Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time; Chronochromie

Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du Temps (quartet for th End of Times) was premiered in a prisoner-of-war camp in Silesia in 1941. 'I was never listened to with such attention and understanding,' the composer later said. Characteristically for Messiaen, the quartet takes inspiration from birdsong, as does its companion piece on this disc, another work whose title makes reference to time: the complex and challenging orchestral work Chronochromie, composed in 1960.