Quartet for the End of Time

Our Frestival Musicians begin their Residency at St Wilfrid's Church. The concert begins with Faure’s magical early piano quartet and includes a world premiere by Festival artist Christian Elliott, taken inspiration from the Beatles, birdsong and Messiaen. The concert ends with the extraordinary Quartet for the end of time.

Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet No 1 inhabits a magical world of shimmering colours and buoyant, effortless motion. Amid the emotional excesses of nineteenth century Romanticism, this is music made up of pristine lines and classical elegance. It unfolds with a sublime simplicity and directness. At moments, this forward-looking music anticipates the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, in which tone colour and harmony take on sensuous meaning unto themselves.

Messiaen’s masterpiece Quatuor pour la fin du temps was written whilst he was a prisoner of war, and performed by his fellow prisoners. Messiaen wrote the piece for the instruments and players available to him: clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Each movement relates to the apocalyptic Book of Revelation and this score underlines Messiaen’s work with bird song and nature themes, whilst also being distinctly French in harmony.