Abstract
This article presents an approach to the study of Olivier Messiaen’s notion of “soundcolour”, which is of great importance for the understanding of his work. Messiaen’s work shows a very close relationship between timbre, harmony and form. This relationship sets up the idea of form as a result of a poetics of colour that allows the outward manifestation of inner significance. The specific study of some textures observed in his opera Saint François d’Assise and also in other works confirms the importance of timbre as a formal element of his compositional grammar.
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