A performance of “A Quartet for the End of Time” composed by Olivier Messiaen while he was a prisoner of war in 1941. Performed by the London Chamber Ensemble:
Madeleine Mitchell (Violin)
Anthony Friend (Clarinet)
Joseph Spooner (Cello)
Ian Pace (Piano)
Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) was a French composer, organist and ornithologist, celebrated for his distinctive musical language that combines complex rhythms, rich harmonies and the sounds of birdsong. His well known works include Turangalîla-Symphonie and Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time). Messiaen’s innovative approach has had a lasting influence on 20th-century music.
The London Chamber Ensemble was founded by Madeleine Mitchell to perform Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time with Joanna MacGregor, going on to make the widely recommended recording for many years and play at the BBC Proms. The LCE, with some of the UK’s most outstanding chamber musicians, went on to record highly successful albums of Grace Williams and William Alwyn Chamber Music for Naxos. They were invited to appear in London's Southbank Centre’s International Chamber Music Season in Madeleine’s programme 'A Century of Music by UK Women' 1921-2021. This was filmed as a live stream at St John's Smith Square on International Women's Day and was deemed a huge success, with coverage on BBC Radio 4, Radio 3, Classic FM, The Guardian, The Independent, BBC Music Magazine, The Strad Premiere of the Month, etc. Since 2019 it has had a permanent core string quartet (including cellist Joseph Spooner), whose album of Howells and Wood was one of Gramophone’s recommended recordings 2024. They’ve also collaborated with Ian Pace at City University concerts.
Anthony Friend is a clarinettist acclaimed for the ‘vision and intensity’ of his playing (The Observer). His performances have been described by The Times as ‘delicious’ and by The Telegraph as ‘energised and raunchy, but not too much’, whilst Seen and Heard International has praised his ‘liquid tone’ and ‘spellbinding’ concerts. He has emerged as a leading figure in classical music, hailed as a ‘hero’ by The Arts Desk for his efforts to regenerate live concerts during the pandemic, and was a recipient of an Enterprise Award from the Royal Philharmonic Society for his Spotlight Chamber Concerts series. As of 2025, he is the Artistic Director of the Wimbledon International Music Festival.
His chamber music collaborators include the Allegri, Solem, Maxwell and Philharmonia Orchestra string quartets, cellist Laura van der Heijden and pianists Alexander Ullmann and Antonio Oyarzabal. He regularly freelances with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was a member of Southbank Sinfonia in 2017.
Madeleine Mitchell, described by The Times as ‘one of the UK’s liveliest musical forces (and) foremost violinists’, has performed as soloist and chamber musician in 50 countries in a wide repertoire, frequently broadcast for radio and TV, in festivals including the BBC Proms with Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time. 2024/25 saw her make a major tour of Japan and return to the USA. Her recent album, Violin Conversations for Naxos of premiere recordings of works mostly by living UK composers, several written for Mitchell, was reviewed by Ivan Hewett in The Telegraph: ‘Is Madeleine Mitchell the future of classical music? An Album of subtle charm'. She has performed concertos including BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Czech and Polish Radio Symphony orchestras, Kiev Radio/TV, St Petersburg Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras. As a recording artist with a wide discography, Madeleine has been nominated for Grammy and BBC Music Awards, and in recital she has performed around the world at venues including Sydney Opera House, Seoul Center for the Arts, the Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall.
Joseph Spooner’s delving into the repertoire has led to the recovery of many unjustly neglected works, and he has earned high praise from critics both for his performances and for the recordings resulting from his explorations. His varied discography includes Percy Sherwood’s Double Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra; Francis Pott’s highly acclaimed At First Light for choir and solo cello; and cello sonatas by Austin, Cooke, Gipps, Ireland, Jacob, Moeran, Rawsthorne, and Sherwood.
Joseph has collaborated with pianists Duncan Honeybourne, David Owen Norris, and Rebeca Omordia, and his work with contemporary-music ensembles such as Continuum has included numerous premieres and concerts at festivals across the UK. Concerto performances have featured British composers, including Moeran and Delius. Chamber music been an integral part of Joseph’s music-making, and he has recently performed and recorded extensively with the London Chamber Ensemble and Madeleine Mitchell.
Ian Pace is a pianist, musicologist and writer. As a pianist he has given well over 350 world premieres, played in 28 countries (including recent tours in Brazil and Japan), recorded over 40 CDs, and worked with many leading contemporary composers. Notable events include two series of the complete works of Michael Finnissy (a composer with whom he has had a long association), in 1996 and 2016, and in 2022 a series of the nine symphonies of Beethoven as transcribed by Liszt, as well as other cycles of works of Stockhausen, Brian Ferneyhough, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti, Helmut Lachenmann, Olivier Messiaen, Horatiu Radulescu, Wolfgang Rihm, Frederic Rzewski and Howard Skempton. Composers whose work he has premiered include Gilbert Amy, Julian Anderson, Richard Barrett, James Dillon, Pascal Dusapin, Finnissy, Christopher Fox, Ferneyhough, Michael Nyman, Horatiu Radulescu, Rzewski, Yuji Takahashi, and Walter Zimmermann.
This will be preceded by a rehearsed reading of “A Walk through the End of Time” a one act play by Jessica Duchen, inspired by the writing of the Quartet.
Jessica Duchen is an author, playwright and music journalist whose work often explores the intersection of narrative and classical music. A former music critic for The Independent, she has written acclaimed novels, libretti and stage works, including collaborations with leading musicians and ensembles. Her plays are celebrated for their emotional depth, richly drawn characters and engagement with musical culture. This rehearsed reading presents her latest dramatic work, continuing her commitment to storytelling that bridges literature and the performing arts.