Quartet for the End of Time

The Waldstein Trio will be joined by clarinettist Ben Mason for a performance of Oliver Messiaen’s quite astounding Quartet for the End of Time, written when Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Stalag VIII-A, a WWII prison camp. The piece, based on the Bible’s Book of Revelation and dedicated to “the Angel who announces the end of time”, was first performed in the prison camp by Messiaen and three other prisoners, before the eyes of their fellow prisoners and German guards.