Olivier Messiaen - Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (Tashi)

Information

Composer: Olivier Messiaen

1. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Liturgie de cristal
2. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Vocalise, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps
3. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Abîme des oiseaux
4. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Intermède
5. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Louange à l'Éternité de Jésus
6. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes
7. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Fouillis d'arcs-en-ciel, pour l'Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps
8. Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps: Louange à l'Immortalité de Jésus

Tashi

    Peter Serkin, piano

    Ida Kavafian, violin

    Fred Sherry, cello

    Richard Stoltzman, clarinet

Date: 1975

Label: RCA

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Review

This all-star chamber ensemble was specifically formed to play Messiaen's masterpiece. Two decades after this recording was made, it still shows the effects of their intense identification with the music. Some listeners find Messiaen's music longwinded and difficult, and my own opinion varies depending on the work and my mood. But this piece, written in a German concentration camp during the early years of World War II, is truly one of the greatest works of music of the 20th century. Although it lasts nearly an hour, its variety of color and its powerful expressiveness will engross any responsive listener, especially in this performance.

— Leslie Gerber

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Olivier Messiaen (10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist and teacher renowned for his highly original compositions. After studying at the Paris Conservatory with Dukas, Widor and Dupré, among others, he became organist at Sainte-Trinité in Paris in 1931. During World War II, he composed Quartet for the End of Time while imprisoned in Germany. As a teacher at the Paris Conservatory, he mentored leading composers such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. His major works include Turangalîla-Symphonie, Catalogue d’oiseaux, and the opera St. François d’Assise.

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TASHI was founded in 1973 by violinist Ida Kavafian, pianist Peter Serkin, cellist Fred Sherry and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. The group gained international recognition for championing contemporary music, particularly Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, helping establish the work as a cornerstone of the chamber repertoire through acclaimed performances and a landmark 1976 recording. TASHI also commissioned and premiered new works by leading composers such as Toru Takemitsu. Although the ensemble disbanded in 1978, it reunited periodically for performances and recordings.

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