Saint François d'Assise

Saint François d'Assise
Opera by Olivier Messiaen
Giotto: Legend of St Francis, Sermon to the Birds
LibrettistMessiaen
LanguageFrench
Based onFrancis of Assisi
Premiere
28 November 1983 (1983-11-28)

Saint François d'Assise : Scènes Franciscaines (English: Franciscan Scenes of Saint Francis of Assisi), or simply Saint François d'Assise, is an opera in three acts and eight scenes by French composer Olivier Messiaen, who was also its librettist; written from 1975 to 1979, with orchestration and copying from 1979 to 1983. It concerns Saint Francis of Assisi, the titular character, and displays Messiaen's devout Catholicism.

The premiere was given by the Paris Opera at the Palais Garnier on 28 November 1983. The work was published eight years later in 1991. Messiaen's only opera, it is considered his magnum opus.