O sacrum convivium!

[davidosdog]

eight retards

[jamesaellis]

T-T

[sixtre08]

i sang this in junior college! & it was difficult at first bt eventually we all came around and by the time we performed this song it WAS and WILL ALWAYS b a FAVORITE!!! ITS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[FemaleAyase]

uhm.. i've heard it in Voice Letter's trailer! (korean horror)

[createsjg]

wish this music were better known. I too have performed it and it really grows on you but must be legato

[TheSamWeet]

Do you know,that this choral performs without any word in Russia))))))

[choirboyfromhell1]

It's not too slow if the acoustics can support it!

[CyFss]

I remember singing this in Univerisity with our Chamber Choir. Probably the most challenging thing I have ever sung. The close harmonies are gorgeous, but so hard to keep straight while singing in a mixed choir.

[John081590]

Very beautiful piece of music! I fine it ethereal and haunting. Sends chills into my spine. A wonderful performance!

[Composerland]

Thank you.

[gagecw]

Beautiful, but far too slow.

[wupperfeld]

very good performance

[Robersim]

This was performed by the choir I sing in in Notre Dame in Paris as the final piece ever conducted by Our choirmaster. Brings me to tears every time.

[bplatt1069]

@Robersim How privileged you are to sing with such a fine ensemble and in such a spectacular venue! As a fellow chorister in the liturgical tradition, I understand your feelings of loss in having to part with a skilled director. Cordially yours,

B.V. Platt

[RootfrootMatt]

Very nicely done, thank you.

[nihilistopher]

Glorious.

[hotelflamingo]

My dear mother wanted this sung at her funeral - but we only discovered her request  (which she had placed in an envelope on her mantelpiece, but didn't notice in time) after the event.

So it has a poignant association for me. Thank you for posting this ...

[hotelflamingo]

her name was Patricia - she died 27 years ago, but the memory of discovering this little wish of hers is as fresh as the day .. best wishes to you and all

[pelleas08]

wonderfully performed! 4:23 is my favourite harmony ;-)

[1401JSC]

1:39 & 3:31 not bad!

[nikoversmessen]

Indeed, a very warm G#m9 chord.

[tarik19501956]

bravi

[crazymanthomas1654]

wow sugoi!!! totemo subarashii!!

[mcconthebus]

Stunning, stunning piece of music. This ranks among my top five best choral pieces of all time. Right up there with Beati Quorum Via (CV Stanford), my #1.

[V1d301nsp3ct0r]

You rank Beati over this???

Tut tut... As much as I admire Stanford and Beati, Olivier eclipses Charles completely.

[brianwilson49]

chalk and cheese. both are amazing.

[1401JSC]

But how many choral works has OM left behind him?

This is, of course a chef d'œuvre.

[DannyDaWriter]

I believe this is his only a cappella sacred work, but he has left behind many beautiful vocal works (including the oratorio St François d'Assise). The only other a cappella choral work by him that I can think of is the Cinq Rechants, written shortly after the Turangalîla-Symphonie was completed. It's well worth a listen.

[hotelflamingo]

There's also La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jesus Christ which has some extraordinary chorales that end the two septenaries.

[bizintin]

@hotelflamingo  Thanks for info about above. I love how people sharing on You tube leads me to such wonderful places and my life is blessed, here in the night, in my kitchen, in Southern California, just the sleeping dog and me and this wondrous music...music and places I would never have the blessing of visiting, and thus have my life enriched in such a holy and fulfilling way. It is a lovely journey of the heart and soul.

[choirboyfromhell1]

I agree, Stanford was nice but Messiaen is stunning. Now Poulenc, I could agree with you on.

[alangley99]

One of the most beautiful pieces I've ever had the privilege of singing, with Cantori Domino in Santa Monica, CA.

[gvagnini13]

very accurate but lacks feeling.

[V1d301nsp3ct0r]

Twit.

[Hevelmann]

Thanks for the sign traveller o9,

thats my last and deepest consolation for the moment...(12.11.)...and keep quiet to your upstand.

[LeTraveler09]

I wish we could sound like that. This song is, most definitely, hard. But they sang it beautifully.

[Hevelmann]

...hard but hearty!

