Fête des belles eaux


Fête des belles eaux is a 1937 composition by French composer Olivier Messiaen. The work is scored for six ondes Martenots and was commissioned for the 1937 Paris Exhibition. The work was written to accompany the movement of the fountains at the Exhibition.

Structure

This composition is in eight movements and takes approximately 30 minutes to perform. The movement list is as follows:
The melodic theme used in IV L'eau was also used later in the fifth movement of Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps.