Messiaen 'Ile de feu 1 and 2'

[andantespianato]

Bear with me if this is strange but to you personally, what do the pieces mentioned in the subject line above(ile de feu 1 and 2, Messiaen) tell you about the man himself? Or about his spirituality? I know he was obviously a devout cathoic, its kinda hard to miss that given his output.

Yes, strange topic I know...

[birba]

He was a devout catholic and saw all nature as being an expression of god. (e.g. catalogue des oiseaux)  Ile di feu 1 and 2 which are the first and last of 4 etudes on rythmic neumes(?) were dedicated to the Papouasie New Guinea. God's nature in the wild.
It's interesting to note that the first etude sounds very free and improvised.  Then the two "real" etudes, and finally Ile de Feu 2 which is more complicated but "in order".  Wonderful music.