fi­cant for this track alone; to lis­ten to the sounds of a magi­cal long lost expe­ri­ment is hum­bling; for it would be deca­des before Messiaen’s piece found itself a home along­side the Basinski-like elec­tro­nic sounds­cape com­po­si­tions of what is now the 21st cen­tury. The usual com­ment “ahead of its time” would not do it jus­tice, this is motor cars in the time of cha­riots, this is the Wizard of Oz in full motion pic­ture colour before the advent of film.

You can find this track on the “Early Gurus of Elec­tro­nic Music” com­pi­la­tion that I also recommend.