Faculty colleagues Rachel Lee Priday, violin; Benjamin Lulich, clarinet; Sarah Rommel, cello; and Craig Sheppard, piano, perform one of Olivier Messiaen’s signature works, The Quartet for the End of Time, composed in 1940-41 during Messiaen's detention in a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland.
Program
I saw a powerful angel descending from the heavens, enveloped in a cloud with a rainbow on its head. Its face radiated the sun, its feet like columns of fire, its right foot placed on the sea, the left foot on the earth. Standing erect on both sea and earth, it raised its hands towards the heavens and swore by the everlasting power: There will be no more time. When the trumpet of the seventh angel sounds, God’s mystery will reveal itself.
—Revelations, Chapter 10
I. Liturgy of the Cristal
II. Voice of the Angel, announcing the End of Time
III. The Abyss of the Birds
IV. Intermezzo – a Scherzo
V. Praise to the Eternity of Jesus
VI. Dance of fury of the seven trumpets
VII. Plethora of rainbows, the Angel announcing the End of Time
VIII. Praise to the Immortality of Jesus
Program Notes
Messiaen’s The Quartet for the End of Time
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) was one of the most prominent composers of the twentieth century, as well as an accomplished pianist and organist. His all encompassing works were a result of his intense religious beliefs, his great love of nature (particularly birdsong), and his intense curiosity about the world in which he lived. His compositions extended the boundaries of time and space, and in particular color, the concept he always referred to as the most important in all music. Messiaen had synesthesia, the ability to perceive color in myriad ways in all forms of music – indeed, he even classified composers according to color!
The Quartet for the End of Time, based on Chapter X of the Book of Revelations (also known as The Apocalypse of Saint John), was composed primarily during the year that Messiaen was incarcerated as a political prisoner by the Germans, May 1940-41, in Görlitz (southwestern Poland). Other musicians whom he knew in the camp included a violinist, a cellist, and a clarinetist. The clarinetist, Henri Akoka, had been captured in Verdun at the same time as Messian, and Messiaen had already composed sketches for the third movement, The Abyss of the Birds, before arriving in the camp. Likewise, two movements (Praise to the Eternity of Jesus and Praise to the Immortality of Jesus) had their genesis in previous works. Given manuscript paper and pencils by a friendly German guard, Messiaen was able to complete the eight movements, and the first performance took place in frigid conditions on January 15, 1941 in the presence of 500 prisoners and their guards.
I. The Liturgy of the Cristal evokes the earth at sunrise, bird song in varying forms in the trees, the stillness of the land slightly disturbed by syncopated rhythms.
II. The seven trumpets announce The Voice of the Angel, a rainbow garnering its head, five enormous chords descending on the piano as the angel places its feet on the earth and the sea. The middle section represents the timelessness of Heaven. At the end, the angel returns to the heavens in five ascending chords, a mirror of the chords at the beginning of the movement.
III. The Abyss of the Birds is the central movement, a sad plain chant, a commentary of the state of the world, yearning for something better. It is extremely difficult for even the greatest of clarinetists!
IV. The Intermezzo is a light hearted Scherzo, the three instruments (minus the piano) dancing to previously alluded to melodies. The clarinet often strikes out on its own.
V. The infinite love of Jesus on the earthly plane is portrayed here in an extremely slow suspension of time, played passionately by the cello and accompanied by steady chords in the piano.
VI. From Messiaen, we learn that this Dance of Fury, played in unison by all four instruments, represents a combination of all seven trumpets announcing the Apocalypse, music of stone and steel and ‘cold drunkenness’. The theme is played in augmentation, fortissimo, at the conclusion.
VII. The angel reappears, swathed in a cloud (foullis in French) of rainbows. We hear the same harmonies as in the second movement, but much faster, angrier and more urgent. A moment of ecstasy appears towards the end with the violin and cello playing fortissimo over the slow arpeggiation of the piano. Suddenly, it all comes to a crashing halt!
VIII. Analogous to the fifth movement cello solo, the violin portrays Jesus ascending to the heavens, accompanied by the slow heartbeat of the chords in the piano. Moments of heightened ecstasy are followed by an ascent into eternity.
This performance holds special meaning for me, as this is the first time I am playing it after 52 years! In 1970, I gave the very first performance at the Marlboro Festival of The Quartet for the End of Time. We also took the Quartet on a Marlboro Tour in March of 1971 (‘we’ included the violinist, Isadore Cohen, the cellist Nathaniel Rosen, and the clarinetist Richard Stoltzman). Subsequently, the Quartet for the End of Time became the center piece for Peter Serkin’s group, Tashi. I am delighted to be performing it again this evening with such wonderful colleagues here at the School of Music. —Copyright Craig Sheppard, 2023