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Book Review
May. 27th, 2009 08:52 pmFor the End of Time: The Story of the Messaien Quartet
by Rebecca Rischin
Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time is one of my favorite pieces. I never get tired of it. I once left a chamber concert at intermission because I couldn't bear the thought of listening to Schubert after Messaien's masterpiece.
Not only is the Quartet for the End of Time one of the great works, it also carries with is one of the most amazing stories in music history. Messaien wrote it while a POW in the German prison camp Stalag VIII A in Silesia. The piece received its premier there, played by the composer and three of his fellow prisoner-musicians: Etienne Pasquier, Henri Akoka, and Jean Le Boulaire. This book tells that story in fascinating detail. Rischin recounts the lives of each member of the original quartet: their backgrounds, how they ended up in Stalag VIII A, their experiences there, how they were freed, and their post-war lives. She also covers the reception of the Quartet both in the camp and afterwards and its ultimate place in the musical world. It a beautiful and absorbing portrait of an incredible piece of music and the people who created it.
by Rebecca Rischin
Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time is one of my favorite pieces. I never get tired of it. I once left a chamber concert at intermission because I couldn't bear the thought of listening to Schubert after Messaien's masterpiece.
Not only is the Quartet for the End of Time one of the great works, it also carries with is one of the most amazing stories in music history. Messaien wrote it while a POW in the German prison camp Stalag VIII A in Silesia. The piece received its premier there, played by the composer and three of his fellow prisoner-musicians: Etienne Pasquier, Henri Akoka, and Jean Le Boulaire. This book tells that story in fascinating detail. Rischin recounts the lives of each member of the original quartet: their backgrounds, how they ended up in Stalag VIII A, their experiences there, how they were freed, and their post-war lives. She also covers the reception of the Quartet both in the camp and afterwards and its ultimate place in the musical world. It a beautiful and absorbing portrait of an incredible piece of music and the people who created it.
