This is an early (1929) composition. In it, Messiaen already displays some of the harmonic and rhythmic features that would be standard. In mood and coloration it clearly uses Debussy as a point of departure, Messiaen seemingly being drawn to the ecstatic mood of suspended time that his great predecessor achieved in the "Martyrdom of St. Sebastian" music. The eight movements have a mystical outlook—bearing titles such as "Impalpable sounds of a dream" and "Reflection on the wind." Unusually for this period in Messiaen's life there is no religious content to the music. Beautiful, almost otherworldly music of often meditative nature, without too much of the strange musical vocabulary which would become part of his style.

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