Le Banquet Celeste

It was very tempting to try some Messiaen on Regensburg, as this organ has a wealth of mutations as well as a wealth of warm foundations.

"Le Banquet céleste ", composed in 1928, is the first organ work by Messiaen who was then 20 years old. It is based on an orchestral work composed while Messiaen had Paul Dukas as a composition teacher at Paris' Conservatory.

It's already typical Messiaen, in a very contemplative and ecstatic mood. The registration was then quite unusual, the pedal having not the bass but singing in the treeble with the Choir's 4', 2 2/3, 2' and 1' coupled (no pedal stops) ; Messiaen specifies "staccato à la goutte d'eau" eg. "staccato as raindrops" (the pedal enters at roughly 2:30).

I tried to respect the very slow tempo specified on the score, crotchet = 52.