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

by Rebecca Rischin

Olivier Messiaen (1908'1992) was one of the great composers of the twentieth century. The premiere of the French composer's Quartet for the End of Time on January 15, 1941 at -4 degrees Fahrenheit in Stalag VIII A, a Nazi prison camp, has been called one of the great stories of twentieth-century music. A devout Catholic with an interest in mysticism and the supernatural, Messiaen was also a poet and an accomplished amateur ornithologist. He mixed sounds as a painter mixes colors, associating specific shades with certain modes and chords. This book is the first comprehensive history of the composition and premiere of the Quartet for the End of Time. Based on testimonies by the musicians and their families, witnesses to the premiere, former prisoners, and on documents from Stalag VIII A, For the End of Time examines the events that led to the Quartet's composition, the experiences of the musicians in the camp, the contradictory accounts, the composer's interpretive preferences, and the musicians'problems in execution and how they affected the premiere and subsequent performances. Rebecca Rischin explores the musicians'life in the prison camp, their relationships with each other and with the German camp officials, and their intriguing fortunes before and after the momentous premiere. For the End of Time is distinguished by Rischin's extensive interviews and intimate correspondence with camp survivors who witnessed the Quartet's premiere and members of the Messiaen circle, including the cellist Etienne Pasquier and the violinist Jean Le Boulaire, relatives of the clarinetist Henri Akoka, and Messiaen's widow, Yvonne Loriod. The book is generously illustrated with photographs of the musicians, press releases from the premiere, autographs, letters, and pen-and-ink drawings of the camp's layout. Included are wartime photos of the camp and its prisoners along with present-day views of the camp site, which Rischin visited in 1995.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, European History, Biography

184 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mesoscope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's primary purpose is to serve as the definitive resource for the documentary history of the composition and first performance of Messiaen's great quartet, as the author leaves no doubt in her somewhat self-aggrandizing introductory comments. To that end, it serves its purpose, chronicling what is known about its notorious composition and world-premiere in Stalag 8a near Görlitz. Perhaps a third of this book is concerned with the work itself and its performance, and a great deal of it is devoted to biographical information concerning not just Messiaen, but the other three musicians who performed it for the first time. For the non-specialist, this might seem a surprising choice, and I confess my interest in the life and times of Henri Akoka, Etienne Pasquier, and Jean Le Boulaire is minimal.

Even at 120 pages, the book felt a bit stuffed to me, and could perhaps have benefitted from tighter editing - very similar statements sometimes appear, separated by a page or two. And at times, the author strikes me as a bit pretentious, as when she portentously explains that the book has eight chapters, in a mirror of the composer's mystically-inspired organizational scheme for his quartet. I mean, this dissertation is hardly a work on the same plane, and it strikes me as bad taste to imply some kind of comparison.

Despite certain issues of this kind, the core of the book is useful, and it does highly problematize the received story of this work's composition. It is true that the work was eked out in miserable conditions, but it is also true that the musicians involved were protected and showered with special privileges, while their campmates could be hung for stealing a few potatoes from the mess.

This makes it a bit harder to regard the work as the kind of testimony to the persistence of the human soul in a naive sense - what the reader will make of this added complexity will no doubt vary.

[Lucas Wenk-Wolff · Rating 5 out of 5]

En bok jeg kommer til å snakke om hele livet mitt.

[Chris Smithhisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved learning more about this hauntingly beautiful piece of music.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

FOR THE END OF TIME is Rebecca Rischin's story of Olivier Messiaen's piece "Quatuor pour fin du Temps", written mainly when the great French composer was imprisoned in Stalag VIII A as a prisoner of war in 1940-1941. While many people connected to the quartet are now deceased, Rischin was fortunate to interview Etienne Pasquier, the cellist, and Jean Le Boulaire, violinist. Since Henri Akoka, who performed clarinet, passed away in the early 1970s, she interviewed his family.

There is little analysis of the music, and nary a score sample can be seen. For those wishing to know more about the actual music, I'd recommend Anthony Poole's work (Cambridge University Press, 1998) in the Cambridge Music Handbook series. Rischin is concerned with the environment in which the piece was written. She begins with the composer's meeting Pasquier and Henri Akoka on military service in early 1940. It is there, Rischin shows, that the quartet began. Messiaen had already begun to compose the "Abyss of the Birds" movement, and Akoka performed it for him in the middle of a field after the trio had been captured by the Germans and were awaiting transport to the camp.

The description of Stalag VIII A and the various characters and events there makes up the middle portion of the book. Rischin tracks the writing of the quartet, but notes again that not all of it was written on the spot, as two movements are based on earlier compositions. The story of the work's premier is generally in line with what Messiaen has stated: a freezing makeshift concert hall, an out-of-tune piano whose keys stuck, and an audience of all walks of life who, because of their shared suffering, understood him perfectly. She doesn't stop there, however, but tells of how the four musicians left the camp (Akoka daringly escaped) and what they did after the war. The final chapter, "Into Eternity" attempts to describe how the piece continues to touch the hearts of listeners when the generation in which it was composed passes away. Two appendices are provided, one begin Messiaen's own preface to the work, and the second a discography.

The book attempts to correct some of the distortions spread by Messiaen himself about the piece's origins, including that it was played "before thousands" (the barracks serving as concert hall held only around 400 people). However, I find it strange that she relied so much on the testimony of the composer's widow Yvonne Loriod, for Mrs. Loriod did not meet the composer until after his liberation and wouldn't know anything about the writing of the piece beyond what the untrustworthy Messiaen had told her. Beyond that, I found that Rischin's book contained enormous amounts of repetition, which is very noticeable in a work of hardly more than 100 pages. It could have used tighter editing and review by other scholars; there are some misspellings and a non-standard transliteration scheme for Sanskrit which could have easily been ironed out. There is also a hero-worship which is inappropriate in an academic work.

If you love Messiaen's quartet, a great work which served as a basis for the much greater works which were to come over the following fifty years, I'd recommend first the book by Poole, which will expand one's appreciation of the piece greatly. Rischin's history can be left to those who want to read everything possible about the quartet.

[Nedra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t say I liked this book. The first half was technical, requiring the understanding and insight of a musician/composer such as my nephew who suggested I read it. The second half became far more interesting as it looked at pow camps in Germany in WWII, the privileges of artists, the escapes and return to music these prisoners encountered. This kind of WWII history is rarely seen and music of both sadness and hope premiered in a prison camp is contrary to the mostly devastating musical portrayals of the holocaust and the atrocities of that war. If you are a musician you could enjoy this book more than I did. Glad to get a look at such history however.

[j · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decidedly unflashy and relatively straight-forward presentation of this historical information, but it is on a fascinating subject and a masterful work, so of course it is worth the read. Some of this documentation was incredibly significant -- and as Rischin herself points out, unprecedented. Some of the original players involved had never before been interviewed about their work first performing the Messiaen Quartet. What is fascinating is the different ways that these musicians responded to, and later reflected on, their time in the war. Messiaen himself, the maestro, the genius, the showman, the elusive intellectual, the devout Christian, is an incredibly compelling central figure.

[Ron Scrogham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a professor and professional clarinetist, this book recounts the creation, performance, and legacy of Olivier Messiaen's "Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps." It corrects the historical record of the quartet's first performance, 15 January 1941, in a prisoner of war camp in Germany during the Second World War II: the cello had four strings, not three as Messiaen reported. There is a fair amount of musical analysis that the non-expert may struggle with, but which does not lessen the impact of the book. As the cellist, Etienne Pasquier, remarked to the author in an interview, "C'est un roman policier. Mais, c'est vrai, cette histoire."

[April Berube · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I was so fascinated by the story of the Messiaen Quartet, and I went searching for a book that was dedicated to the story. Lo and behold I found it! Rischin wrote the story based on interviews that she personally conducted with the quartet members or their family members: Messiaen, Pasquier, Akoka, and La Boulair. This book talks about the music, as well as the circumstances that lead to the composition, as well as the story of the premier in the Stalag VII A camp, followed by the after math of the war. She talks about the personalities of the members of the Quartet and what they contributed to the composition. As I said, an extremely interesting read.

[Aschbeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's refreshing to be able to read about music without all the academic jargon and pseudo-scientific approach so common nowadays. This book is more personal but it tells the story in a beautiful way. The Quartet is such a monument that it deserves to have its story told and this accomplishes that. At the end, there's an appendix with the translation of the Preface of the Quartet which provides wonderful insight. I'm currently learning this piece and after reading this book I feel closer to it and better able to navigate the music.

[Bradthad Codgeroger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Necessary oral history (though she doesn't call it such) about an important piece of 20th century music. While fascinating, it doesn't shed any new light on the music itself, but worth the short read.

[Monika Palsauskaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book for everyone interested in O. Messiaen and his music. The book paints a very clear and vivid picture of Messiaen's imprisonment and the creation of the Quartet for the End of Time.

[Tianze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but a bit dry and divergent.

[Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca Rischin reconstructs the legendary premiere a seminal work of 20th-century music, Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time," which was composed in a German prisoner of war camp and performed in the prison's theater by Messiaen and three other P.O.W.'s - all with the full consent of the Nazi administration! A curious look at how music (even obtuse, difficult music) can bring together irreconcilable enemies.

Through press excerpts, Rischin pretty much gives us the conventional picture of Messiaen as a St.Francis-like Catholic mystic and ornithologist, though for all I know, that is what he is really like. Far more illuminating were her interviews with the cellist (still alive at the writing of this book) and the composer's wife. The clarinetist's story is particularly interesting: His many daring prison-breaks and treacherous times living secretively as a Jew in Vichi France are chronicled alternately with nail-biting suspense and retrospective humor. The first non-fiction book I've ever wanted to see made into a movie.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time is one of my favorite pieces. I never get tired of it. I once left a chamber concert at intermission because I couldn't bear the thought of listening to Schubert after Messaien's masterpiece.
Not only is the Quartet for the End of Time one of the great works, it also carries with is one of the most amazing stories in music history. Messaien wrote it while a POW in the German prison camp Stalag VIII A in Silesia. The piece received its premier there, played by the composer and three of his fellow prisoner-musicians: Etienne Pasquier, Henri Akoka, and Jean Le Boulaire. This book tells that story in fascinating detail. Rischin recounts the lives of each member of the original quartet: their backgrounds, how they ended up in Stalag VIII A, their experiences there, how they were freed, and their post-war lives. She also covers the reception of the Quartet both in the camp and afterwards and its ultimate place in the musical world. It a beautiful and absorbing portrait of an incredible piece of music and the people who created it.

[Heather Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful account of how this incredible piece came to be written. The updates from the first edition reflect the author's continued interest, drawing from more recent scholarship. The interviews (especially with the original cellist in the Quartet, Etienne Pasquier) highlight the very human details of the piece. Interestingly (and kind of hilariously) they also bust up some of the rumours that Messiaen himself spread (like Pasquier's supposed 3-string cello, which in fact had four -- or the "5000" people in the audience, more like 500). (Of course he spread these rumours for all the right reasons and one shouldn't hold it against him, Rischin rushes to point out!) Wonderful, wonderful book.

[Jamie Howison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book to indulge my fascination with reading about music... though a real departure from my usual forays into jazz, blues, and the various genres that unfolded from those beginnings. This one is the story of Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time"; a piece for a violin/cello/piano/clarinet quartet written and first performed in a German Prisoner of War Camp. In this book Rebecca Rischin digs deep into the back-story, explodes a few of the myths associated with the piece, and gives a really moving look into the lives of all four of the members of the original quartet. I love this kind of writing, as it moves me to the source of the music's inspiration and lets me hear it all in a new way.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I was so fascinated by the story of the Messiaen Quartet, and I went searching for a book that was dedicated to the story. Lo and behold I found it! Rischin wrote the story based on interviews that she personally conducted with the quartet members or their family members: Messiaen, Pasquier, Akoka, and La Boulair. This book talks about the music, as well as the circumstances that lead to the composition, as well as the story of the premier in the Stalag VII A camp, followed by the after math of the war. She talks about the personalities of the members of the Quartet and what they contributed to the composition. As I said, an extremely interesting read.

[Sheri S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely an interesting story! It was mentioned briefly in another book I recently read and I thought I would look into the story. (My library system didn't have the book, so I ended up having to request it via an interlibrary loan.) Messiaen sounds like a man of passion which was definitely reflected in the music he composed. It's extraordinary to think that he composed the "For the End of Time" piece while in a prisoner of war camp and that he was able to assemble the needed musicians in order for the music to be performed at the camp. I particularly enjoyed the interviews with the original performers and their family members.

[Jim Mcvoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time is one of my favorite pieces, and I wanted to know more about its origins. While the book does clarify some myths and debunk others, the writing is atrocious. By turns banal and repetitious, it was difficult at times to keep reading! The editor must have been on a lunch break when this was submitted. If the substantive parts of the book were presented cleanly, the book would only be about thirty pages long! The last chapter was worth the struggle to get there, but still!!!

[Paul Secor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read For the End of Time before I heard the music of Quartet for the End of Time. (Don't ask me why. My only answer is that I read a review and it seemed like an interesting book.) Now that I've listened to the music several times, I'll have to reread the book. Perhaps when I've done that, both the book and the music will mean even more to me.

[Evan Sproul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story worth reading even if one is not a musician. To me it was a story of triumph over tragedy through the medium of music. It reveals a part of WWII history unknown by most people: a story of how the cruelty of conquest cannot conquer a determined creative mind and how the creation survives conquest and becomes the conqueror.

[Jacob]

Fine story about the history about one of the finest works of music in the 20th century.

[Leslie Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting and informative from both historical and musical standpoints.

[William Ramsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rischin imbues the piece with a certain gravitas that her own research doesn't seem to support. The voice is clunky throughout.

[FSU Alumni]

Rebecca Rischin (D.Mus '97)

[Carter Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly informative, well-researched, and deeply moving.

[Joseph Gascho]

Love the music--good rad to go along with that