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.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (50)

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

Referenced by (1)

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

Olivier Messiaen notableWork Quatuor pour la fin du temps