Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time - Quator Pour Le Fin Du Temps Es

Messiaens Quartet for the End of magazine - Quator Pour Le Fin Du TempsTechnical and Interpretative Challenges Presented to Performers in Messiaens Quartet for the End of TimeOlivier Messiaen (1908-1992) played a significant part in the evolution of twentieth-century music, influencing a number of other composers with his innovative compositional techniques. The Quartet for the End of Time, is not one of Messiaens typical works due to the circumstances in which it was composed (his main outputs were organ, orchestral and choral works), yet it marks the start of the significant use of some of these techniques.In 1940, Messiaen was called up to serve in the army as a hospital orderly, but was briefly captured by the Germans and taken to a prisoner-of-war camp. Here, suffering from food deprivation and extreme gapd, he had the idea of composing a piece for the End of Time. There were cardinal musicians on the camp himself (a pianist), a violinist, a cellist and a clarinettist and so he wrote a quartet. Performers of the work need to consider the circumstances down the stairs which the piece was composed and also the reaction it created at the first performance of it. This was in front of the entire prison camp in January 1941 where, says Messiaen, never acquit I been listened to with such attention and understanding. Messiaen had no choice on what instruments the piece was written for, the group of instrumentsto large to allow the piano to express itself freely, yet alike small to obtainvariety of timbre, and his way around this was to obtain maximum variety of which they are capable. By exploiting each instrument in so many different ways to create different timbres, the technical challenges faced by the performers are endless. Musi... ...o performers),Quote 11 demonstrates the need to control the sound when there is a sudden change in articulation.Quote 12 demonstrates the need to be in control of the instrument when faced with an unusual and challengi ng technique col legno is to use the wooden side of the bow on the cello strings which is particularly difficult for control of intonation.Quote 13 demonstrates the need to be in control of intonation within the ensemble. This is the case in all sections of the Quatuor scored for two or more parts in octaves.Bibliography ed. Hill, Peter, The Messiaen Companion chapter entitled The End of Time a Biblical Theme in Messiaens Quatuor , (London Faber and Faber 1995)Johnson, Robert Sherlaw, Messiaen, chapters entitled Birdsong, Christianity and Symbolism and The Works of the War Years Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (1940-41),