Messiaen: the art of experience

I wanted to post an innovative modern classical composer whose faith profoundly influenced his work. Briefly, Olivier Messiaen wrote on themes of joy and hope, as well as what he called the "marvelous aspects of the faith" (he was a devout Roman Catholic). His music depicted theological ideas such as death, resurrection, time and the afterlife. He also composed one of his more profound works, "The Quartet for the End of Time", while in a POW camp after the fall of France to the Nazi's in 1940. Finally, and my favorite tidbit about this composer...he created a musical notation, a code, embedded within his late works, which cited texts from Thomas Aquinas. Awesome! He has influenced artists both classical and contemporary, from Karlheinz Stockhausen to Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood. This is a video of one of his later pieces written for an early electronic instrument, the ondes martenot. Enjoy!