A concert celebrating the liberation of the human spirit. On 15 January 1941, 5,000 prisoners of war listened spellbound to the first public performance of ‘Quatuor pour la fin du temps’ by French composer Olivier Messiaen. The piece was played on an old violin, a battered clarinet, a piano that was out of tune and a cello with three strings. Speaking of it later, Messiaen said: “Never has my music been listened to with such attention and understanding.”
The composition of ‘Quatuor pour la fin du temps’ (Quartet for the End of Time) was inspired by scenes described in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, which foretells the end of the world and predicts the appearance of an angel who swears: “…there should be time no longer.” In honour of the concert, Bolsward-based poet Aggie van der Meer, the winner of last year’s Gysbert Japix Award, wrote a poem cycle entitled ‘De tiid, it duorjen’. The seven poems that make up the cycle correspond to the eight movements of ‘Quatuor pour la fin du temps’. Ensemble: Marjolein van Dingstee – violin, Corien Kok – cello, Pauli Yap – piano, Pierre Lafay – clarinet, Thijs Feenstra – narrator.
The concert is being held to celebrate 75 years of freedom and is an initiative by Hoite Pruiksma and Stichting UP, the foundation he set up to promote exceptional experimental musical productions.
