Throughout his life, Messiaen was fascinated by the musical phenomenon of birdsong. Carefully transcribed fragments of birdsong can be found throughout his oevre, forming an important part of his musical language. Messiaen was drawn to the unfixed pitches, repetition, and rhythmic insistency of birdsong, reflections of his own musical interests. Oiseaux exotiques, along with Catalogue d¹oiseaux, was the successor to the seminal Réveil des Oiseaux, and all three works exemplify Messiaen¹s love of birdsong and his ability to absorb it into his own compositional style. Scored for piano, eleven winds, and percussion, Oiseaux exotiques is constructed as a series of tuttis and cadenzas made up of the calls of dozens of birds. Messiaen, as Paul Griffiths indicates, copied birdsong so as to copy nature; however, Messiaen also altered and ³composed² the various birdsongs to suit his needs, producing harmonies that could not be found in nature, but rather ³could exist only in an aviary.² The texture of Oiseaux exotiques also differs radically from its predecessor, Réveil des Oiseaux, in that the former features dense harmonies mixed with complex contrapuntal textures, whereas the latter is an example of Messaien¹s penchant for monophony.

© Alexander Carpenter, All Music Guide