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A powerful programme for troubled times. Written at the Nazis’ Stalag VIII-A prison camp, and first performed there by the composer and three fellow prisoners of war, Quartet for the End of Time is among the most stark, vulnerable and yet ultimately inspirational works of the last century. After leading the Messiaen from the violin, John Storgårds trades bow for baton in Shostakovich’s symphonic song-cycle, which uses poetry by Federico García Lorca and others to forge a devastating vision of a life entering its final act.