Quartet for the End of Time
Live Concert: April 19th, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Virtual Concert: April 21st, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
Virtual Concert: April 21st, 2021 @ 7:30 PM
A synesthetic composer who associated vibrant colors with different chords and harmonies, French composer Olivier Messiaen composed his epic Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) while in a prison camp during World War II. Systematic and economical yet profoundly expressive, Messiaen’s music evokes an other-worldly spirit, at times eternally calm (Movement V: Praise to the Eternity of Jesus), and at other times robust and even violent (Movement VI: Dance of Fury, for the Seven Trumpets). Messiaen composed this eight-movement work for the accomplished musicians imprisoned with him: violinist Jean Le Boulaire, clarinetist Henri Akoka, and cellist Etienne Pasquier. They premiered it for the prisoners one evening, with Messiaen himself on a shoddy upright piano. This unique work is now a cherished staple of the chamber music repertoire, and a gripping spiritual journey from beginning to end.