Olivier Messiaen

All throughout Olivier Messiaen's life, he held a deep infatuation with birds. He liked birds so much that he considered himself just as much of an ornithologist (a scientist who studies birds) as a conductor. As much as he could, Messiaen annotated birds singing in an attempt to incorporate birdsong into classical composition. The French maestro wrote so prodigiously that he garnered a reputation for himself as an extremely forthright composer who wasn't afraid to take risks in order to compose significant pieces of work.