LDV49.1

65 LOUIS THIRY How did you meet Olivier Messiaen? Thanks to Gaston Litaize, who knew him well.1 Olivier Messiaen, Yvonne Loriod, Litaize and his wife, and Bernadette and I spent our first evening together over a meal. It was the beginning of a long and constant friendship between our respective families. Messiaen was a dreamer. He was very affectionate, and very attentive. He had an exceptional gift for storytelling that made his conversation very lively and enjoyable. He sometimes told us of his uncertainties about his own music – there were times when he doubted its worth. But there was one work that definitely found favour in his eyes: the Trois Petites Liturgies de la Présence Divine . 1. Gaston Litaize (1909-91) and Olivier Messiaen (1908-92) were almost exact contemporaries.