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

For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet
by Rebecca Rischin

For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet
List Price: $22.95
Our Price: $14.93
You Save: $8.02 (35%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.72 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Compare Prices for For the End of Time: The Story of the Messiaen Quartet

(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Rebecca Rischin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-03-24
ISBN: 0801472970
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr
Write your own review

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

The writing and first performance of French composer Olivier Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, in a German POW camp in the bitter winter of 1941, is one of the great stories of 20th century music. Ohio University music professor Rischin has gone to heroic lengths to separate the facts from the legends that have grown up about it. Some of these legends, as she demonstrates, were encouraged by the composer himself, who would tell interviewers the whole work was composed at Stalag VIIIA in Silesia, that its form was dictated by the instrumentalists available there (piano, cello, violin and clarinet), that the cellist played with only three strings and that there was a rapt audience of thousands. In fact, Messiaen (1908-1992) had written the work's celebrated clarinet solo, "Abyss of the Birds," some time before with clarinetist Henri Akoka's participation; cellist Etienne Pasquier had his full quota of strings; and the camp building could hold at most 400 or so. Rischin tracked down the elderly Pasquier and violinist Jean La Boulaire (who lived his postwar life as an actor) and also talked to Messiaen's widow and Akoka's surviving family. Oddly, none of them had been interviewed about the occasion, which made the work Messiaen's most celebrated. These interviews show a remarkable picture of life at a desperate time-and of how the German authorities were anxious to show their civilized side to the French. The players come off better than the deeply religious, aloof, rather ethereal Messiaen, who seems to have been so otherworldly as to recoil from life's messiness. This is a fascinating, and finally believable, account of a remarkable occasion. Pictures not seen by PW. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

History & Criticism Books
Book Subjects
Most talked about in History & Criticism Books
KISS and Make-up ImageKISS and Make-up
by Gene Simmons
Crown; Published: 2001-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: $25.95
Elvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions ImageElvis Presley: A Life in Music : The Complete Recording Sessions
by Ernst Jorgensen
St Martins Pr; Published: 1998-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $199.99
The Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool ImageThe Devil's Horn: The Story of the Saxophone, from Noisy Novelty to King of Cool
by Michael Segell
Picador; Published: 2006-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.81
Price in other shops: $16.00
Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley ImageElvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley
by George Klein, Chuck Crisafulli
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2011-01-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops: $15.00
Bill Evans: How My Heart Sings ImageBill Evans: How My Heart Sings
by Mr. Peter Pettinger
Yale University Press; Published: 1998-08-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $76.30
Microsound ImageMicrosound
by Curtis Roads
The MIT Press; Published: 2004-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops: $34.00
Hip Hop America ImageHip Hop America
by Nelson George
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $15.00
A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album ImageA Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
by Ashley Kahn
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2003-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.74
Price in other shops: $16.00
Jazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition) ImageJazz Styles: History and Analysis (10th Edition)
by Mark C. Gridley
Prentice Hall; Published: 2008-01-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.99
Price in other shops: $95.60
Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia ImageDark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia
by Robert Greenfield
It Books; Published: 2009-02-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops: $14.99
Similar Books and other products
The Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (American Musicspheres) ImageThe Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (American Musicspheres)
by Jeffrey A. Summit
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2003-03-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $30.00
Olivier Messiaen - The Crystal Liturgy ImageOlivier Messiaen - The Crystal Liturgy
Naxos OF America INC; Release date: 2007-11-20; Published: 2009-03-18; DVD
Best price: $17.04
Price in other shops: $24.99
Messiaen ImageMessiaen
by Professor Peter Hill, Professor Nigel Simeone
Yale University Press; Published: 2005-10-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.18
Price in other shops: $50.00
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century ImageThe Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.92
Price in other shops: $19.00
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time ImageMessiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
Release date: 2001-06-19; Music CD
Best price: $4.76
Price in other shops: $8.99
THE MIRACLE OF STALAG 8A - BEAUTY BEYOND THE HORROR: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time ImageTHE MIRACLE OF STALAG 8A - BEAUTY BEYOND THE HORROR: Olivier Messiaen and the Quartet for the End of Time
by John William McMullen
Bird Brain Productions; Published: 2010-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops: $19.95
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time ImageOlivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
SHAHAM,GIL/WANG,JI; Release date: 2001-01-09; Music CD
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $16.98
Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time): Pocket Score (Durand Editions Musicales) ImageQuatuor pour la Fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time): Pocket Score (Durand Editions Musicales)
Editions Durand; Editions Durand; Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.78
Price in other shops: $19.95
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Cambridge Music Handbooks) ImageMessiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
by Anthony Pople
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1998-08-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $27.66
Price in other shops: $33.00
Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time ImageOlivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time
MESSIAEN,O.; Release date: 1989-08-11; Music CD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops: $8.99
Health and Personal Care | Beauty | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware
Copyright © 2003-2007 bookhills.com
Google
 
Web bookhills.com
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories