Output details

Olivier Messiaen: Journalism 1935-1939 [Edited, translated and with an introduction by Stephen Broad]

This is an example of scholarship that shares new insights and extends the scholarly infrastructure for Messiaen studies. The researcher collected the texts in Olivier Messiaen: Journalism 1935-1939 during an extended period of primary research in various European libraries, unearthing many articles that been lost to the Messiaen bibliography since their initial publication.

These writings, written when the composer was in his late twenties and early thirties, give a fresh perspective on Messiaen’s interests, views and preoccupations at this early stage in his career. As Broad explains in his introduction, they are significant because they help us understand the context for the development of his distinctive and influential musical voice. In addition to collating and translating Messiaen’s writing, the researcher provides comprehensive scholarly annotations, a catalogue, personalia, and explores some of the main themes of Messiaen’s early writing in a detailed introduction.

The underpinning bibliographic research for this output was the basis for the list of Messiaen’s early writings in Olivier Messiaen: An Information Guide (Routledge, 2008). The present output was designated a Yankee Book Pedlar (YBP) U.S. Core Title for 2012 (this list is designed to assist libraries in acquiring ‘essential titles’ (see www.ybp.com/acad/core1000.htm)).