The present work is the abridged and revised version of my dissertation, which was accepted for a theological doctorate under the title “Sounds of the Hidden Presence: Eucharistic Theology and Spirituality in Olivier Messiaen’s Livre du Saint Sacrement” in September 2014 by the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna. It would hardly have come about without extensive support from my family, teachers, friends, and various institutions. After completing my violoncello studies at the Musikhochschule Freiburg, in search of a suitable topic for my second thesis in Catholic theology, I encountered Messiaen – primarily due to the events surrounding his 2008 centennial, which I learned about as an Erasmus student in Vienna. Dr. Michaela Christine Hastetter then encouraged me to write my thesis on the two prayer movements of the Livre du Saint Sacrement. It was awarded the Bernhard Welte Prize.

Thanks to the support of my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Jan-Heiner Tück, my dissertation on the Livre du Saint Sacrement found a home in the Institute for Dogmatic Theology of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna. Dr. Tück backed my work with great openness to Messiaen’s music, with theological expertise, and with constant encouragement. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Jörg Abbing from the Saarbrücken University of Music for his willingness to take on the second opinion and his enthusiasm in bringing me closer to the Livre du Saint Sacrement from a musicological perspective. My sincere thanks go to Prof. Almut Rössler, performer of the world premiere of the Livre du Saint Sacrement, who has shaped my approach to the music and personality of Messiaen. Rössler described in vivid detail her personal encounters with Messiaen, encouraged me to learn the organ, and gave me practical insight into the sound world and interpretation of Messiaen’s organ compositions. This extraordinary woman played a key role in the reception and development of Messiaen’s organ works in Germany. Let this book be dedicated to her in grateful memory, and may a spark of her enthusiasm for Messiaen’s music cross over to the reader. Dr. Thomas Daniel Schlee, organist of the Austrian premiere of the Livre, offered me important insights into the composer’s realm of thought in several conversations and, by arranging relevant contacts, paved my way to Messiaen’s former private apartment in Paris.

Without funding from the Cusanuswerk, my doctoral project would not have been realized. The Fondation de France and the Bibliothèque nationale de France allowed me to view the library holdings in Messiaen’s former living quarters. I would like to thank the Görres-Gesellschaft and the Ordinariate of the Archdiocese of Freiburg for their extremely generous financial contributions toward the printing costs of this publication. I also thank the editors of “Beiträge zur Geschichte der Kirchenmusik,” Prof. Dr. Hans Joachim Marx and Prof. Dr. Günther Massenkeil, for including my dissertation in the series, as well as Dr. Hans J. Jacobs from Schöningh-Verlag for his helpful cooperation. The Alphonse Leduc publishing house granted the rights to print the score excerpts.

My dissertation received the Award of Excellence from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research, and Economy; the Roland-Atefie-Prize from the Austrian Academy of Sciences; a sponsorship award from the Dr. Maria Schaumayer Foundation; and the 2014 Dissertation Prize from the theological faculty of Vienna.

Finally, my special thanks go to my dear parents, Dr. Georg and Angelika Brunner, who made so many things possible for me and supported me in everything, and to my husband Martin for his immeasurable patience, his persistent support and encouragement, his clever suggestions, and his loving initiatives not to let me forget life outside of this work. An extremely welcome change and personal enrichment came from my ability to make music in the Iris Quartet Vienna with my chamber-music partners, as well as to take organ lessons with Ms. Zuzana Mausen-Ferjenčíková, who patiently guided my first steps toward playing three movements from Messiaen’s organ works. I would also like to thank everyone who gave me valuable feedback on my book and who proofread excerpts: Dr. Michaela Christine Hastetter, Dr. Christoph Benke, Dipl.-theol. Anna Albinus MA, Dipl.-theol. Tobias Mayer, and Ms. Elisabeth Ruschitzka. I would particularly like to thank our little daughter Mirjam, who gently urged me to finish the work and take the oral examination in time for her birth.