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Olivier Messiaen: Prisoner of War
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6. Olivier Messiaen: Prisoner of War
Messiaen was captured in 1940 during the German invasion of France and held as a prisoner of war. While he was incarcerated, he showed a fellow prisoner (and clarinettist) the sketches for his masterpiece, the 'Quartet for the End of Time'. Messiaen soon found a violinist and cellist too, and was able to put his quartet together, with himself at the piano. The premiere performance came in 1941, in front of an audience of 400 prisoners. This photo shows a US soldier examining an antique violin recovered from a German house during the war.
