Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du Temps [Quartet for the end of time] / Theme et variations

 
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OLIVIER MESSIAEN
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du Temps [Quartet for the end of time] / Theme et variations
Trio Wanderer with Pascal Moragues (clarinet)

[ Harmonia Mundi Gold / CD ]

Release Date: Wednesday 30 August 2017

This item is currently out of stock. We expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks from when you place your order.

'And the angel...sware...that there should be Time no longer': these words from the Book of Revelation inspired the conception of this famous quartet for piano, violin, cello and clarinet - the instruments played by the musicians who were Messiaen's fellow captives in a prisoner-of-war camp in 1941. Created in exceptionally testing conditions, it sums up the composer's experiments and innovations, notably rhythmic. Whether augmented, diminished, regular, irregular or non-retrogradable, these rhythms opened wide the gates to a new music, and earned the quartet its place among the supreme masterworks.

MARBECKS STAFF PICK - BEST RECORDINGS 2008

"Clarity of texture, delicacy of phrasing, the subtlest of colours: this account's a triumph of technique. The players give us rapture too - essential in Messiaen."
Geoff Brown The Times *****

"The Trio Wanderer, with clarinettist Pascal Moraguès, strikes a near-ideal balance between modern 'cool' and espressivo inflection, well matched by crystal-clear engineering."
Julian Haylock The Strad

"The spiritual dimension [in Quatuor Pour le Fin du Temps] is well projected, especially in the long string lines of the two "Louange" movements, but there could be more freedom and risk-taking in the more energetic music. Clarinettist Pascal Moraguès's tone is rather rough, though the player shows impressive control in the solo "Abîme des oiseaux". Violinist Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian and pianist Vincent Coq make a convincing case for the early Theme and Variations." The Telegraph, 19th July 2008