I would like to point out the fact that Messiaen wrote this while imprisoned in a Nazi camp during World War II. A guard sympathized with him and let him perform it with the instruments they could find in camp. That's why the instrumentation seems random. Messiaen did a very good job!
An incredible piece of music by an amazing composer, played by extremely talented musicians. The cellist's fingers are moving s fast towards the end that she almost looks as if she's being fast-forwarded.
I made a mistake when I said the address was on 3/11/2009; that was a blog post from "From the Top." Paul says I’m amazed at the number of people this has reached (... a talk to the parents of incoming freshmen in 2004) but I’m glad that so many have found it useful.” ...To hear more from Karl on the importance of music, listen to his talk “How Music Works”, delivered at the Arlington Street Church in Boston, MA.
What petercarn failed to say was that this was in Karl Paulnack's address to the Boston Conservatory Freshman Class. on 3/11/2009. Well worth reading.
@FoxTreatment I'm open for discussion with you. I see that you analise music probably better than me. When it comes to pop music I admire more Michael Jackson, Bjork even George Michael.
@OrzelBialy616 I would argue that it is impossible to critique popular music objectively, since it is programmatic, not absolute. Almost all popular music consists of the major mode, the basic I-IV-V-I progression, and variations of song form. It's appeal is a product our ability to project our own ideas into the song and identify with the performer. I can't make you like Lady Gaga if you don't identify with her, and that is fine. Commercialism has indeed contributed to her success. (Continued)
@OrzelBialy616 However, I (subjectively) believe her abilities as an entertainer are exceptional. I would recommend watching the YouTube video of her performing Captivated and Electric Kiss. Like programatic music itself, her skills (although essential) are not as definitive as their emotional or innovative presentation. This could be called shock value. Art evokes a reaction, and it does not have to be pleasent. This is not to say that all shocking material is "good" music.
@OrzelBialy616 (I'm sorry for making this so long!) I guess I can conclude by saying that I can support my admiration for Lady Gaga with these arguments, but ultimately, there is no way for me to win the debate. I have projected my own ideas into a simple, programmatic formula, so there's no going back! I can't believe I've spent so much time talking about Lady Gaga on a video about Messaien (LOL), but I enjoy trying to consolidate different musical genres and creating a big picture.
@FoxTreatment Yes Lady Gaga is good musician, but piano players like her are milions. Open your eyes man, if you are looking for good piano players you've got Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Geri Allen and many better classical musicians. Just think about it objectively - without image of lady gaga she is nothing, without money on her promotion - she is nothing. I can admire pop music but lady gaga is nothing interesting - it is just shocking art this is my term for this kind of music.
@FoxTreatment I agree with you completely, but on the other hand, couldn't someone argue that artists like Lady Gaga are limiting themselves by only creating popular and catchy music? Glad that she knows classical theory, but at the same time that means nothing if she doesn't apply it to her music, maybe not all of her music but at least some. Should we expect more of her because of she knows theory? Not to say anything bad about pop other than it has the motive(money) to lose it's integrity.
@mattdd05 I would argue that in many senses, they are different disciplines of music. I think to say that one is motivated by money and one is not is just plain inaccurate and sounds a lot like elitism. Just as baroque music is different from romantic music, most orchestral/serious/chamber/other-title music is different stylistically than pop music. Does she need to apply her "classical training" to her pop music just because she has it? I don't think so. Could she? Yes.
@tmvlvr No it's true pop music is motivated by money, notice how when one song comes out many other songs come out around the same time that use the same subject and even the same sound effects (or samples as producers like to call them) Not all pop artists are motivated by money, but in the eyes of their record label they are an object, a commodity to be bought, promoted and sold. My point was that Lady Gaga knowing theory is irrelevant unless she uses it, doesn't make her a better musicain.
@mattdd05 Commericial music can indeed produce superificial music. However, it is dangerous to judge artistic validity by strict theoretical terms, since theory is simply an analysis of previous formulaic patterns. However, one must know what came before in order to deviate like Messiaen and contribute to evolution. Still, evolution does not define musical quality (e.g. Rachmaninoff), nor does the financial success of the composer (e.g. Haydn).
@FoxTreatment I agree, I'm not claiming pop to be less artistic because of my own biases, it is an apples and oranges thing. The main thing I'm saying is that music in general is only about the sounds/emotions it releases, regardless of who the artist is and how they much theory they know, it's all about how the music moves the listener. But I wouldn't be MORE moved by an artist if I found out they took classical training, it makes no difference to my ears.
An additional question that MAY be worth pondering: Would an accomplished artist that has been formally trained be more likely to move you more times in different ways? Perhaps for some, theory is not a prerequisite for being able to expand the pallet from which creativity can choose. My experience (primarily as a listener) is that this is not the case. Then again, I have trouble being moved by artists that pump out the same stuff on their 2nd, 3rd, nth release...
@mattdd05 Also, we must take into account different branches of music theory, based on the extensive pluralism of the 20th Century. Rock and Popular music can be examined with contour theory, beat patterns, and comparisons to minimalism. This is only inferior to the symmetrical phrasing, transparent textures and predictable themes of classical music if we decide that our current commericial and political situation is more corrupt. In the end, it's just apples and oranges.
Please bear with me...I'm not a musician and this might be a stupid question but...The guy with the clarinet...at 1.28 ...how does he know how many times to lift and lower his right middle finger...He can't possibly manage to count how many times he does it.
@Madsennullo thats called a tremalo. It doesnt matter how many times he lifts and lowers his fingers, what matters is how long he holds the same note. Its just like paying a half note but you use tremalo to get that effect
@KreNeko How is this a dismissal of specific musical pieces? Your dismissal amounts to saying that certain pieces do not speak absolutely. And isn't the claim that x piece is, in fact, necessarily, this or that AND the claim that x piece can never be necessarily this or that a musical opinion. You would be saying something specific and absolute about a specific piece of music. In your case, you say it about all pieces of music. This too is an opinion.
