Yesterday I was discussing Messiaen's piano writing today with someone
and I mentioned how some of the 'Vingt Regards sur....' are composed with
blocks of material that repeat themselves and sometimes unfold a little
more with each repetition.  It never occured to me to think of a piece
like "Regard des Anges" as a type of rondo, and now that I think about
it, to me it is.  One thing that has struck me about Messiaen's writing
for piano is how, in my opinion (only based on my playing of his music,
not any quotations from him) incredibly pianistic it's conception it is.
The beautiful runs and colorations, although extremely difficult to play,
usually sit very well underneath the fingers.  Yet one would never know
this by listening to it.  His scores usually contain his own fingerings.
But even if the fingerings wern't there, it's incredible how unashamedly
obvious just from looking at it that it was concieved specifically at the
piano (for instance the opening bar of 'des Anges' has the right hand
playing 32nd notes arpeggios on white notes, and the left hand the same
on black notes).

In another vein, Messiaen has said that he feels he has less in common with
the skyscapers of modern civilisation than with gothic cathedrals and the
ancient temples, ziggurats and pyramids of the near east.  This is the kind
of sense of life I intrepreted from his music, before I even knew anything
about what is ideas were, and was delighted to read it in his own words
later on.

Best,
John Kameel Farah