What's On — Messiaen events

Quartet for the End of Time

Tue 9 Dec Town Hall

Four world-class soloists come together to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of France’s greatest composers - Olivier Messiaen. His visionary _Quartet for the End of Time_ is an uplifting and spiritual work, and will be accompanied by specially commissioned visuals from artist Kathy Hinde. It is preceded by Ravel’s Piano Trio - tinged with serene disquiet and written as the world descended into the carnage of the First World War. *BBC music magazine’s editor, Oliver Condy, explains why he has recommended tonight’s concert:* _"Messiaen premiered his Book of Revelation-inspired Quartet at a Polish prisoner of war camp in 1941 in front of 5,000 fellow prisoners. Widely seen as his finest work, it’s the perfect introduction to a composer who brought French music kicking and screaming into the 20th Century.”_ "BBC Music Magazine":http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com 6.15pm pre-concert talk Tickets £5-£20
*Steven Osborne* piano *Alban Gerhardt* cello *Viviane Hagner* violin *Kari Kriikku* clarinet *Kathy Hinde Messiaen* visuals
*Ravel* Piano Trio in A Minor 20’ *Messiaen* Quartet for the End of Time 50’
Transfigured Night

Thu 19 Feb 2009 Symphony Hall

The idea of transfiguration loomed large for late romantic artists, and these two masterpieces by Strauss and Schoenberg • although the product of composers who were just 25 years old • seem to sum up a whole lifetime’s experience in music that is among the most luscious ever composed. Schoenberg’s masterpiece for strings tells of a transfigured night in which a couple fall in love all over again. Messiaen’s more explicitly religious world-view provides the perfect complement: in his powerful piece for wind, brass and percussion he expresses his own deeply-held beliefs on the resurrection of the dead. And the concert climaxes with a chance to hear the CBSO and Andris Nelsons • already so admired in Strauss’s music • play the magnificent tone poem Death and Transfiguration.

Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht 32’ Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum 26’ Strauss: Tod und Verklärung 24’