Manchester Collective returns with guest Kathryn Stott to present Messiaen’s war-time masterpiece, Quartet for the End of Time, crowning a transcendental programme.

The agony and the ecstasy of our modern world, in music.  If you had to pick a single musical work to reflect the energy, chaos and trauma of the 20th century, you could do a lot worse than Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. This is chamber music at its most dramatic and unfiltered – it’s a pure distillation of the time in which it was written.

To perform this harrowing epic and much more besides, the Manchester Collective are thrilled to welcome musical treasure Kathryn Stott for the first time. Kathy, perhaps best known for her celebrated collaborations with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will perform Caroline Shaw’s exquisite Gustave le Gray alongside the Chopin mazurka that inspired the piece.

Messiaen’s transcendental quartet was written in 1941 – the same year as another 20th century masterpiece, Citizen Kane. It was composed while Messiaen was interned at a Nazi prisoner of war camp in Germany, and premiered by fellow inmates to an audience of about 400 prisoners and guards, outside, in the rain. Messiaen later said of the premiere: “Never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension”.

If you’re familiar with this work, you know what all the fuss is about. If it’s your first time – you’ve got a hell of a ride ahead of you.

This event will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.