The Cape Chamber Music Collective (CCMC) will present one of the most important chamber works of the 20th century, Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time at concerts in Stellenbosch and Franschhoek this week.
To complement this iconic work, the CCMC commissioned Cape Town composer Grant McLachlan to write a work that would converse with the Messiaen work, and so Music for the Beginning of Time came in to being.
The programme opens with McLachlan’s arrangement of an Intermezzo by Brahms, based on one of Brahms’s Six Pieces for Piano Opus 118 from 1893. It is described as Brahms’s love letter to Clara Schumann, wife of his friend and fellow composer, Robert Schumann.
Said McLachlan about Music for the Beginning of Time: “The passacaglia traditionally comprises a sequence of chords or a bass melody, repeated in a cyclical pattern. In this work I have used a harmonic sequence as a basis for a set of variations. The opening statement is pared down to the minimum with several of the harmonies missing. Each variation reveals more of the sequence. I have also paid tribute to Messiaen in one of the variations, using some of his compositional devices.”
The programme concludes with Messiaen’s monumental eight-movement Quartet for the End of Time, written during World War II while he was imprisoned at Stalag VIII-A, a German prisoner-of-war camp in Poland. The composition was for a group of musicians he had available in the camp: clarinettist, cellist, violinist and pianist.
Seasoned concert performer Jose Dias (piano) will be joined by younger-generation musicians David Bester (violin), David Pinoit (cello) and Annelize de Villiers (clarinet).
The programme is the sixth offering by the CCMC this year around the Cape. These concerts will be held at the Franschhoek Dutch Reformed church tonight (Thursday 23 June) at 19:00 and the Old Nectar Cellar in Stellenbosch on Sunday (26 June) at 15:00. Tickets in Franschhoek are R140, with a glass of wine, while Stellenbosch tickets cost R200 and R50 (students), also with glass of wine. Student tickets are available at the door at half-price on the day.
Book tickets on Quicket via the CCMC website at www.capechambercollective.com.
