Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time | NotaBene Chamber Group

Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 1992) Quartet for the End of Time I. “Liturgie de cristal“ (Crystal liturgy) - 00:00:00 II. “Vocalise, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps“ (Vocalise, for the Angel who announces the end of time) - 00:03:27 III. “Abîme des oiseaux“ (Abyss of birds) - 00:09:22 IV. “Intermède“ (Interlude) - 00:17:32 V. “Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus“ (Praise to the eternity of Jesus) - 00:19:57 VI. “Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes“ (Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets) - 00:27:48 VII. “Fouillis d’arcs-en-ciel, pour l’Ange qui annonce la fin du temps“ (Tangle of rainbows, for the Angel who announces the end of time) - 00:34:29 VIII. “Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus“ (Praise to the immortality of Jesus) - 00:42:15 ~~~ Mirror Hall of the Lviv Opera House, 2023 Quartet: NotaBene Chamber Group Andrii Pavlov, violin Yurii Nemyrovskyi, clarinet Artem Poludennyi, cello Roman Lopatynskyi, piano Composer: Olivier Messiaen ~~~ NotaBene Chamber Group was created in 2015. It was initiated by young experienced musicians; all of them are successful solo artist and leading musicians of famous National orchestras. The main idea was to create compact and flexible musical union that consists of high-level professional musicians for whom this ensemble is like a creative laboratory. Combining professionalism, youth and experience NotaBene ensemble performs chamber repertoire masterpieces that consist of large amount of works. It is possible because NotaBene can transform in various combinations to perform different masterpiece from chamber repertoire. With a string quartet, clarinet, piano and artistic expression NotaBene in a short period of existence performed enough material - duo for every instrument and piano, trio and piano quartets, string quartets, clarinet quintet, piano quintets. Today repertoire increase with new works of different epochs and various composers. Flexible structure of NotaBene and high performance level provides active concert life of this chamber group in major Ukrainian and foreign concert halls and festivals. Repertoire of the ensemble includes classical and contemporary music. During the existence of the ensemble took part in many musical events in Europe, among which the solo recitals, masterclasses and international festivals : International festival of Chamber music (Plovdiv, Bulgaria), 2016; 47th International festival “Sofia Music Weeks“( Sofia, Bulgaria), 2016; Hvide Sande Masterclass (Denmark), 2017; Landesmusikakademie (Ochsenhausen, Germany), 2017; Gogolfest (Kyiv, Ukraine). 2016; International music Festival “Bouquet Kyiv Stage” (Kyiv, Ukraine) 2018, “Jewish Composers with German Background“ 2021 In addition, the result of creative activities of the band is the partnership with the leading soloists, composers, teachers of music academies recognized at the international level, among which: Jose Ribera, Sakari Tepponen, Henrik Brendstrup, Ivan Kucher, Denis Severin, Andriy Belov, Oleksiy Shadrin etc. ~~~ Quartet for the End of Time, French Quatuor pour la fin du temps, quartet in eight movements for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano by French composer Olivier Messiaen. The piece premiered on January 15, 1941, at the Stalag VIIIA prisoner-of-war camp, in Görlitz, Germany, where the composer had been confined since his capture in May 1940. The work’s instrumentation was determined by the instruments and performers at hand. Messiaen dedicated the quartet “in homage to the Angel of the Apocalypse, who raises his hand towards Heaven saying ‘There shall be no more time.’ ” The movement titles were drawn from the biblical Revelation to John. Messiaen eschewed the usual tendency of Western music for regular rhythms and metres and instead offered ever-changing, often-unpredictable patterns, frequently based on prime numbers, especially 5, 7, 11, and 13. Clarinet and violin phrases tend to be reminiscent of bird songs, and motifs recur from one movement to another. The four instruments rarely play simultaneously. The first movement, is largely characterized by haunting, flowing lines. For contrast, the second, is more nervous and tormented, with scattered fragments of themes moving here and there. The third movement, returns to a more open, mystic mood, with long, sustained tones for the clarinet alone, with the other three players in waiting. The fourth movement, is nimble and dancelike. The fifth movement is a sequence of long, disembodied phrases, sometimes with no clear underlying beat; there Messiaen used only the cello and the piano. The sixth movement, conveys its fury with driving rhythms and much syncopation. For the seventh movement, the angel returns amid floating, open harmonies that manage to be both airy and suspenseful. The waiting mood gives way to a sudden pulsing energy. For his finale, “In Praise of the Immortality of Jesus,” Messiaen calls forth a gently reflective atmosphere with long, flowing lines. Betsy Schwarm