The Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps, or Quartet for the end of Time, was composed in 1941 whilst Messiaen was imprisoned in a German concentration camp, and first performed to his fellow captives.
"The work," as Messiaen writes, "is directly inspired by the Revelation of St John. Its musical language is essentially transcendental, spiritual, catholic. Certain modes, realizing a kind of tonal ubiquity in terms of harmony and melody, draw the listener into a sense of the eternity of space or time. Special rhythms, lying outside any sort of measure, contribute significantly toward the banishment of the concept of time.
The work, of more than 50 minutes in length, is the pure itteration of a harrowing musical thought, composed under psychological pressure, distress and horror, and also out of pure despair. The piece counts as one of the most difficult musical works to play; it needs an enormous amount of concentration and psychological power.
Amatis Trio I.B. Hausmann - Clarinet Lea Hausmann - Violin Samuel Shepard - Cello Mengjie Han Piano
The Amatis Trio was founded in Amsterdam in 2014 by German violinist Lea Hausmann, British cellist Samuel Shepherd, and Dutch/Chinese pianist Mengjie Han. The three musicians met in Amsterdam, and have performed together in 34 countries around the world. Summer 2019 saw the Amatis Trio make their BBC Proms debut and perform as soloists in the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. They made their 2019 Edinburgh International Festival debut in a programme entitled Amatis Trio and Friends, where they invited two other members of the BBC NGA scheme to perform with them. Both this concert and the BBC Proms appearance were broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. The trio has since commissioned and premiered 15 contemporary pieces, most recently Moorlands, a piano trio work by Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi. Since 2015 the trio has worked intensely with Wolfgang Redik (Vienna Piano Trio) and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet). Other important musical influences include Lukas Hagen, Hatto Beyerle, the Trio Jean Paul, Fabio Bidini, Ilya Grubert, Anner Bylsma, Ivry Gitlis, Christian Schuster, Ib Hausmann, Imre Rohmann, Menahem Pressler, and Sir Andras Schiff.
