Last Wednesday marked the 100th birthday of Olivier Messiaen, the French avant-garde composer who died in 1992.

"His was a fusion of intellectual rigor and spiritual sincerity, of musical sophistication and an almost primitively mystical sensuality," the Boston Globe's Jeremy Eichler wrote in an appreciation this weekend.

So why does Messiaen matter to those of us in Utah. In 1974, Messiaen premiered a major orchestral work, "Des canyons aux étoiles... (From the Canyons to the Stars...)," which was inspired by a 1972 tour of southern Utah.

According to a web site devoted to Messiaen, maintained at Boston University, some of the work's movements bore such titles as "Cedar Breaks et le don de crainte (Cedar Breaks and the gift of awe)," "Bryce Canyon et les rochers rouge-orange (Bryce Canyon and the orange-red rocks)" and the finale, "Zion Park et la cité céleste (Zion Park and the celestial city)."

Utah returned the favor, renaming the White Cliffs (near Bryce Canyon) Mount Messiaen in 1978.