ABSTRACT
This chapter offers some insight into Olivier Messiaen's construction and use of a musical sign system. Messiaen was a committed Christian who expressed his faith through music. He claims the attention of listeners because of a certain authoritative voice, which he gained over time by virtue of his education and experience. The debates concerning the 'intentional fallacy' have been rehearsed many times by many writers and critics. Jean-Jacques Nattiez proposes that 'semantic analysis of a musical work must be able to verify whether the meaning that a composer invests in the work is perceived and understood by the performers and listeners – and if so, how'. Deryck Cooke disagrees, and suggests that music actually may have some ability to undertake certain semantic functions. The purely musical coding produces a connection between the composer and listener that operates at a different level from verbal language.
