Livre du Saint-Sacrement


Livre du Saint-Sacrement is a collection of pieces for organ on the subject of the Eucharist by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was composed from 1984-1985 and first performed in 1986.

Genesis and composition

Le livre du Saint-Sacrement was commissioned by Ray Ferguson and the Detroit, Michigan chapter of the American Guild of Organists, and was intended to be premiered at an AGO national conference. Messiaen had been the organist at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité, Paris since 1931, and by his own account he brought to summation his years of experience improvising music for the liturgy in the composition of the Livre.

Structure

The work contains 18 named sections:
  1. Adoro te
  2. La Source de Vie
  3. Le Dieu caché
  4. Acte de Foi
  5. Puer natus est nobis
  6. La manne et le Pain de Vie
  7. Les ressuscités et la lumière de Vie
  8. Institution de l'Eucharistie
  9. Les ténèbres
  10. La Résurrection du Christ
  11. L'apparition du Christ ressuscité à Marie-Madeleine
  12. La Transsubstantiation
  13. Les deux murailles d'eau
  14. Prière avant la communion
  15. La joie de la grâce
  16. Prière après la communion
  17. La Présence multipliée
  18. Offrande et Alleluia final

    Premiere and Reception

Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement was premiered at the Metropolitan United Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan on July 1, 1986, by the organist. Reviews of the premiere in both The Diapason and The American Organist were positive, despite the unfavorable acoustic of the church and mechanical problems with the organ.