Quartet for the End of Time

Messaien wrote this music while he was a prisoner of war during World War II. It was first performed in the POW camp with an audience of German guards and prisoners.

My mother first heard it played at the Corbridge Music Festival a few years ago. She was very moved by the music and, in particular, the wonderful clarinet playing of Robert Plane. She was sure that she would paint an image to represent the music and what it meant to her. This painting is the result. It appears on the programme cover and the posters for the Corbridge Music Festival this year. The festival opened tonight. We have a few giglee prints on sale - hoping to sell most otherwise we make a loss! So far we have 2 promises of a sale and a few people keen to talk about the painting.

In the painting, the birds are flying towards the light of freedom.

Tonight we heard Haydn, Weber and Brahms - all played with great enthusiasm and to a very high standard. Lovely.