January 2021

At the end of January there is a performance event “On the Edge of Time” in which York Chamber Music Festival musicians will play one of the most iconic pieces of twentieth century music, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time which he wrote while he was a prisoner of war in camp Stalag VIIIA. It will be played as part of Holocaust Memorial week in York Minster’s Lady Chapel – underneath the Great East Window, the ‘Apocalypse Window’. Although created 500 years apart the stained glass masterpiece of John Thornton and Messiaen’s iconic music both portray Chapter 10 of the Book of Revelation – an angel comes to announce the end of time.