Years
2019 2018
Quartet For The End Of Time
2018-10-25

Quartet For The End Of Time

By Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992)

25 October 2018

Odeion

19:30

“THE IDEA OF THE END OF TIME AS THE END OF PAST AND FUTURE AND THE BEGINNING OF ETERNITY”

Anmari van der Westhuizen and Samson Diamond (members of the renowned Odeion String Quartet), will join with the award-winning soloists Grethe Nöthling and Danrè Strydom to perform one of the 20th century’s most compelling chamber music works, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. These musicians need no introduction to Bloemfontein audiences.

Composed while he was a prisoner of war, Messiaen's Quartet has continually wowed audiences since its creation. The oppressive conditions within which the work was conceived - set against the backdrop of wartime conditions in Nazi Germany - contribute to the work’s inner narrative. In this unsettling time of global political and social uncertainty, we aim to reframe this work from the past in order to contemplate the present. Music woven together with other art forms elicit and explain a range of emotions where words often fail.

A selection of striking WWII photos will be projected behind the musicians - reflecting the theme and history of the composition.

About the composition
Olivier Messiaen (1908 - 92)
Quatour pour le fin du temps (1940 - 41)

Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time was written in perhaps the most incongruous spot any great score has been composed in: an unheated barrack in Stalag VIII-A, a German prisoner-of-war camp, during the second winter of World War 2. Messiaen wrote this mystical quartet for the instruments available in the camp (clarinet, violin, cello, and piano) in a setting that is arguably among the least conducive for creative work.

The quartet is Messiaen's musical depiction of and rumination on Revelation 10:1-7, which the composer included as a heading to the score:

“I saw a mighty angel descending from heaven, clad in mist, having around his head a rainbow. His face was like the sun, his feet like pillars of fire. He placed his right foot on the sea, his left on the earth, and standing thus on the sea and the earth, he lifted his hand toward heaven and swore by Him who liveth forever and ever, saying: "There shall be time no longer, but at the day of the trumpet of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be consummated."

ADMISSION

  • R120 (adults)
  • *R80 (pensioners)
  • *R70 (UFS staff)
  • *R50 (students, learners and block bookings of 10+)

Tickets available at Computicket or online at http://online.computicket.com/web/

*Please note that tickets for pensioners, students, learners and UFS staff can only be purchased at a Computicket outlet (Shoprite Checkers) or at the doors since a valid card or ID has to be presented to qualify for the above-mentioned discount.

ENQUIRIES
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)


Back
Alexander Ramm (cello) & Tinus Botha (piano)

17 May 2012
Odeion
19:30

Alexander Ramm was born in Vladivostok (Russia) in 1988. He studied at the Chopin Music School until 2003, entered the Chopin College and finished in 2007 in the class of Prof. M. Zhuravleva. At present he is a student at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory under the guidance of Prof. N. Shakhovskaya. He performs in many concerts in the best halls of Russia, such as the Rachmaninoff Hall, the Small and the Great Halls of the State Conservatory and abroad. Alexander is the winner of several international and national competitions. In 2010 he took part in festivals and master classes at the Courchevel Academy and Holland Music Sessions with famous professors Philippe Muller, Maria Kliegel, Reinhard Latzko and Uzi Wiezel. He took first prizes at the following international competitions: the Young Cellist Competition (Moscow, 2003), the Cambridge International String Competition (2005), the International Romantic Music Festival (Moscow, 2006) and the National Music Competition (Russia, 2010). He also took 4th prize at the 5th UNISA International String Competition (2010) and 2nd prize in the 3rd Beijing International Music Competition (2010).

Tinus Botha received his musical training at the University of Pretoria, Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara) and Texas Christian University (Fort Worth). His teachers have included Joseph Stanford, Jerome Lowenthal, José Feghali and Harold Martina. Tinus has featured as soloist with a number of South African orchestras, including the Artium Orchestra, CAPAB, NAPOP, COSA and Pro Musica. As chamber musician he has collaborated with a number of South Africa's foremost artists, and is regularly invited to serve as official accompanist at UNISA’s international music competitions. In 2008 he received a D.Mus. (performing arts) degree from the University of Pretoria. Tinus will be the pianist during Alexander’s South African tour.

Programme:
Franck – Sonata for cello and piano
Kodaly – Finale from Sonata for solo cello
Hanmer – Elegy (A Jazzy Waltz and Simple Song)
Rachmaninoff – Sonata for cello and piano

Admission:
R120 (adults), R80 (pensioners, students and learners)
R50 (block booking of 10+)
Tickets available at Computicket.

Enquiries:
Ninette Pretorius (tel. 051 401 2504)

 

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful, to better understand how they are used and to tailor advertising. You can read more and make your cookie choices here. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept