Chamber Music Concert, April 5

Two rarely heard works of 20th century music will be performed by the chamber music group Nonsemble 6 at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 5, in Kresge Hall, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert, "Cultural Dissonances: Two Masterworks of Contemporary Music," will feature "Quartet for the End of Time," by Olivier Messiaen, and "Pierrot Lunaire," by Arnold Schoenberg. The performers are Amy Foote, soprano; Justin Lee, flute and piccolo; Anna-Christina Phillips, clarinets; Kevin Rogers, violin and viola; Ian Scarfe, piano; and Anne Suda, cello.

"Quartet for the End of Time" was written by Messiaen when he was imprisoned in Germany during World War II. The first performers were Messiaen and his fellow inmates in the German prison camp, Stalag VII. Messiaen, a devout Christian who described himself as a "theologian in music," drew his inspiration from the tenth chapter of the Revelation According to St. John, which reads in part, "And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow on its head. ... His face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. Setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ... he raised his hand toward heaven and swore by He who lives forever and ever, saying: 'there will be no more time.'"

The concert will feature a display of artwork inspired by Messiaen's composition, created by Tyler Hennings, assistant professor of art at Monmouth College.

"Pierrot lunaire" is a strongly dissonant work for vocal soloist and ensemble. The words are excerpted from the symbolist poetry of Albert Giraud.

Nonsemble 6 is based in San Francisco and often combines contemporary and new music with visual art. The group will play a series of concerts in early April at Monmouth College, Knox College, Augustana College, Western Illinois University, and the Heaven Gallery in Chicago. Nonsemble 6 is a fiscally sponsored affiliate of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 51 countries. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.