ABSTRACT
Considering aesthetic alignments together with aspects of pianistic genealogy and exploring the physicality of Messiaen's pianism as a tactile reference to his predecessors, this chapter investigates the ways in which Messiaen acknowledged romantic tradition through incorporating pianistic gestures and figurations developed from Chopin, Albeniz and Liszt in his writing for piano. Although pure Messiaen, this highly expressive manifestation of lyrical pianism is as vocal in its inspiration as any of the operatic-inspired melodies in the slow movements of Mozart's piano concertos. Although Albeniz is reputed to have studied the piano privately in Paris with Antoine-Francois Marmontel for a short period during his boyhood, his most important pianistic formation was in Spain and Brussels, where his teachers included the then highly renowned Belgian pianist Louis Brassin, who had been a pupil of Moscheles in Leipzig.
