Over het album

Messiaen, who was an enthusiastic and accomplished ornithologist, investigated for his Catalogue d'oiseaux 13 birds with their songs and their specific sound environments. 

"I'm very attracted by the works of Messiaen. Catalogue d'oiseaux offers a new musical language. Each bird is evoked by his singing, his travels in its environment, the surrounding landscape etc. The music changes depending on whether the bird is found in the air of morning or evening, or depending on the weather. There are many birds in the catalogue, which gives a great diversity in sounds. The work reflects the beauty of nature, but there is also plenty of humor. "

"Messiaen, who practiced ornithology in a scientific way and with passion, has traveled the world in search of new species. But the thirteen pieces in the catalogue are devoted to birds in France. "Each piece is written in honor of a French province," wrote the composer. Each is simply the name of the symbolic bird of the region."

It is a modest monument and brilliant but highly demanding. "The singing of birds is different from the human voice. The rhythm is completely different from what we usually hear. But the work is very accessible, even to an audience that knows no contemporary music ". - interview with Momo Kodama in La Provence