Quatuor pour la fin du temps

E596857

Quatuor pour la fin du temps is a landmark 1941 chamber work for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano by Olivier Messiaen, composed and first performed in a German prisoner-of-war camp and inspired by apocalyptic passages from the Book of Revelation.

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Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf 20th-century classical composition
chamber music composition
string quartet with piano
composer Olivier Messiaen
countryOfComposition Germany
dedicatedTo Angel of the Apocalypse
featuresElement birdsong transcriptions
genre chamber music
hasKeyCharacteristic intense religious symbolism
irregular rhythmic cycles
unusual instrumentation for a quartet
historicalContext Second World War
linked to: World War II
inspiredBy Book of Revelation
Christian eschatology
languageOfTitle French
movement I. Liturgie de cristal
II. Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps
III. Abîme des oiseaux
IV. Intermède
V. Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus
VI. Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes
VII. Fouillis d’arcs-en-ciel, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps
VIII. Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus
notableMovement Abîme des oiseaux for solo clarinet
Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus for violin and piano
Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus for cello and piano
numberOfMovements 8
placeComposed Stalag VIII-A, Görlitz, German prisoner-of-war camp
premiereAudienceType prisoners of war
premiereCountry Germany
premiereDate 15 January 1941
premierePerformedBy Henri Akoka
Jean Le Boulaire
Olivier Messiaen
Étienne Pasquier
premierePlace Stalag VIII-A, Görlitz, German prisoner-of-war camp
religiousTheme angelic visions
apocalypse
eternity
scoredForInstrument cello
clarinet
piano
violin
style French modernism
spiritual minimalism precursor
titleTranslation Quartet for the End of Time
usesTechnique additive rhythms
modes of limited transposition
non-retrogradable rhythms
yearComposed 1941

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Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Olivier Messiaen notableWork Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Quatuor pour la fin du temps titleTranslation Quartet for the End of Time
linked to: Quatuor pour la fin du temps