Quartetto per la fine del tempo

“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, […] saying: “There should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished””. With a passage from the Revelation, one of the most famous quartets of the 20th century opens. Composed in the Görlitz concentration camp where Messiaen was imprisoned, it was first performed in 1941 before an audience of prisoners and guards. An inexhaustible work, which in the face of the turmoil of war opens up a mystical glimpse and questions the problem of time itself.

Programme 

Olivier Messiaen 
Quatuor pour la fin du temps for violin, clarinet, cello, piano
Composed in Görlitz concentration camp in 1940-41
 

1. Liturgie de cristal 
2. Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps 
3. Abîmes des oiseaux 
4. Intermède 
5. Louange à l’éternité de Jésus 
6. Danse de la fureur pour les sept trompettes 
7. Fouillis d’arcs-en-ciel, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps 
8. Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus