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
Jack and the Beanstalk

Name of production: JACK AND THE BEANSTALK

Playwright: Karen Combrinck & Walter Strydom

Director: Walter Strydom

Venue:  Scaena Rehearsal room, UFS main campus

Language: English

 

Dates and times:

6 May 2015                   15h00

7 May 2015                   11h00 & 18h00

8 May 2015                   11h00 & 18h00

9 May 2015                   11h00

 

Prices:  R 25.00 per person and/or R20.00 per person for groups of 10 or more.

 

Bookings:   Computicket (0861 915 8000)

 

 

Press Release

Once upon a time there was an old man who bought Jack’s cow, Dandelion, for 5 beans. When Jack presented this amazing magical treasure to his mother, she asked: “What to do with these vegetables? You know what beans do to your tummy…!” and she promptly chucked them out the window.

 

But, when a humungous beanstalk sprouts in Jack’s garden, he has no other choice but to climb the thing to discover what lies at the top. On a mission to find a golden egg that will enable Jack to buy back Dandelion, Jack has to try something, doesn’t he? On this adventure in the clouds, he meets up with an assortment of food and all sorts of condiments. If you don’t know what condiments are, don’t worry, Jack doesn’t either. And all of this, of course, takes place in a giant’s kitchen. A kitchen. Where you prepare food. Where Jack is but the size of a small profiterole.  And where the giant seems to be constantly checking the fridge for something to eat. And where a talking goose is harangued by a beautiful harp to keep quiet or else the giant will want to hear yet another boring piece of classical music. Will Jack be on the menu or can he successfully pose as the giant’s action figure toy? And where will he find that golden egg?

 

Jack and the Beanstalk is this year’s first production for children from the University of the Free State’s Department for Drama and Theatre Arts. A fresh retelling of the ageless classic is specifically aimed to entertain a newer generation of kids with the same story mom and dad loved when they were young. Hard at work behind the scenes of this delightful comedy for younger audiences are the energetic talents of a vibrant group of drama students. Directed by Walter Strydom (known for productions such as the Boer Manie-series, Een Kleine Lientjie and Robin Hood) and showcasing the staging talents of four excellent postgraduate drama students. Jack and the Beanstalk hits the stage early in May.

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