Olivier Messiaen
Quotations

"There aren't any modal composers, tonal composers, or serial composers. There is only music that is colored and music that isn't."

 

"I feel that rhythm is the primordial and perhaps essential part of music; I think it most likely existed before melody and harmony, and in fact I have a secret preference for this element."

 

"I'm not a theorist - only a believer, a believer dazzled by the infinity of God!"

 

"Nature is primarily a great force in which to lose oneself, a sort of nirvana, but above all it's marvelous teacher, and this last aspect has been very useful to my work."

 

"The music of our time is quite a natural continuation of the music of the past; doubtless there are changes, but no rupture."