COMPOSER

Olivier Messiaen

1908 - 1992

Photo of Olivier Messiaen

Icon of person Olivier Messiaen

Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (UK: , US: ; French: [ɔlivje øʒɛn pʁɔspɛʁ ʃaʁl mɛsjɑ̃]; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th century, he was also an outstanding teacher of composition and musical analysis. Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire at age 11 and studied with Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, among others. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Olivier Messiaen has received more than 1,509,785 page views. His biography is available in 61 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 58 in 2019). Olivier Messiaen is the 91st most popular composer (down from 86th in 2019), the 354th most popular biography from France (down from 330th in 2019) and the 14th most popular French Composer.

Olivier Messiaen is most famous for his compositions for organ and orchestra, including the Turangalîla-Symphonie.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.5M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 70.04

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 61

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 10.12

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.22

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among COMPOSERS

Among composers, Olivier Messiaen ranks 91 out of 1,451. Before him are Nino Rota, George Gershwin, François Couperin, Luigi Cherubini, Luigi Boccherini, and Pietro Mascagni. After him are Guillaume Du Fay, Alma Mahler, César Franck, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, and Ruggero Leoncavallo.

Most Popular Composers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1908, Olivier Messiaen ranks 14. Before him are Edward Teller, Lyndon B. Johnson, Herbert von Karajan, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Otto Skorzeny, and Lev Landau. After him are John Bardeen, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Geli Raubal, Simon Wiesenthal, Ian Fleming, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Among people deceased in 1992, Olivier Messiaen ranks 12. Before him are Willy Brandt, Friedrich Hayek, Joan Fuster, Francis Bacon, Astor Piazzolla, and Mikhail Tal. After him are Giovanni Falcone, John Cage, Barbara McClintock, Benny Hill, Anthony Perkins, and Ernst Happel.

Others Born in 1908

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1992

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In France

Among people born in France, Olivier Messiaen ranks 354 out of 6,770. Before him are Françoise Sagan (1935), Jean-Louis Trintignant (1930), Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (1633), Brigitte Macron (1953), Philippe Noiret (1930), and Louis Renault (1843). After him are Gérard Philipe (1922), Robert Guiscard (1016), Denis Papin (1647), Édouard Daladier (1884), Adolphe Thiers (1797), and Jean Renoir (1894).

Others born in France

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among COMPOSERS In France

Among composers born in France, Olivier Messiaen ranks 14. Before him are Erik Satie (1866), Jules Massenet (1842), Charles Gounod (1818), Gabriel Fauré (1845), Josquin des Prez (1450), and François Couperin (1668). After him are Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1645), Léo Delibes (1836), Francis Poulenc (1899), Adolphe Adam (1803), Arthur Honegger (1892), and Daniel Auber (1782).

French born Composers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous