Escaping Time: Messiaen’s Musical Language, Religious Symbolism, and Undermining Time in Quatour Pour La Fin Du Temps

Scholars, including Robert Fallon and Wilfred Mellers, understand Olivier Messiaen’s Quatour pour la fin du Temps through the lens of war and captivity. Written during Messiaen’s imprisonment in the German prisoner of war camp Stalag VIII A during World War II, Quatour portrays the biblical “end of time” described in the book of Revelations. Messiaen drew connections between Quatour and the apocalypse with references to the angel of the apocalypse, the abyss, and the end of time. Messiaen, along with Étienne Pasquier, Jean Le Boulaire, and Henri Akoka premiered Quatour on January, 15th 1941, for their fellow prisoners and guards in Stalag VIII A. In the brutal cold of winter, they played on broken instruments, with little light, and in ragged clothes. Given the conditions in which Messiaen completed the work, one can easily draw a connection between Messiaen’s imprisonment and Quatour. As a result, scholars like Fallon and Mellers claim that Messiaen wrote this work in response to the atrocities of war and as a commentary on his own confinement. When asked in an interview with Antoine Goléa about the inspiration for the piece, Messiaen denied any association with the war. Instead, he responded, I would say that I composed the quartet in order to escape from the snow, the war, captivity, and myself. The greatest benefit I gained from it was that, in the midst of three-hundred thousand prisoners, I was probably the only one who was free. In the same interview with Goléa, Messiaen went on to clarify the references to the end of time in the title of the work. Instead of a comparison to World War II as the “end of times”, Messiaen meant to illustrate the end of musical time, as well as the end of time as the beginning of eternity in heaven. In her book The Musical Legacy of Wartime France, Leslie Sprout clarifies this statement with a reference to Messiaen’s interview with Goléa. She states, When Goléa asked him about the talk he gave to his fellow prisoners, Messiaen responded that he made sure to clarify that the reference to the end of time in the title was not to be understood as the passing of time in captivity, but the abolition of the time that the Apocalypse would bring. If there was any play on words, he continued, it was a purely symbolic evocation of musical construction, that is, a reference to his abolition of a regular pulse and experimentation with irregular rhythmic durations in the Quartet. Sprout strengthens her argument with references to the wartime works of Jovilét, Goué, and Damaise that actively and intentionally “conveyed the pain and tedium of exile. ” She asserts that, compared to the works of these other captured composers, the message of Messiaen’s Quatour seems detached from the war. Furthermore, Sprout provides commentary on the poor reception of Quatour to the Paris audiences compared to that of Damais’ O Nuit and Jolivet’s Trois complaints. She states that the audience at the Paris premiere failed to make a connection between Quatour and Messiaen’s captivity. Instead, Messiaen’s preconcert discussion about the religious symbolism of eternity turned the work into a discussion on the “relationship between the religious sentiments expressed in the texts and their musical “illustrations” in the Quartet.” Thus, Quatour lacks the incorporation of Messiaen’s personal experiences and, in turn, cannot express his experiences in Stalag VIII A. In opposition to Leslie Sprout, Robert Fallon describes Messiaen’s works as intentionally responsive to the world around him. His article “Birds, Beasts, and Bombs in Messiaen’s Cold War Mass”, discusses the Messe de la Pentecôte as a politically charged work in response to the Cold War. In his opening Statements, Fallon briefly mentions Quatour, stating “The Quatour pour la fin du Temps more clearly responds to war, its birdsong and religious solace embracing freedom and eternal life I the face of captivity and death.” Fallon acknowledges Messiaen’s infamous detachment from the world around him, but dismisses it. He claims that, though Messiaen may seem disengaged, his oeuvre does not. He states, Many of his (Messiaen’s) works relate to contemporary events, including Chant de déportés, Et expect, Ressurection mortuorum, La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, and Des canyons aux étoiles…each of which either responded to a political event or fulfilled a politically charged commission. In other words, Messiaen’s works speak on his behalf, providing a glimpse into his political views and acting as a form of “silent protest”. Fallon goes on to discuss Messe as a protest piece against the Cold War and Messiaen as a quiet, but enthusiastic political player. He references Messiaen’s staunch support of Charles de Gaulle as evidence of his interest in politics and of the “special interest he placed on freedom”. Fallon’s argument discusses Messiaen’s style and technique as a means of his expressing his political ideals. He notes that Messiaen’s desire to end musical time with birdsong, non-retrogradable rhythms, cyclical harmonic and melodic structures, and the limited modes of transposition functions as a means to depict both personal and political freedom. Like Leslie Sprout, I believe Quatour offered Messiaen, his fellow musicians, and the other prisoners in Stalag VIII A respite from camp life, at most. In Messiaen’s own words, Quatour does not encapsulate his experiences in the camp, nor does it offer commentary on his political beliefs. Not until the early 1990’s did Messiaen begin to speak about Quatour in association with the Holocaust. By this time, he saw the impact that an association with World War II had on the popularity of the piece. He took advantage of this, and used this association to bolster the popularity and number of performances of Quatour. Thus, the piece became forever associated with the themes of war, death, and the apocalypse. Robert Fallon’s analysis of Messiaen’s musical language as symbolic of freedom and eternity resonates with the theory that Quatour evokes a sense of timelessness and the beyond. Though I do not support his idea that the piece was influenced by the war, I do agree that the elements of the piece (rhythm, harmony, melody, etc.…) depict the many layers of the eternal in Quatour. Each element works independently to create a sense of timelessness, and as a cosmic whole, they create a connection between musical time and divine eternity. In this paper, I aim to depict Quatour pour la fin du temps as a commentary, not on war, but on the infiniteness of time. I posit that the escapism of the work comes from its ability to transcend the confines of musical time. Messiaen attempts to convey the eternity, indivisibility, and infiniteness of God in his “divine time” through the manipulation of musical devices like rhythm, harmony, and melody. Thus, Messiaen’s musical techniques denote “timelessness” as a way to depict the divine. I plan to discuss Messiaen’s musical language, including rhythm, harmony, and melodic contour, and its role in undermining musical time. I will demonstrate the importance of these elements as individual units, as well as part of the cosmic ‘whole’ of the piece in conveying the eternal. Next, I will discuss the religious symbolism inherent in Messiaen’s music, including a discussion of Thomistic doctrine and their association with time and God in Messiaen’s music. I will describe the connection between Messiaen’s religiosity and his musical language. Finally, I will apply these concepts to Quatour, providing both a musical analysis of some of the movements and a description of the religious symbolism in the work

All-fibre supercontinuum laser for in vivo multispectral photoacoustic microscopy of lipids in the extended near-infrared region

Among the numerous endogenous biological molecules, information on lipids is highly coveted for understanding both aspects of developmental biology and research in fatal chronic diseases. Due to the pronounced absorption features of lipids in the extended near-infrared region (1650−1850 nm), visualisation and identification of lipids become possible using multi-spectral photoacoustic (optoacoustic) microscopy. However, the spectroscopic studies in this spectral region require lasers that can produce high pulse energies over a broad spectral bandwidth to efficiently excite strong photoacoustic signals. The most well-known laser sources capable of satisfying the multi-spectral photoacoustic microscopy requirements (tunability and pulse energy) are tunable nanosecond optical parametric oscillators. However, these lasers have an inherently large footprint, thus preventing their use in compact microscopy systems. Besides, they exhibit low-repetition rates. Here, we demonstrate a compact all-fibre, high pulse energy supercontinuum laser that covers a spectral range from 1440 to 1870 nm with a 7 ns pulse duration and total energy of 18.3 μJ at a repetition rate of 100 kHz. Using the developed high-pulse energy source, we perform multi-spectral photoacoustic microscopy imaging of lipids, both ex vivo on adipose tissue and in vivo to study the development of Xenopus laevis tadpoles, using six different excitation bands over the first overtone transition of C–H vibration bonds (1650−1850 nm)

Stressing about misplaced fat is a key to longevity.

