#MusicalMondayMemories #6: Quartet for the End of Time (take 3)

Whether you’re a performer or listener, isn’t a live performance the best? 

Live, local chamber music. Think about that for a minute - it’s a big deal! 

These days, when you go to a big show you’re likely to see a lot of people with their phones out. When you’re at an intimate show, or in a place where phones aren’t appreciated during a concert, it feels different. More inviting, I think, for both listeners and performers.  

A huge part of any show is the environment, how the room feels, how the performers interact with each other and with the audience. Do you have an example from your own musical experiences where it felt like everyone in a room just clicked?

I remember feeling like this during a performance of Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time” back in January 2018. I was performing the Messiaen - and a couple of new works for the same instrumentation - with pianist Naomi Stine, clarinetist Kyle Beard, and cellist Misha Khalikulov. 

This show was the only time I played at the Center for New Music in SF with a full audience. It’s a supportive venue, but not often well-attended. It probably helped that people involved in the program (performers and composers) were not just part of the classical music scene. 

Despite having just gotten over the flu (I’ll share a video soon from playing with Evanescence while Dayquiling it up and trying to be on the mend), it was a lovely experience, and one of the first times I remember feeling a bit manic after a performance. I had probably finally gotten enough sleep by then.

It was a fun 3rd time working up this piece with a group! The first was when I was 18, and that was really the start of my sinking deeply into 20th century (and newer) music. I hope for more Messiaen experiences in future years.

It’s usually hard for me to look back on videos of performances because I get stuck on the mistakes, but in the moment mistakes pass by and the music flows on. The important thing is the feeling of the music, the energy of the sound.

“Quartet for the End of Time” was written in 1941 while the composer was in a German prisoner of war camp, Stalag VIII-A (now part of Poland). It was performed for the first time with Messiaen on piano, joined by fellow prisoners. What an intense piece, what crazy roots it stemmed from, and it’s amazing that Messiaen was released soon after because of documents forged by a guard (who also helped facilitate his composing). Messiaen held onto something in music that kept him going even in the scariest of circumstances, and it held him back throughout his life. There’s so much that can be said about Messiaen, but for today I want to simply appreciate the transcendent quality of his works. After you check out some of our performance (the movements are labeled so you can skip around), go close your eyes and listen to something of his for solo organ.