Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time is scored for piano, clarinet, violin, and cello. It was premiered in a WWII POW camp where Messiaen was held.
Messiaen had begun sketches of the piece before being captured, and he finished the piece in the POW camp for musicians that were present. The quartet was premiered in the camp for the prisoners.
The piece is in eight movements, and Messiaen wrote an introduction describing the movements. His signature birdsong is featured prominently, as well as religious imagery and rhythmic patterns.
Apart from the movement for solo clarinet, the piano plays throughout the entire piece. Only four of the movements feature the quartet as an entirety.
The power of the subject matter, the conditions in which the …show more content…
It features all three instruments with great technical demands, and the powerful emotional content of the piece leaves a visceral impression for the audience.
Schnittke wrote two violin sonatas, the second of which is entitled “quasi una sonata”. This piece was taken from a film score that he wrote for an animated film, so he quotes from his own material. He also quotes from other composers including Bach and Berg.
The piece is titled “quasi una sonata” to question the concept of a sonata and to break from traditions of form and texture. There is much drama in the work, using silence as a major compositional feature. There is also a lot of graphic notation in the score, where both violin and piano improvise on shapes of the shapes of his notation.
He pays tribute to Bach by using the notes of Bach’s name (Bb, A, C, B), but neoclassicism is only one of the many styles that Schnittke touches upon. Schnittke creates a work that blends old and new and begins to refine his polystylism that was so present in his compositional techniques. This piece is significant in Schnittke’s compositional output, as it is a step to his creation of a mature style and expanding his palette of techniques for the
Messiaen had begun sketches of the piece before being captured, and he finished the piece in the POW camp for musicians that were present. The quartet was premiered in the camp for the prisoners.
The piece is in eight movements, and Messiaen wrote an introduction describing the movements. His signature birdsong is featured prominently, as well as religious imagery and rhythmic patterns.
Apart from the movement for solo clarinet, the piano plays throughout the entire piece. Only four of the movements feature the quartet as an entirety.
The power of the subject matter, the conditions in which the …show more content…
It features all three instruments with great technical demands, and the powerful emotional content of the piece leaves a visceral impression for the audience.
Schnittke wrote two violin sonatas, the second of which is entitled “quasi una sonata”. This piece was taken from a film score that he wrote for an animated film, so he quotes from his own material. He also quotes from other composers including Bach and Berg.
The piece is titled “quasi una sonata” to question the concept of a sonata and to break from traditions of form and texture. There is much drama in the work, using silence as a major compositional feature. There is also a lot of graphic notation in the score, where both violin and piano improvise on shapes of the shapes of his notation.
He pays tribute to Bach by using the notes of Bach’s name (Bb, A, C, B), but neoclassicism is only one of the many styles that Schnittke touches upon. Schnittke creates a work that blends old and new and begins to refine his polystylism that was so present in his compositional techniques. This piece is significant in Schnittke’s compositional output, as it is a step to his creation of a mature style and expanding his palette of techniques for the