Dr. David Allen
AN UNUSUAL FIRST PERFORMANCE
Classical music aficionados are well aware that most quartets consist of the string quartet of two violins, cello and viola. But, one the strangest of quartets ever composed was Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The composer was a prison-of-war in Stalag 8A, in Silesia. During his incarceration he found inspiration from the Book of Revelation: in the depths of despair he held on to the hope that, in time, Adolf Hitler would be defeated and, ultimately, also that “the kingdoms of this world would become the kingdoms of God and his Christ.”
In the freezing snows of the Silesian winter, the composer assembled the only musicians he could find: there was a pianist, a violinist, a clarinettist and, finally, a cellist. It was an unusual combination of instruments; but with those slender resources the music conjured and evoked the splendid colours and apocalyptic drama of that mysterious Book. After the very intense performance, the prisoners were deeply moved many of them to tears. The quartet is one of the greatest masterpieces of modern chamber music, not premiered in a salon but in a draughty, leaking hut!
The Book of Revelation was written, around 96, during the reign of Emperor Domitian, when John was a prisoner in the lonely rocky island of Patmos. Down the centuries, and despite its often bizarre imagery and complex symbolism, the book has prompted a number of different interpretations. Some believe that it largely deals with the condition of the churches in Asia Minor; others have seen the book as the unfolding of the long history of the Church and the world, from the post-Apostolic period until the end of time. This view has been very popular in the last century; and we have all have seen pull-out charts, like a concertina, in which we can, if we so wish, find out what there is on offer in the dessert menu at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
My sympathies are mainly with Messiaen: the magnificent book, in dramatic scenes, portrays the final victory of God at the end of time; and its chief agent is, of course, Jesus. The Quartet’s meditative movements give praise and honour to Him, the one who is both Eternal and Immortal - He who was always at the side of the Father from eternity and, though he died for our sins, now lives forever! Alelluia!