This piece was written when Messiaen was a prisoner in a Nazi prison camp. He wrote it in 1940. At the camp, fellow prisoners were a cellist and a clarinestist and a violinist. He was allowed to perform the piece in 1941 for the prisoners and guards.
@baronqsolotar The camp was Stalag 8A in Silesia and it was first performed on Jan. 15, 1941 in front of an audience of between 300 and 5000. Reports vary widely.
@FoxTreatment i agree. different types of music gets to you in different ways at different times of your life at different times of the day at different times of the week. everyone has a full range of emotions and all kinds of music is needed to get to that. i could never understand somebody that was just an enthusiast for one style of music. sometimes i need some tupac, sometimes i need some duke ellington and billie holidy, sometimes some patsy cline, and sometimes some bach. it all depends
I was opening my front door and this music came floating up from one of the boats in Lakewood Marina below. So I stood and listened. It was raining. A couple of crows were cawing. Swish of cars below on the boulevard. Finally went into the house. The music didn't stop. My IPhone Ipod had switched itself on! Messaien outdoors. What a serendipity experience.
@FoxTreatment There is no truly correct attitude for anything in this existence. Many things define attitudes, and they certainly aren't always to do with truth. More often than not, it is left to social convention to dictate values of any sort; music can be and is whatever it wants to be, with however many people appreciating it or not, and we will STILL all be dead one day, with nothing that preceded standing for anything more than just ripples in an endless pond. Love and hate what you will.
III. Some very difficult phrases here. It is not easy to make perfect sense of this music as an interpreter, but you give an astonishingly convincing account. VI. (clips) Neat ensemble playing - tough to all keep together here! VII.(clips) This really sounds like a well worked out performance - sincere stuff. The Cello gliss. reminds me of the Ondes Martenot in the Turangalila Symphony! *****
Never got into Messiaen, found the whole "birds" and synaesthesia thing a little too esoteric. However, this quartet is surprisingly lyrical particularly in the interlude. Hard to comprehend it being performed in a POW camp though.
@wardyyo There were some "show camps" where Nazis would allow some prisoners to give performances so that when visitors came they could say "See! Nothing wrong here!"
yes after it expires it's use as an academic or political exercize it retires to it's permanent status as an empty hackneyed gimmicky piece of vain and conceited garbage...
yes after it expires it's use as an academic or political exercise it retires to it's permanent status as an empty hackneyed gimmicky piece of vain and conceited garbage...
I've never heard anything like this...rather heart-wrenching, to say the least. I wanted to hear it because of reading that Messiaen wrote this while imprisoned (1941). Definitely credentials for the emotions expressed here...
I've never heard anything like this...rather heart-wrenching, to say the least. I wanted to hear it because of reading that Messiaen wrote it while imprisoned. (1941) Definitely some credentials for the emotion expressed here...
@ForgetaboutFreeman yes, chum, but promise never to listen to messiaen again. no better, pinky promise for me. pleaaaaaseee? because you have NO idea about what you're writing. no, no, no.
@ForgetaboutFreeman for fucks sakes, i've been reading through your comments, and in one of them you call the piece 'this shit.' you call that NOT INSULTING? my god, you obviously have no idea at all about modern music, for modern music uses more 'modern techniques' eg experimental and cage then film music does. just get off this video, messiaen dosen't deserve to be listened by someone who obviously has no idea about what he's writing.
He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.
@petercarn I have read that it was the camp commandant that gave him the space to compose. The camp was Stalag 8A in Silesia.The piece premiered on Jan. 15, 1941 to anywhere from 300 to 5000 people, reports vary widely. In any event it is an exceptional piece of music written under extreme conditions.
@petercarn I did not make this up. I am quoting a guy by the name of Karl Paulnack, from Boston Conservatory. Don't think for a moment that I came up with this, I did NOT come up with this!
@petercarn I did not make this up. I am quoting a guy by the name of Karl Paulnack, from Boston Conservatory. Don't think for a moment that I came up with this, I did NOT come up with this!
The Quartet for the End of Time was written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp.
@S1587915G fair play, but then again we live in a modern world, and they probably would have jumped out of the window if they heard of the holocaust, a war which killed over 50 million peope, if they saw skyscrapers, heard of the telephone, or saw modern art.
Actually Messiaen was commissioned to write his Quartet for the End of Time by FIFA. It was first performed on 16th July 1950 after the final whistle in the Uruguay vs Brazil stand-off, significantly the first World Cup final held since World War II. A young Pele played Abime des Oiseaux and only became a footballer when a scout spotted him and Messaien kicking a ball about during Louange a l'Immortalite de Jesus. The rest, as they say, is history.
Olivier Messiaen composed this piece while a prisoner in Stalag 8A in Silesia in 1940. It premiered on Jan. 15, 1941 in the prison camp to an audience of anywhere of 300 to 5000 (reports vary widely) He played the piano. The piece was a hit and is still popular. The musical language is unique to Messiaen. He was released later in 1941.
Some very striking music in Messiaen--lovely, jarring, exciting, boring--a real gamut. Best not to intellectualize too much, just turn out the lights and listen with an open (ideally an empty, in the positive sense) mind. Best not to read him though; his mysticism is silly and pretentious and not a little bit looney.
This is the first time I've heard this piece and I love it! The musicians are obviously top-notch, as this is a very atonal piece with lots of dissonances. Heck, if I played these instruments I'd probably fail miserably with this. Bravissimi!
You are completely missing the purpose of this. For one this is not meant to be traditional, that's what 20th century and contemporary music is. Plus who gives a shit about the soundtrack for Conan. I like the movie because it is stupid, but the soundtrack isn't worth mentioning. As far as instrumentation goes, just because something is old doesn't make it bad, and just because something is new it doesn't make it good either. Think about what you say before you say it.
