"God's Little Harbingers of Joy"--Messiaen on birds

I’m on a bit of a mind trip, listening to



Messiaen’s transcription of a variety of species’ birdsong for solo piano is dark, rhythmically arresting, and mysterious. Strange colorful bass patterns, somber and steady, are suddenly occluded and derailed by sharp eruptions at the top of the keyboard. At times the natural logic of these “compositions� appears irrefutable, but a sudden slashing swath of descending scales crashes any possible reasonable appreciation—we’re left unable to apprehend these little musical creations, evolved over millions of years, cries of agitation, angst, desire, and hope?

Of course, because there’s so much silence in these pieces, I can hear the student assistant’s headphones blasting “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.� A bit distracting.