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
Ching-Yun Hu (piano recital)

Ching-Yun Hu (piano recital)
8 March 2011
Odeion
19:30

“This young woman brings with her the secret, the mystery, and the style. She has the suspense of Brendal, Perahia’s lyricism and Barenboim’s depth. Are we witnessing the birth of a new Martha Argerich?”

Chanoch Ron, Yediot Acharonot, Israel.

In Ching-Yun’s home country (Taiwan) and abroad, she has been given a title – “Taiwan’s Proud”. Referred to as “dazzling”, Ching-Yun captured the top prize at the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. Her memorable performances of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 in the finale of this competition were broadcast live to 38 countries worldwide.

At the age of 14, Ching-Yun moved to the US to study at The Juilliard School. At 16 she won the silver medal at the Taipei International Piano Competition after which she collaborated with several orchestras, including the Aspen Concert Orchestra, New York Sinfonietta, Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the World Festival Orchestra and appeared at major festivals in The Netherlands, Austria, the UK and the USA. As Taiwan’s major artist of her generation, she appeared with the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra in a concert for 10 000 people as a memorial for the 921 Earthquake Anniversary. Concert appearances have also taken her to prestigious venues such as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Salle Cortot, Osaka Hall and various other major concert halls around the world.

Her numerous other international competition accolades include several gold medals and first prizes: at the World Piano Competition (Cincinnati), Olga Koussevitzky International Piano Competition, Seiler International Piano Competition (New York) and the California International Piano Competition. Her performances have been aired by several international radio and television stations. The most recent addition to her long list of international awards is being awarded the First Prize in the 2009 Concert Artists Guild International Competition securing her a Carnegie Hall recital.

Programme:
Beethoven – Sonata in C major, Op. 35 (“Waldstein”)
Schumann – Fantasie, Op. 17
Schubert/Liszt – Song Transcriptions
Liszt – Concert Etude “La Leggierezza”
Liszt – Spanish Rhapsody

Admission:
R120 (adults)
R80 (pensioners, students and learners)
Tickets available at Computicket (at all Shoprite / Checkers shops, Mimosa Mall information desk, the Waterfront Mall) and at the doors.

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