This is a comment made by someone who has never actually listened to good music (actually listened, not just heard).
"Modern day film scores are more of a professional calibre"
I don't know any musician who could see this without cringing. A film score, judged as music alone, is sort of like a cake made of cardboard topped with icing. It's made to ornament the movie itself, and in many cases they are little better than ambient music.
Scheherazadeable and ForgetaboutFreeman, I'd just like to say (for the sake of everyone who's tired of seeing verbal fights all over youtube's comment sections) that those are your OPINIONS. They have nothing to do with the absolute truth, which in this case, doesn't even exist. Opinions are supposed to differ, it's good that people like different kinds of music. :)
Would you not agree that it is absolutely true that anyone who disregards an entire period (or periods) of music simply because it is too old/new is completely missing out on the good points of the music that was written then?
As an aside, I do appreciate film scores, particularly in their proper place; there are even some that I will listen to out of context or that I haven't even seen the movie for (for example, "Earth" by Hans Zimmer [from Gladiator])
@KreNeko Your opinion that all musical criticism amounts merely to a composite of opinions, that have no bearing whatsoever absolutely, but only subjectively, is itself a musical opinion, NOT merely a meta-musical one, which thereby relegates your opinion to, well, an opinion. Your dismissal of musical opinions that claim to speak absolutely is a dismissal not only of musical opinions, but of the music itself. I do not think this kind of relativism is productive.
@TimJakeGl I'm not sure what you think the point of music is, but I would certainly say it's not to cause the audience displeasure. I know in the 21st century we're supposed to be "open minded" to children's drawings as the highest art form, but when you truly think about it how on earth can forming erratic and unmemorable melodies. The pretension of modernist composers is only matched by their listeners.
I mean like Gojira's guitar tone for the fast parts and probably like post rock guitar tones for the parts that are more subtle and beautiful. for the metal parts really fast blast beat drumming. It would be awesome.
"One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp." (~ Karl Paulnack, music department head at Boston Conservatory)
Hey, I'm reading Karl Paulnack's article "We need music to survive" as I was listening to Messiaen and reading these comments... I completely agree with his views!
"He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire." (~Karl Paulnack, music department head at Boston Conservatory,)
i discovered i liked messian alot but didn't realize it was him that i'd heard and his influence in music . this is like penultimate 20th century and i sure love it! so that's the a way a clarinet is supposed to sound!
but you can just wiki him if you want to know more...he's 'ranked' among maybe a half dozen or so of the most iflluential classical music composers of the 20th century.
no he wasn't jewish, in fact he was a devout catholic...and his music has a lot or direct references to his deeply held christian faith. a lot of people ended up in concentration camps at that time who were not jewish though jews were the largest single group and the main one targeted by the nazis for extermination.
So he was Jewish? It's amazing he wrote this under those circumstances, and makes one wonder how many more composers of genius, not to mentiion doctors, professors, pianist, dancers, painters of genius went, literally, up in smoke, with the world never to be aware of their brilliance and contributions to the world. Thanks to that lone nazi who showed some humanity.
Well, duh... This peice was written only because Oliver Messiaen was fortunate enough to find a Nazi considerate enough to give him some paper and a place to compose. This was written during the Holocaust, so yeah, I'd say something terrible is happening. This piece was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and gaurds in the prison camp.
music is more than portraying your own feelings with what is happening 'right now'. perhaps (& this is solely my opinion) perhaps music can be about hope and providing a way to live the way you want to live... when you cant do that in "real" life.
Il a écrit lorsque qu'il a était prisonnier, il n'allait pas mourir car c'était un soldat, et il y avait une loi qui interdisait de tuer un soldat [..] Il se trouvait avec des prisonniers et parmis eux il y en avait un qui jouer du violon, on début ils était deux.
he wrote this in a concentration camp. he was lucky to find a prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose (hard enough when the prisoners were lucky to get paper to wipe their own ass
he wrote the piece with 3 other musicians in mind & they practiced in the middle of the night without instruments. they managed to smuggle instruments through the gates & the guards in the camp let them to perform this piece in 1941 for over 4000 guards and prisoners....
A friend of mine (going to conservatory) showed me this piece and told me about Messiaen's influence on music and his ideas. So I asked "Right, so what does this piece mean? What's the significance" and he said "DUDE, it's just FCKING BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!"
Check wikipedia! are you serious. that is retarded. wikipedia is not a credited source any bloke could write on there. he may not have been a jew but he did write this piece in a work camp. none the less I like the work he did. and you can be a fool and respond with something hateful if you wish. just remember arguing with a keyboard is a waste of time.
He was not a jew, he was catholic and a prisoner of war as part of the french army, and was soon released after the completion of this piece. At least check wikipedia before posting uninformed ideas, please.
the theme of the VI is epic!!!!
homesize 2 weeks ago
what an amazing color
kyexaiik 3 weeks ago
Lady Gaga
shan666666 1 month ago
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AStableReference 2 months ago
I would like to ask where Lady Gaga enters into Messiaen's work?? Can we just enjoy this piece here?!
martycubfan 2 months ago
I would like to point out the fact that Messiaen wrote this while imprisoned in a Nazi camp during World War II. A guard sympathized with him and let him perform it with the instruments they could find in camp. That's why the instrumentation seems random. Messiaen did a very good job!
jsags0017 2 months ago 5
I wish the majority of commenters on Lady Gaga's videos were debating, even trashing Messiaen's music. Sad world.
JuanSalvCarrasco 2 months ago 3
Very beautiful!!
marian444 3 months ago
@FoxTreatment Todo está dentro de un contexto popular social. La cuestión es cual es el objetivo de eso
Macross100 4 months ago
An incredible piece of music by an amazing composer, played by extremely talented musicians. The cellist's fingers are moving s fast towards the end that she almost looks as if she's being fast-forwarded.
