Live Performance of Creative Work
Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
Joseph Lallo, Wilma Smith, Yelian He, Yasmin Rowe
Fortyfive downstairs | Published : 2019
Abstract
A world premiere arrangement performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time. The clarinet part was adapted for saxophone by Mary Osborne and performed by 'Collide' ensemble with special guest violinist Wilma Smith (former concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra). The choice to arrange the clarinet part on Alto Saxophone rather that Soprano Saxophone was made so as to keep all notes in their written octave. However, this meant that the Alto Saxophone played up to the high extremities of what is possible. The program was developed by using contrasting images of birds and barbed wire, to exemplify the juxtaposition of the despair and hope of the work.