Talk:Quatuor pour la fin du temps

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article falls within the scope of the WikiProject contemporary music, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of contemporary music subjects. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Quatuor pour la fin du temps is within the scope of WikiProject Classical music, which aims to improve, expand, cleanup, and maintain all articles related to classical music, that aren't covered by other classical music related projects. Please read the guidelines for writing and maintaining articles. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.
This article is supported by the Compositions task force.

Contents

[edit] For the end of time

I recently read a book entitled "For the end of time" which debunks a lot of myths concerning this piece. For example, according to Messiaen's own accounts, the premiere at Stalag VIII A occured before an audience of several thousand, but according to eyewitness accounts, the building housed only about 400. Apparently, Messiaen had a penchant for embellishment.

I'm going to have to grab a hold of it again, as it has been a while since I've read it. Until then, I would highly recommend it to anyone out there interested in the piece.

Rischin, Rebecca (2003). For the end of time : the story of the Messiaen quartet. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-801-44136-6. 

--bleh fu talk fu 13:44, Jun 21, 2005 (UTC)


Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)This rage to "debunk"...how tiresome.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)Perhaps there was standing room only as prisoners of war, Nazi guards, and local civilians crowded into the room to hear something other than the crash of bombs.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)This rage to "debunk" is essentially the spirit abroad which is destroying Lebanon while the President of the United States snarfs Cheez Doodles.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)Please don't presume to read one goddamn book and believe yourself demythologized.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)The illusion is that you can be in a space free of myth.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)What you have posted is really revelatory only of some sort of Oedipal issue with high Modernism.

Spinoza1111 03:31, 24 July 2006 (UTC)Furthermore, a penchant for embellishment is a good thing in a musician.



Um....

[edit] Edits 3/07... POV or Copyvio problems?

[edit] Edits for style & formatting

I made some (mostly non-substantial) edits (diff):

  • Obviously from the diffs, I did some formatting stuff, folded the score into the references sect., & added a ref & some external links.
  • I moved info on the instrumentation & duration up to the lead. I think that's the standard per WPClassical Music. (if it's not it should be :-) ).
  • I made some other edits for issues with: bible citations; wikifying; confomity to WP:STYLE & the music sub-guide; clarity; repetitiveness; & consistency of presentation--esp. in the "Structure" section.

I hope all these seem sensible / helpful. —Turangalila talk

[edit] Structure section

The "Structure" section still bothers me quite a bit; particularly the prose descriptions (the parts I've left un-bolded). There's the claim at the bottom that "movement descriptions are translated from the score," but it's unclear whether this just refers to titles & instrumentation, or all the other stuff too. I don't have access to the score currently, but I doubt it would contain text like

"...this "stillness" in the piece is not only to freely interpret the "sadness" of the abyss that is "Time", but also to enforce Messiaen's breakdown of the listener's personal feeling and interpretation of musical pulse."

I've certainly never seen a score with that kind of text, except maybe a Norton Critical Score...I can't figure out whether these descriptions are quotes from Messiaen himself, from a commentator like Rischin or Pople, or just the rhapsodic opinings of a WP editor...or (most likely) some hodgepodge of all three? If it's quoted it really needs to be cited.

The section has some valuable info, but as a whole it has the whiff of either POV/OR or a copyright violation. I don't currently have access to the sources in question, so could somebody with such access have a look and see what needs to be cited/rewritten/deleted? Thanks —Turangalila talk 08:27, 16 April 2007 (UTC)