1945-2025: Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Synagoge, Groningen

22 July at 20:15 hour

M. Csányi-Wills - The last letter

S. I. Glick - I never saw another butterfly

O. Messiaen – Quatuor pour la fin du temps

This program centers around the monumental Quatuor pour la fin du temps by the French composer Olivier Messiaen. In 1940, Messiaen was captured and interned in the prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VIII-A. There, he met a clarinetist, a violinist, and a cellist, and wrote a trio for them. This piece developed into a quartet with the addition of a piano, and thus Quatuor pour la fin du temps was born. In January 1941, in front of no fewer than 5,000 fellow prisoners, an ensemble (including Messiaen on an old piano) performed the work for the first time. Never had a piece been listened to so attentively as on that occasion. In addition to this grand work, the program includes The Last Letter by Michael Csányi-Wills, based on the poignant letter in which a Jewish woman bids farewell to her children from her captivity, and songs by the Jewish-Canadian composer Srul Irving Glick.

Before the concert, a walk through the Jewish Quarter will be organized, followed by dinner at restaurant Naud. This package starts at 4:00 PM at the Synagogue.

This concert is sold out.