Quartet For The End of Time

Name: Quartet For The End of Time
Start: 2026-08-30T14:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-08-30T15:30:00-04:00
Location: St. Paul’s Church of Nantucket

Schedule

Sun Aug 30 2026 at 02:00 pm to 03:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

St. Paul’s Church of Nantucket | Nantucket, MA

Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, written in WWII captivity, with works by Esmail & Hosokawa exploring eternity and beginnings.
About this Event

January 15, 1941: Stalag VIII prisoner of war camp, deep in modern day Poland. The inmates huddle together, guarded by German officers, awaiting the first performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour le Fin du Temps. The composer was inspired by the Book of Revelations during his internment in the middle of the Second World War to write the quartet, drawing on his deep Catholic faith to create a work that summons both the ecstasy and abyss found in the telling of the end of days. Two companion pieces by Reena Esmail and György Kurtág begin the performance, works which reflect on the eternity of music, reverence for Messiaen’s singular artistic voice.

György Kurtág, Humble regard sur Olivier Messiaen | Reena Esmail, Tasveer | Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time