An enthusiastic audience gathered at Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola University last Friday to hear organist Colin Andrews play Olivier Messiaen’s monumental Livre du Saint Sacrement. This piece is a seldom-performed, eighteen-movement masterwork that Messiaen composed late in his career. It lasts close to two hours and presents considerable technical and interpretive challenges for the player. Colin Andrews’s tour-de-force performance was magnificent and moving. The organ and setting were ideal for the repertoire. We are grateful to Loyola University and to the Chicago Chapter AGO for their co-sponsorship of this terrific program.
