ABSTRACT
The chapter explores the nature of Olivier Messiaen's canon, first charting its development and partialities, before examining the potency of this narrative of progressive evolution in the post-war climate, especially in relation to Pierre Boulez. A product of the Paris Conservatoire, Messiaen's own teaching reflected some of its institutional chauvinism through the choice of repertoire for his classes, a trait that was manifest through omission rather than overt hostility. As a composer and teacher, Messiaen's canon is situated in what William Weber categorized as 'pedagogical', in that it concerns primarily writing and performing music. Messiaen was a key voice in establishing the progressive canon that was taken up by his students and many others in the decades after the Second World War. Messiaen's canon was so strongly projected that it can be surprising when anecdotal evidence does emerge that such composers were more than names to him.
