For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet

Rating:
Summary: Remarkable research on an overlooked subject
Review: By illuminating the personalities and circumstances of the Quartet's composition, first performance, and eventual place as a seminal 20th Century work, the author increased my appreciation of it as no amount of mythology or musical analysis could have. This story needed to be told, and perhaps what is most surprising is that no one had conducted research on this level or interviewed the participants before. In the end, the Quartet is about the incredible richness and beauty of life. This book is indispensable for anyone interested in Messiaen or the Quartet.

Rating:
Summary: A revalation about Messien's Quartet For the End of Time
Review: Rebecca Rischin masterfully describes the terrible ordeal that confronted Messien when he wrote and presented his Quartet -The End of Time while he was a POW in a German camp.
She gives musical insights into the complexity of Messien and his music. She also brings to life the differing personalities of the three musicians-violints, cellist and clarinets who performed the quartet on January 15 1941 in barracks of Stalag V!!!.