MercyToAGrindingHalt 4 months ago
I made a mistake when I said the address was on 3/11/2009; that was a blog post from "From the Top." Paul says I’m amazed at the number of people this has reached (... a talk to the parents of incoming freshmen in 2004) but I’m glad that so many have found it useful.” ...To hear more from Karl on the importance of music, listen to his talk “How Music Works”, delivered at the Arlington Street Church in Boston, MA.
chicitysue 4 months ago
What petercarn failed to say was that this was in Karl Paulnack's address to the Boston Conservatory Freshman Class. on 3/11/2009. Well worth reading.
chicitysue 4 months ago
@FoxTreatment I'm open for discussion with you. I see that you analise music probably better than me. When it comes to pop music I admire more Michael Jackson, Bjork even George Michael.
OrzelBialy616 5 months ago
@OrzelBialy616 I would argue that it is impossible to critique popular music objectively, since it is programmatic, not absolute. Almost all popular music consists of the major mode, the basic I-IV-V-I progression, and variations of song form. It's appeal is a product our ability to project our own ideas into the song and identify with the performer. I can't make you like Lady Gaga if you don't identify with her, and that is fine. Commercialism has indeed contributed to her success. (Continued)
FoxTreatment 5 months ago
@OrzelBialy616 However, I (subjectively) believe her abilities as an entertainer are exceptional. I would recommend watching the YouTube video of her performing Captivated and Electric Kiss. Like programatic music itself, her skills (although essential) are not as definitive as their emotional or innovative presentation. This could be called shock value. Art evokes a reaction, and it does not have to be pleasent. This is not to say that all shocking material is "good" music.
FoxTreatment 5 months ago
@OrzelBialy616 (I'm sorry for making this so long!) I guess I can conclude by saying that I can support my admiration for Lady Gaga with these arguments, but ultimately, there is no way for me to win the debate. I have projected my own ideas into a simple, programmatic formula, so there's no going back! I can't believe I've spent so much time talking about Lady Gaga on a video about Messaien (LOL), but I enjoy trying to consolidate different musical genres and creating a big picture.
FoxTreatment 5 months ago
@FoxTreatment Yes Lady Gaga is good musician, but piano players like her are milions. Open your eyes man, if you are looking for good piano players you've got Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock, Geri Allen and many better classical musicians. Just think about it objectively - without image of lady gaga she is nothing, without money on her promotion - she is nothing. I can admire pop music but lady gaga is nothing interesting - it is just shocking art this is my term for this kind of music.
OrzelBialy616 5 months ago
Im holding Karl Paulnack's welcome address as i am typing a paper on it for Music Appreciation class. Silly petercarn.
bond1410 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@FoxTreatment That is one of the truest statements I have read on the internet, ever.
killcritter 6 months ago
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killcritter 6 months ago
@FoxTreatment I agree with you completely, but on the other hand, couldn't someone argue that artists like Lady Gaga are limiting themselves by only creating popular and catchy music? Glad that she knows classical theory, but at the same time that means nothing if she doesn't apply it to her music, maybe not all of her music but at least some. Should we expect more of her because of she knows theory? Not to say anything bad about pop other than it has the motive(money) to lose it's integrity.
mattdd05 6 months ago
@mattdd05 I would argue that in many senses, they are different disciplines of music. I think to say that one is motivated by money and one is not is just plain inaccurate and sounds a lot like elitism. Just as baroque music is different from romantic music, most orchestral/serious/chamber/other-title music is different stylistically than pop music. Does she need to apply her "classical training" to her pop music just because she has it? I don't think so. Could she? Yes.
tmvlvr 6 months ago
@tmvlvr No it's true pop music is motivated by money, notice how when one song comes out many other songs come out around the same time that use the same subject and even the same sound effects (or samples as producers like to call them) Not all pop artists are motivated by money, but in the eyes of their record label they are an object, a commodity to be bought, promoted and sold. My point was that Lady Gaga knowing theory is irrelevant unless she uses it, doesn't make her a better musicain.
mattdd05 6 months ago
@mattdd05 Commericial music can indeed produce superificial music. However, it is dangerous to judge artistic validity by strict theoretical terms, since theory is simply an analysis of previous formulaic patterns. However, one must know what came before in order to deviate like Messiaen and contribute to evolution. Still, evolution does not define musical quality (e.g. Rachmaninoff), nor does the financial success of the composer (e.g. Haydn).
FoxTreatment 6 months ago
@FoxTreatment I agree, I'm not claiming pop to be less artistic because of my own biases, it is an apples and oranges thing. The main thing I'm saying is that music in general is only about the sounds/emotions it releases, regardless of who the artist is and how they much theory they know, it's all about how the music moves the listener. But I wouldn't be MORE moved by an artist if I found out they took classical training, it makes no difference to my ears.
mattdd05 6 months ago
@mattdd05
An additional question that MAY be worth pondering: Would an accomplished artist that has been formally trained be more likely to move you more times in different ways? Perhaps for some, theory is not a prerequisite for being able to expand the pallet from which creativity can choose. My experience (primarily as a listener) is that this is not the case. Then again, I have trouble being moved by artists that pump out the same stuff on their 2nd, 3rd, nth release...
JonP1961 6 months ago
@mattdd05 Also, we must take into account different branches of music theory, based on the extensive pluralism of the 20th Century. Rock and Popular music can be examined with contour theory, beat patterns, and comparisons to minimalism. This is only inferior to the symmetrical phrasing, transparent textures and predictable themes of classical music if we decide that our current commericial and political situation is more corrupt. In the end, it's just apples and oranges.
FoxTreatment 6 months ago
:(
OJamesraynor 6 months ago
@FoxTreatment thank you, i wish youtube took this into consideration and wasn't so stupid all the time
jcracker 7 months ago
Please bear with me...I'm not a musician and this might be a stupid question but...The guy with the clarinet...at 1.28 ...how does he know how many times to lift and lower his right middle finger...He can't possibly manage to count how many times he does it.
