Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (French pronunciation: [kwatɥɔʁ puʁ la fɛ̃ dy tɑ̃]), originally Quatuor de la fin du Temps ("Quartet of the End of Time"), also known by its English title Quartet for the End of Time,^[1] is an eight-movement piece of chamber music by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. It was premiered in 1941. The work is scored for clarinet (in B-flat), violin, cello, and piano; a typical performance of the complete work lasts about 50 minutes. Messiaen wrote the piece while a prisoner of war in German captivity and it was first performed by his fellow prisoners. It is generally considered one of his most important works.

Quatuor pour la fin du Temps

Quartet for the End of Time

1940-1941

"To the Angel who announces the End of Time"

15 January 1941 (1941-01-15): Görlitz

1942

Éditions Durand

50 minutes

eight

clarinet
violin
cello
piano

15 January 1941

Stalag VIII-A, Görlitz, Germany

Jean le Boulaire (violin), Henri Akoka (clarinet), Étienne Pasquier (cello), Olivier Messiaen (piano)

Derivative works[edit]

The piece is the inspiration for Quartet for the End of Time, a 2014 novel by Johanna Skibsrud that borrows its title and structure from the piece.

Olivier Messiaen, Quatuor pour la fin du temps (score) (Paris: Durand)

Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps, Cambridge Music Handbooks (Cambridge University Press, 2003)

Anthony Pople

Nigel Simeone on Quatuor pour la fin du temps

(with synchronised score), played by Barnaby Robson, James Clark, David Cohen, and Matthew Schellhorn

Quatuor pour la fin du temps

– extensive analysis by François Nicolas (in French).

"Sur le Quatuor pour la fin du temps"

Boston University Messiaen Project: performances, studies and information

– Musical and Biblical Analysis from Lawrence University Freshman Studies curriculum

Quatuor pour la fin du temps