Chronochromie (Time-Colour) is an orchestral work by French composer Olivier Messiaen, completed in 1960. It consists of seven movements:
The sixth movement consists of 18 string instruments playing different birdsong. The first performance was in Donaueschingen on 16 October 1960, conducted by Hans Rosbaud.
Instrumentation The work is scored for the following orchestra:Alphonse Leduc (publisher) title entry, Chronochromie.
Woodwinds
3 bassoons
Brass 4 horns
3 trombones 1 tuba
Percussion (6 players) 1 glockenspiel 1 xylophone 1 marimba bells 3 gongs suspended cymbal chinese cymbal tam-tam
Strings 16 Violin I's 16 Violin II's 14 Violas 12 Celli 10 Double basses
References
Further reading Bauer, Amy. 2008. "The Impossible Charm of Messiaen's Chronochromie". In Messiaen Studies, edited by Robert Sholl, 145–67. Cambridge Composer Studies. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. . Sherlaw Johnson, Robert. 1989. Messiaen, revised and updated edition. London: J. M. Dent & Sons; Berkeley: University of California Press. (London); (Berkeley).