Madsennullo 8 months ago
@Madsennullo he does it by counting beats in the rythm, or if hes a good musician, he feels when the time is right to start the next part =)
EJdionysus 7 months ago
@Madsennullo thats called a tremalo. It doesnt matter how many times he lifts and lowers his fingers, what matters is how long he holds the same note. Its just like paying a half note but you use tremalo to get that effect
TTRIPLEH 7 months ago
who can dislike that beautifull music. Only people with no ear
apokalipsa91 8 months ago
@KreNeko How is this a dismissal of specific musical pieces? Your dismissal amounts to saying that certain pieces do not speak absolutely. And isn't the claim that x piece is, in fact, necessarily, this or that AND the claim that x piece can never be necessarily this or that a musical opinion. You would be saying something specific and absolute about a specific piece of music. In your case, you say it about all pieces of music. This too is an opinion.
MrMucas 8 months ago
@FoxTreatment But thats what rap music is ment to be tho. Hip hop is where you get them 'ill enlightened niggers' - nas.
Preset1 8 months ago
This piece was written when Messiaen was a prisoner in a Nazi prison camp. He wrote it in 1940. At the camp, fellow prisoners were a cellist and a clarinestist and a violinist. He was allowed to perform the piece in 1941 for the prisoners and guards.
baronqsolotar 8 months ago
@baronqsolotar The camp was Stalag 8A in Silesia and it was first performed on Jan. 15, 1941 in front of an audience of between 300 and 5000. Reports vary widely.
iamkwk 8 months ago
@baronqsolotar Sounds like psychological torture for the prisoners...
Patience1138 8 months ago
@FoxTreatment marry me :)
drummerinlinetube 9 months ago
The girl beside of the pianist got A class boobs man... I couldnt play if i was pianist there...
itsasoulthing 9 months ago
That guy pretty much just raped that clarinet.
floopy117 10 months ago
Great.
voxhunden 10 months ago
Messiaen originally arranged this movement for paper and comb, but switched to clarinet because of the shortage of toilet paper in the Stalag.
fremsley001 10 months ago
I'd invite the cellist to dinner any day of the week.
kelluci 11 months ago
@kelluci and you'd get shot down cuz she's a lesbo.
A7XLicksMyNuts 9 months ago
Less talk about Gaga, more talk about how amazing Messiaen where respect is due.
eriknordinTV 11 months ago 5
I'm sorry, but the smart musicians can keep the first two minutes and forty seconds. I'll stick to what I know!
slovibond 11 months ago
@FoxTreatment i agree. different types of music gets to you in different ways at different times of your life at different times of the day at different times of the week. everyone has a full range of emotions and all kinds of music is needed to get to that. i could never understand somebody that was just an enthusiast for one style of music. sometimes i need some tupac, sometimes i need some duke ellington and billie holidy, sometimes some patsy cline, and sometimes some bach. it all depends
ugottheblues 1 year ago
I was truly underwhelmed.
Fanfaron2010 1 year ago 2
I was opening my front door and this music came floating up from one of the boats in Lakewood Marina below. So I stood and listened. It was raining. A couple of crows were cawing. Swish of cars below on the boulevard. Finally went into the house. The music didn't stop. My IPhone Ipod had switched itself on! Messaien outdoors. What a serendipity experience.
ewnimages 1 year ago
1:46 is is just faintly reminiscent of Schubert's 9th, 1st movement. Note for note, although it's only three of them..
blueside714 1 year ago
clarinet player makes me seasick
nance511 1 year ago
Olivier not Oliver . :)
ilikerainbowbubbles 1 year ago
@FoxTreatment There is no truly correct attitude for anything in this existence. Many things define attitudes, and they certainly aren't always to do with truth. More often than not, it is left to social convention to dictate values of any sort; music can be and is whatever it wants to be, with however many people appreciating it or not, and we will STILL all be dead one day, with nothing that preceded standing for anything more than just ripples in an endless pond. Love and hate what you will.
SendInTheChickens 1 year ago 2
Spirit of the Book of Revelation! Who else but Messiaen and his fine interpreters can conjure it up!
sammckinstry 1 year ago
Messiaen es absolutamente genial. Falta para que su música sea totalmente comprendida. No es todavía de este tiempo
Sarvakarmafalatyaga 1 year ago
Messiaen es absolutamente genial. Falta para que su música sea totalmente comprendida. No es todavía de este tiempo
Sarvakarmafalatyaga 1 year ago
my winter drumline is doing on show on this piece. needless to say, we'll have fun this year.
suburbantimptoms93 1 year ago 2
17 per29
Clevinal 1 year ago
Karl Paulnack says this is one of the most profound compositions of our time, I must say I don't hear the profoundness of it.
suldamane 1 year ago
@suldamane I don't even hear the composition of it.
velation 10 months ago
Messiaen's pieces are crazy......But I like them hahahaha~
YinziTra 1 year ago
I hate the room they are in
HailThyDrumKit 1 year ago
hey clainet man you're over blowin. on the solo....are you thinkin' of those victims...
damsonjammer 1 year ago
III. Some very difficult phrases here. It is not easy to make perfect sense of this music as an interpreter, but you give an astonishingly convincing account. VI. (clips) Neat ensemble playing - tough to all keep together here! VII.(clips) This really sounds like a well worked out performance - sincere stuff. The Cello gliss. reminds me of the Ondes Martenot in the Turangalila Symphony! *****
FeBlandMusic 1 year ago
red, pink, green, light blue, green, green, pink, blue, purple, dark blue, black, red, red, red
BlauAngst 1 year ago
Never got into Messiaen, found the whole "birds" and synaesthesia thing a little too esoteric. However, this quartet is surprisingly lyrical particularly in the interlude. Hard to comprehend it being performed in a POW camp though.
wardyyo 1 year ago
@wardyyo There were some "show camps" where Nazis would allow some prisoners to give performances so that when visitors came they could say "See! Nothing wrong here!"
petezilla 1 year ago
@petezilla Stalag 8A where Messiaen was imprisoned was not a show camp. It was for soldiers. Messiaen was released in 1942
iamkwk 11 months ago
Comment removed
petezilla 11 months ago
haha i like the guy that says this doesn't sound like all that hard a piece..........
jballs25 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
yes after it expires it's use as an academic or political exercize it retires to it's permanent status as an empty hackneyed gimmicky piece of vain and conceited garbage...