The abnormal accumulation of fat increases the lifespans of nematodes that lack sex cells

Discordant Timing of Hypoglycemic Agent Screening Causing Delayed Diagnosis of Sulfonylurea-Induced Hypoglycemia.

BackgroundOral hypoglycemic agents are a frequent cause of hypoglycemia in nondiabetic people. Here, we report a case of recurrent hypoglycemia caused by glipizide, in which diagnosis was delayed because of a combination of delayed hypoglycemic agent screening and low sensitivity of the hypoglycemic agent screening panel used.Case reportA 66-year-old woman repeatedly presented with symptomatic hypoglycemia. At the first presentation, the serum glucose level was 40 mg/dL (2.2 mmol/L), C-peptide level was 13.1 ng/mL (0.8-3.1 ng/mL), proinsulin level was 96.9 pmol/L (<18.8 pmol/L), and insulin level was 164 mU/L (<17 mU/L). An initial hypoglycemic agent screening, performed 24 hours after admission, yielded a negative result, leading to prolonged and recurrent hospitalizations for workup and localization of insulinoma. A hypoglycemic agent screening at a subsequent presentation, concordant with hypoglycemia, yielded a positive result for glipizide, which was at a level of 320 ng/mL (reporting limit, 40 ng/mL). An examination of the patient's home medications revealed a container, labeled as benztropine, containing glipizide tablets. After the diagnosis of glipizide-induced hypoglycemia, the patient had no further episodes of hypoglycemia.DiscussionThe failure to detect glipizide using the initial hypoglycemia agent assay was likely because of a combination of a delay in the initial screening and low sensitivity of the assay for glipizide compared with that of other available assays. Here, we discuss important considerations for the interpretation of hypoglycemic agent screening in the diagnosis of hypoglycemia, including the timing of collection and reporting, pharmacokinetics of culprit agents, and sensitivity of the hypoglycemic agent panel used.ConclusionScreening tests for hypoglycemic agents are necessary for the evaluation of hypoglycemia because their biochemical evaluation may be indistinguishable from that of insulinoma

In vivo metabolic fingerprinting of neutral lipids with hyperspectral stimulated raman scattering microscopy

Metabolic fingerprinting provides valuable information on the physiopathological states of cells and tissues. Traditional imaging mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance imaging are unable to probe the spatial-temporal dynamics of metabolites at the subc

In Vivo Metabolic Fingerprinting of Neutral Lipids with Hyperspectral Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy

Metabolic fingerprinting provides valuable information on the physiopathological states of cells and tissues. Traditional imaging mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance imaging are unable to probe the spatial-temporal dynamics of metabolites at the subcellular level due to either lack of spatial resolution or inability to perform live cell imaging. Here we report a complementary metabolic imaging technique that is based on hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering (hsSRS). We demonstrated the use of hsSRS imaging in quantifying two major neutral lipids: cholesteryl ester and triacylglycerol in cells and tissues. Our imaging results revealed previously unknown changes of lipid composition associated with obesity and steatohepatitis. We further used stable-isotope labeling to trace the metabolic dynamics of fatty acids in live cells and live Caenorhabditis elegans with hsSRS imaging. We found that unsaturated fatty acid has preferential uptake into lipid storage while saturated fatty acid exhibits toxicity in hepatic cells. Simultaneous metabolic fingerprinting of deuterium-labeled saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in living C. elegans revealed that there is a lack of interaction between the two, unlike previously hypothesized. Our findings provide new approaches for metabolic tracing of neutral lipids and their precursors in living cells and organisms, and could potentially serve as a general approach for metabolic fingerprinting of other metabolites