[ladywithtime]

My all time favourite piece to sing with a choir. The dark colours of the harmonies shiver up and down my spine. Yummy!

[2lipsonmy0rgan]

divine

[abc123mikejackson]

beautiful.  simply beautiful.

[Oaktownrob]

This is a transcendent performance of a transcendent composition. Beautiful beyond belief! Fortunately, I heard it done to perfection by the Oberlin College Choir under Daniel Moe's baton at Christ Church Cathedral in St Louis, Mo. back in the '80's.

[guapobear]

I need a cigarette...

[ikmarchini]

Amazing how (we) choral singers get so caught up in technique. Messiaen wasn't interested how hard it is or if we like it. He wanted to bring us into the mystery of Christ in the Eucharist.

Oh I forgot, not PC. None the less, he succeeded brilliantly.

[Shea354]

This song is so unbelievably beautiful!!! 3:26 is absolutely amazing! I had the pleasure of singing this two years ago as a high school freshman (alto). It is a difficult piece to sing, but it's great!

Do you know where I could find this mp3 online? And do you know where I could find this sheet music online? I've been looking FOREVER and I can't find it anywhere.

[choirboyfromhell1]

Cliff Hill Music at 800-819-8772, Lois Fyfe at 800-851-9023 for the score (USA) or RSCM at Sarum College, Salisbury, Wilts. (UK). Rutter's Cambridge Singers does the best CD (Images of Christ) on Collegium Records

[Aegnor]

I can't say I like singing this piece too much. The tenor part is too low. If I wanted to hover around a C half the time, I'd have been a baritone.

Soprano entrance at 4:00 is fabulous though.

[pawdaw]

Actually, all the lines except the soprano line are low, for the most part. It's all to do with the glowing F# major harmonies that the piece keeps returning to- and how that fabulous shift upwards at 'et futurae gloriae' speaks even more because of this. It IS hard, I'll grant you- at least you don't have to sing ff down there- like in the Gorecki Miserere, for example.

[jamesaellis]

he hatted jazz ya know. even though his muisc does sometimes sound like the parrel to jazz

[labulledesavon]

Génial. J'ai chanté cette pièce. Difficile à mettre en place, mais après !! En concert, on oublie le public (hé oui) on est dans un autre treap, de concentration, de bonheur. On goûte chaque harmonie... Du plaisir

[bicycleta]

it's difficult to find recordings of this piece, could you please cite the performers/album.

[Franklyfrankie]

Absolutely beautiful, this is one of my favourite choral works. I love Messiaen!

[holdthehope]

I hated this when my choir first learned it- it was hard (alto part) and didn't make sense, but now I LOVE IT!!

[XromanticXhunX]

I have to sing this on sunday with my choir and all the choir myself included despise this piece with a vengence!!!!!!grrrr!

[guapobear]

What? You don't want to sing this?? I suppose you'd prefer a little "Come to Jesus" in whole notes? This stuff is fun!!

[XromanticXhunX]

it sounds like a funeral march!! its depressing. I'd rather sing Handel or Stanford anytime!:P

[guapobear]

not a funeral march at all... and nothing wrong with handel or the other guy, i'm sure... but, guaranteed, for anybody who's nuts about harmonics, this is the shizznits!

[pavlus2]

i am nuts about harmony too and this is the ultimate ecstasy for me.

its a pitty that there are not so many people crazy about it as we do..

harmony here is so broken, sophisticated and deep.. it is like a gate to another world.

[brianwilson49]

it is a real bitch to sing well - easy to sing badly. but its fantastic to LISTEN to. almost bluesy, jazzy, orgasmic. wonderful!

[alangley99]

Funny way to put it. It's really in G taken down a half step.

Definitely communional.

[DannyDaWriter]

I've seen the score — it's in F# major.

Ethereal piece of music. I will not hesitate in saying that I literally cried when I first heard this piece performed.

[guapobear]

the most awe inspiring choral piece i know... at least in the standard repertoire... this recording is so great that i'm going to need a cigarette when it's done...

[MoominHannah]

No comments yet? This piece is utterly amazing - completely overwhelming...

[NortheastOrganist]

I agree. Profound in every way.

Requiescat in pace.