Vanzetti1936 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
yes after it expires it's use as an academic or political exercise it retires to it's permanent status as an empty hackneyed gimmicky piece of vain and conceited garbage...
Vanzetti1936 1 year ago
Comment removed
Vanzetti1936 1 year ago
Comment removed
Vanzetti1936 1 year ago
wwooooooooow!! so so wonder... progressive yeah!!
gydlove 1 year ago
What on earth was a piano, cello, clarinet and a violin doing at a concentration camp?
Brilliant piece, though. I'm glad it got written...
ahryko 1 year ago
@ahryko dats wat we wer discussing in my music class! i wonder da same thing!
joaanamarcoz 1 year ago
15 people are fans of Britney Spears...
manuelergcruz 1 year ago
I've never heard anything like this...rather heart-wrenching, to say the least. I wanted to hear it because of reading that Messiaen wrote this while imprisoned (1941). Definitely credentials for the emotions expressed here...
brighternote 1 year ago
I've never heard anything like this...rather heart-wrenching, to say the least. I wanted to hear it because of reading that Messiaen wrote it while imprisoned. (1941) Definitely some credentials for the emotion expressed here...
brighternote 1 year ago
messaien ripped off blink 182
christy68 1 year ago 3
This will take atleast a year to fully master this piece
HappyYOOGS 1 year ago
absolutely brilliant
AintheUK 1 year ago
Fantastic! Wonderful, exhilerating, dramtic, wonderful.... Sounds SO amazing.... I think this is incredible, and so difficult to play... GREAT!
muscleboi4use 1 year ago
@ForgetaboutFreeman yes, chum, but promise never to listen to messiaen again. no better, pinky promise for me. pleaaaaaseee? because you have NO idea about what you're writing. no, no, no.
wagneristhebest 1 year ago
@ForgetaboutFreeman for fucks sakes, i've been reading through your comments, and in one of them you call the piece 'this shit.' you call that NOT INSULTING? my god, you obviously have no idea at all about modern music, for modern music uses more 'modern techniques' eg experimental and cage then film music does. just get off this video, messiaen dosen't deserve to be listened by someone who obviously has no idea about what he's writing.
wagneristhebest 1 year ago
Why did the pianist leap off the bench at the end?
LMJ314142 1 year ago
@LMJ314142 he was muting the piano string...much like when a percussionist mutes cymbals with his hands if playing with sticks, yadig?
SunnyBananaView 1 year ago
@LMJ314142 because he was dampening the strings, basically to stop the continuing vibrating and creating sound.
wagneristhebest 1 year ago
wow that Cello player is sexy
ajmusiq83 1 year ago
@ajmusiq83
I'd do the clarinet player too
qyzuf 1 year ago
@ajmusiq83
...and the pianist
qyzuf 1 year ago
He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire.
petercarn 1 year ago 13
@petercarn I have read that it was the camp commandant that gave him the space to compose. The camp was Stalag 8A in Silesia.The piece premiered on Jan. 15, 1941 to anywhere from 300 to 5000 people, reports vary widely. In any event it is an exceptional piece of music written under extreme conditions.
iamkwk 1 year ago
@petercarn WTH YOU GOT THID FROM KARL PAULNACK U SHUD BE PROSECUTED D:<
GlennGuiao 1 year ago
@GlennGuiao I've left the appropriate reference. Don't prosecute me, stop prosecuting me.
petercarn 1 year ago
@petercarn I did not make this up. I am quoting a guy by the name of Karl Paulnack, from Boston Conservatory. Don't think for a moment that I came up with this, I did NOT come up with this!
petercarn 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@petercarn I did not make this up. I am quoting a guy by the name of Karl Paulnack, from Boston Conservatory. Don't think for a moment that I came up with this, I did NOT come up with this!
petercarn 1 year ago
@petercarn cite your sources asshole.
VolvoCommand 8 months ago
@petercarn I just read that these exact words on Karl Paulnack's Welcome Address.
AkiRainElric 5 months ago
The Quartet for the End of Time was written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp.
petercarn 1 year ago 5
heavy
MclarinetN 1 year ago
I honestly think Brahms and Beethoven would have jumped out of the window if they heard THIS.
S1587915G 1 year ago
@S1587915G fair play, but then again we live in a modern world, and they probably would have jumped out of the window if they heard of the holocaust, a war which killed over 50 million peope, if they saw skyscrapers, heard of the telephone, or saw modern art.
wagneristhebest 1 year ago
One of my favourite pieces!
majasolveig 1 year ago
Just because you don't understand a piece of music does not mean you have to insult it
Felinestance 1 year ago
I love the way it produces abstract images :D
Felinestance 1 year ago
terrifying. love it
DillonDemas 1 year ago
Hey, why not post one of your compositions so we can compare?
richardpmarks 1 year ago
Actually Messiaen was commissioned to write his Quartet for the End of Time by FIFA. It was first performed on 16th July 1950 after the final whistle in the Uruguay vs Brazil stand-off, significantly the first World Cup final held since World War II. A young Pele played Abime des Oiseaux and only became a footballer when a scout spotted him and Messaien kicking a ball about during Louange a l'Immortalite de Jesus. The rest, as they say, is history.
fremsley001 1 year ago 2
you genius.
