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Remember with music composed in time of war
Messiaen's Quartet For The End of Time is the appropriate choice of piece for a Remembrance Sunday concert in Sidlesham on November 8.
The concert is the next in the Music in the Church season of chamber music in St Mary's Church.
Spokesman Paul Devonshire said: "Although other chamber works have been composed after World War II to commemorate it, they have not survived in the repertoire as much as this piece which was composed during it.
"It was completed and first performed in the unlikely venue of a barrack room in the French PoW camp of Stalag VIIIA in Grlitz, Silesia on January 15, 1941.
"Messiaen had been enlisted into the French army, and been captured, ironically, at Verdun and ended up at the camp at Grlitz which housed 30,000 PoWs.
"Conditions in the middle of winter were physically harsh and the psychological state among defeated and captured Frenchmen would not have been great.
"Messiaen composed for the professional instrumentalists available in the same camp – piano (himself), clarinet (Henri Akoka), violin (Jean Le Boulaire) and cello (Etienne Pasquier).
"Only Henri Akoka, an extrovert Algerian Jew who miraculously survived the war, had his own instrument, the others gaining theirs with the assistance of the German authorities, particularly Karl-Albert Brll,
a French-speaking guard. He secured writing materials, a quiet place for composing and opportunity for rehearsal.
"Because Messiaen had professional musicians available, he made no concessions with regard technical demands in this composition. Robert Bridge (piano), himself a past piano scholar at the Royal College of Music, has therefore assembled a group of professional musicians for this occasion: Victoria Medcalf (clarinet), whose CV includes the Orchestras of the Royal Opera House, the English National Opera, as well as the English Chamber Orchestra; Marina Solarek (violin), who is leader of the North London Symphony Orchestra; and Sarah Kaznowski (cello) who was with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.
"Although the Quartet is considered the main work, it is preceded by two other significant works, though not in the same format – Brahms' Clarinet Trio Opus 114 (clarinet, cello and piano), and Schubert's Notturno (violin, cello and piano)."
Tickets are available (8) from Adrian Harland (01243 641698) and Wendy Devonshire (01243 641457).
Contact the news team by email news@chiobserver.co.uk or leave a comment below.
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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