A Lotus Blossoming

The two pieces on this disc, Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps and Zemlinsky’s Trio in D minor, were composed almost half a century apart in different countries and under radically different circumstances, by two composers whose musical sensibility and expression were as dissimilar as their national and religious identities. Yet despite the diverse nature of these works - Messiaen’s Quartet is modern and quasi-programmatic, Zemlinsky’s Trio conservative and abstract - the composers share some significant commonalities, and make for an imaginative and intriguing pairing.

Founded in 2006, Ensemble Liaison - David Griffiths (clarinet), Svetlana Bogosavljevic (cello) and Timothy Young (piano) - testify to the joy at the heart of chamber-music collaboration. The raison d’être of this Australian ensemble is to showcase a diversity of musical partnerships and explore eclectic repertoire – as they do here.

Alexander Zemlinsky’s lyrical Trio in D minor hails from the sunny period of his youth written under the influence of Brahms and the great Austro-German tradition, displaying the romantic lyricism that is at the heart of his musical nature. Although darkly set in a minor key it bristles with the composer’s youthful virility and passion with virtuosic writing for all instruments. The trio offers ample opportunity for each of the Ensemble Liaison players to shine.

They are joined by Wilma Smith, concert master of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, for the Quartet for the End of Time which was composed during Olivier Messiaen’s internment in Stalag VIII and premiered there during the depths of winter, January 1941.

Seventy years on, his profound music has lost nothing of its effect. It remains a uniquely fresh, breathtaking, and, above all, astonishing work of art.