TheWabe 1 year ago
Jesus Christ that is the best comment I've ever seen on a Youtube video.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Giovanni222 1 year ago
@fremsley001 ???
theo9952 1 year ago
Olivier Messiaen composed this piece while a prisoner in Stalag 8A in Silesia in 1940. It premiered on Jan. 15, 1941 in the prison camp to an audience of anywhere of 300 to 5000 (reports vary widely) He played the piano. The piece was a hit and is still popular. The musical language is unique to Messiaen. He was released later in 1941.
iamkwk 1 year ago
great music and the cello chick is superhot! ;)
Setherian 1 year ago 2
Some very striking music in Messiaen--lovely, jarring, exciting, boring--a real gamut. Best not to intellectualize too much, just turn out the lights and listen with an open (ideally an empty, in the positive sense) mind. Best not to read him though; his mysticism is silly and pretentious and not a little bit looney.
skeptikoi1 1 year ago
This is the first time I've heard this piece and I love it! The musicians are obviously top-notch, as this is a very atonal piece with lots of dissonances. Heck, if I played these instruments I'd probably fail miserably with this. Bravissimi!
spazmodic23 1 year ago
You are completely missing the purpose of this. For one this is not meant to be traditional, that's what 20th century and contemporary music is. Plus who gives a shit about the soundtrack for Conan. I like the movie because it is stupid, but the soundtrack isn't worth mentioning. As far as instrumentation goes, just because something is old doesn't make it bad, and just because something is new it doesn't make it good either. Think about what you say before you say it.
tyler77189 1 year ago
Forgetaboutfreedom - you are an idiot
ReclaimTheGlory 1 year ago 5
So beautiful....Messiaen is a genius.
britandveg 2 years ago
bravo! love this performance, thanks for posting!
yellowcoats 2 years ago
"Classical music of the past is too esoteric"
This is a comment made by someone who has never actually listened to good music (actually listened, not just heard).
"Modern day film scores are more of a professional calibre"
I don't know any musician who could see this without cringing. A film score, judged as music alone, is sort of like a cake made of cardboard topped with icing. It's made to ornament the movie itself, and in many cases they are little better than ambient music.
Scheherazadeable 2 years ago 2
Scheherazadeable and ForgetaboutFreeman, I'd just like to say (for the sake of everyone who's tired of seeing verbal fights all over youtube's comment sections) that those are your OPINIONS. They have nothing to do with the absolute truth, which in this case, doesn't even exist. Opinions are supposed to differ, it's good that people like different kinds of music. :)
KreNeko 2 years ago 7
Would you not agree that it is absolutely true that anyone who disregards an entire period (or periods) of music simply because it is too old/new is completely missing out on the good points of the music that was written then?
As an aside, I do appreciate film scores, particularly in their proper place; there are even some that I will listen to out of context or that I haven't even seen the movie for (for example, "Earth" by Hans Zimmer [from Gladiator])
Scheherazadeable 2 years ago 2
@KreNeko Your opinion that all musical criticism amounts merely to a composite of opinions, that have no bearing whatsoever absolutely, but only subjectively, is itself a musical opinion, NOT merely a meta-musical one, which thereby relegates your opinion to, well, an opinion. Your dismissal of musical opinions that claim to speak absolutely is a dismissal not only of musical opinions, but of the music itself. I do not think this kind of relativism is productive.
MrMucas 8 months ago
I'm surprised at all the -- well quite frankly -- philistine comments below.
Strange isn't it that there are types of music not immediately accessible like the laste Madonna hit?
TimJakeGl 2 years ago 20
@TimJakeGl funny, to me this doesn't sound like that difficult a piece of music. I do think it's beautiful though.
mightyafrowhitey 1 year ago
@TimJakeGl I'm not sure what you think the point of music is, but I would certainly say it's not to cause the audience displeasure. I know in the 21st century we're supposed to be "open minded" to children's drawings as the highest art form, but when you truly think about it how on earth can forming erratic and unmemorable melodies. The pretension of modernist composers is only matched by their listeners.
LoudLightLingers 11 months ago
@TimJakeGl Madonna is out of the mainstream and you're a fucking idiot.
Bleumange 11 months ago
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bull shit worst music of them all
theogmix 2 years ago
The people who created this thought the world was going to end. They were in the holocaust
Noah123123 2 years ago
wut mvt is this?
ryuu304 2 years ago
III. Abime des oiseaux (The Abyss of the Birds)
claireransome13 2 years ago
wrong
IpkisStanley 2 years ago
0:26- III. Abime des oiseaux
claireransome13 2 years ago
that's better! now DON'T DO IT AGAIN!!!!!1111
IpkisStanley 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This would be so awesome if the instrumentation was changed to Death Metal Instrumentation.
Gitarpunk 2 years ago
That would completely ruin everything.
ilovedapiggiez 2 years ago 8
I mean like Gojira's guitar tone for the fast parts and probably like post rock guitar tones for the parts that are more subtle and beautiful. for the metal parts really fast blast beat drumming. It would be awesome.
Gitarpunk 2 years ago
No.
You could easily get the same effect by playing it through semi-destroyed speakers.
THRIPS101 2 years ago
If only Messiaen had lived a little longer, I'm sure her would have made an arrangement........
BeauJames59 2 years ago
fail
detergentmacdog 2 years ago
I agree.
UnDead483 2 years ago
I think it would add a lot to the dynamic and the intensity of the music. fuckers.
