Quatuor pour la fin du temps

The Quatuor pour la fin du temps ( German: Quartet for the End of Time ) is an eight-movement chamber work by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It has the cast clarinet, violin, cello and piano, but take all the instruments only in four sets on. The performance lasts about 50 minutes.

Genesis and first performance

Messiaen completed the quartet as an inmate of the village in the district of Görlitz Moys German POW camp Stalag VIII -A end 1940/Anfang 1941 The camp commandant had enabled Messiaen to compose him a piano was made available. ; in the washrooms was rehearsed. The unusual instrumentation resulted from the available in the camp musicians, clarinetist Henri Akoka, violinist Jean Le Boulaire and cellist Etienne Pasquier. The " Louange " sets created earlier and " Abime des oiseaux " Messiaen wrote in a transit camp in Toul for Henri Akoka. The world premiere of the complete work was given in the camp in Görlitz on January 15, 1941 in front of about 400 prisoners of war held by the composer himself took over the piano part. The French premiere of Messiaen succeeded soon after returning to Paris, on 24 June 1941. Besides Pasquier and Messiaen played in this performance, the violinist Jean Pasquier and clarinetist André Vacellier. On May 15, 1942, the quartet appeared at the French publisher Durand in pressure.

Background

The title of the Quartet and the second set 6 and 7 refer to the Book of Revelation (Chapter 10, verses 1-7):

Sets

Edits

The composer and conductor Clytus Gottwald edited the 5th set Louange à l' éternité de Jésus for mixed choir votes to 19 and used to Messiaen's Trois petites a text from Liturgies de la présence divine.

• Chamber music works
• Work of Olivier Messiaen