Birding
When writing “Oiseaux exotiques”
He got the notes straight from the beak,
Then used what he heard
From each foreign bird,
Adding rhythms both Hindu and Greek.
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Regard du temps
The “Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus”
Is very long, but when it’s through
You’ll probably wonder if and when
You’ll get to hear it played again.
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The Sound of a Great Amen?
Seated one day at the Cavaillé-Coll,
Weary and ill at ease,
Messiaen tried to soothe his soul
With Sacred Mysteries.
The simple folk who heard him play
His private contemplation,
Were mystified, and turned away,
In vexed disapprobation.
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Close Quarters
His opera on Francis d’Assisi
Requires so many divisi
That the players don’t fit
In the orchestra pit
Unless they’re uncomfortably squeezy.
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Heavenly Length
When Messiaen tried to concoct
A portrait in sound that unlocked
The mystical glory
Of Francis’s story,
It lasted four hours (we clocked).
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I like your rhyme exotiques - beak, French and English.
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