Gitarpunk 2 years ago
no you don't
IpkisStanley 2 years ago
It could be good but would need many layers added in that case
Felinestance 1 year ago
"One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940. Messiaen was 31 years old when France entered the war against Nazi Germany. He was captured by the Germans in June of 1940, sent across Germany in a cattle car and imprisoned in a concentration camp." (~ Karl Paulnack, music department head at Boston Conservatory)
sandiegoactress 2 years ago 3
Hey, I'm reading Karl Paulnack's article "We need music to survive" as I was listening to Messiaen and reading these comments... I completely agree with his views!
soundsilenced 2 years ago 2
"He was fortunate to find a sympathetic prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose. There were three other musicians in the camp, a cellist, a violinist, and a clarinetist, and Messiaen wrote his quartet with these specific players in mind. It was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and guards in the prison camp. Today it is one of the most famous masterworks in the repertoire." (~Karl Paulnack, music department head at Boston Conservatory,)
sandiegoactress 2 years ago 2
que arrechooooooooooooooooooooooooo maraca, felicidades. Ese es mi pana
eduardocalzada 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
this is some loony tunes shit...
llillillillillllill 2 years ago
Well, this is catchy.....
TheLoneSergeant 2 years ago
actually i men't the VIIth - (7th)! wen i figure out how to delete my other posts i will)
theRedPilll 2 years ago
sorry i ment the vi'th (6th)
theRedPilll 2 years ago
hey folks that 4th movement is FUN!
theRedPilll 2 years ago
i discovered i liked messian alot but didn't realize it was him that i'd heard and his influence in music . this is like penultimate 20th century and i sure love it! so that's the a way a clarinet is supposed to sound!
theRedPilll 2 years ago
for example...Olivier Messiaen, "Louange à l'éternité de Jésus"
deemilieu 2 years ago
but you can just wiki him if you want to know more...he's 'ranked' among maybe a half dozen or so of the most iflluential classical music composers of the 20th century.
deemilieu 2 years ago
no he wasn't jewish, in fact he was a devout catholic...and his music has a lot or direct references to his deeply held christian faith. a lot of people ended up in concentration camps at that time who were not jewish though jews were the largest single group and the main one targeted by the nazis for extermination.
deemilieu 2 years ago
So he was Jewish? It's amazing he wrote this under those circumstances, and makes one wonder how many more composers of genius, not to mentiion doctors, professors, pianist, dancers, painters of genius went, literally, up in smoke, with the world never to be aware of their brilliance and contributions to the world. Thanks to that lone nazi who showed some humanity.
nicodagger 2 years ago
somebody forgot to to the cello player it was "black dress code"!!! ha ha ha
queteimportaguey 2 years ago
man.... this is fucking amazing. Great stuff
pong224 2 years ago
I find this piece of music very disturbing. It's like something terrible is happening, and I have to run away from it.
peabean 2 years ago 2
Well, duh... This peice was written only because Oliver Messiaen was fortunate enough to find a Nazi considerate enough to give him some paper and a place to compose. This was written during the Holocaust, so yeah, I'd say something terrible is happening. This piece was performed in January 1941 for four thousand prisoners and gaurds in the prison camp.
Shabers128 2 years ago
I heard that Oliver Messeain wrote this when he was some camp in Germany (?), correct me if I'm wrong.
It was to suppose to show that he believed that his death was approaching and therefore fear.
But I ask you, where's the saddness, where's the fear, what part of the clarinet solo brings out a feeling of melancholy or sadness?
It does sound like Messiean is up for death, it doesn't feel as he cares!
The second movement is nice, but it just feels like a folk dance, not anguish.
SebastienLoong 2 years ago
There's is certainly rhymic beauty, but this all see.
Your about to die, and I would probably have expected desperation or complete melancholy.
SebastienLoong 2 years ago
actually he wrote it inspired From the Revelation Book...about the message of the Three Angels.
innerdeth 2 years ago
this is just my opinion but....
music is more than portraying your own feelings with what is happening 'right now'. perhaps (& this is solely my opinion) perhaps music can be about hope and providing a way to live the way you want to live... when you cant do that in "real" life.
chanaemac 2 years ago
Il a écrit lorsque qu'il a était prisonnier, il n'allait pas mourir car c'était un soldat, et il y avait une loi qui interdisait de tuer un soldat [..] Il se trouvait avec des prisonniers et parmis eux il y en avait un qui jouer du violon, on début ils était deux.
xCandiice 2 years ago
Ah, Je comprends. Mais je en peux pas trouve la beaute (pardonnez mon francais dans cette musique.
C'est assez complique pour mes oreilles simple.
Pouvez vous m'expliquer le de cette musique?
Ma seour adore cette musique, mais je ne comprends pas le raison qu'elle l'adore.
SebastienLoong 2 years ago
he wrote this in a concentration camp. he was lucky to find a prison guard who gave him paper and a place to compose (hard enough when the prisoners were lucky to get paper to wipe their own ass
he wrote the piece with 3 other musicians in mind & they practiced in the middle of the night without instruments. they managed to smuggle instruments through the gates & the guards in the camp let them to perform this piece in 1941 for over 4000 guards and prisoners....
chanaemac 2 years ago 3
A friend of mine (going to conservatory) showed me this piece and told me about Messiaen's influence on music and his ideas. So I asked "Right, so what does this piece mean? What's the significance" and he said "DUDE, it's just FCKING BEAUTIFUL MUSIC!"
I feel so uneducated and unappreciative now..
H41RB4LL 2 years ago
Check wikipedia! are you serious. that is retarded. wikipedia is not a credited source any bloke could write on there. he may not have been a jew but he did write this piece in a work camp. none the less I like the work he did. and you can be a fool and respond with something hateful if you wish. just remember arguing with a keyboard is a waste of time.
THEMUSE613 2 years ago
He was not a jew, he was catholic and a prisoner of war as part of the french army, and was soon released after the completion of this piece. At least check wikipedia before posting uninformed ideas, please.
jenliu3 2 years ago 3
this is a great piece. it is amazing what Oliver did with the resources he had. being a Jew in a prison camp during WWII.
THEMUSE613 2 years ago