Masterpieces of contemporary (art) music. Recommended popular pieces.

Quartet for the End of TimeOlivier Messiaen

Olivier Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps Quartet for the End of Time 1941 from YouTube

Born in 1908 in Avignon, France, Olivier Messiaen was not only one of the leading contemporary composers of the 20th century, but also an organist and pianist, and a great figure who made enormous contributions to the field as a music educator.

The fact that his students included such renowned figures as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen alone shows where Messiaen stands in the history of music.

While Messiaen left many works as a composer, today I would like to introduce the Quartet for the End of Time, written during the harsh period when he was a prisoner in an internment camp during World War II.

Scored for the unusual combination of violin, clarinet, cello, and piano, it is a major chamber work with a religious background inspired by the New Testament’s Book of Revelation.

Beyond the innovation and brilliance of the work itself, the historical fact that it was composed under such extraordinary circumstances and the story of how it received its premiere are also fascinating—if you’re interested, by all means look into it yourself.

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Severed SongLuigi Nono

Luigi Nono

Luigi Nono, hailing from Venice, Italy, was a composer who played a central role in postwar contemporary and avant-garde music.

It is said that he became known through Musica Viva, a series of contemporary music concerts organized in collaboration with Bavarian Radio by Karl Amadeus Hartmann, who is often called Germany’s greatest symphonist of the 20th century.

Nono is also famous for the distinct differences in his style across periods: from his early phase, in which he mastered serial techniques; to his middle period, when he developed an interest in electronic music; and his late period, when he ventured into new horizons.

An anecdote that underscores Nono’s independent path is that, although he interacted with radical composers such as Edgard Varèse and Karlheinz Stockhausen, he later broke with them.

A committed communist who channeled his political beliefs into composition, Nono wrote Il canto sospeso between 1955 and 1956—a vocal work, a cantata, that stands as one of his masterpieces.

Known in Japanese as “The Severed Song,” the piece was inspired by farewell letters written by resistance fighters during the war and employs twelve-tone technique along with Nono’s own serial methods.

It is said to have been a major hit at the time.

One should not only hear the music but also understand the message behind it.

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THE HEART ASKS PLEASURE FIRSTMichael Nyman

Michael Nyman – The heart asks pleasure first

Michael Nyman, a renowned composer in the minimalist music world represented by figures like Steve Reich, is a British artist who has also achieved great success in film scores and is known as a music critic.

It was Nyman who first introduced the concept of “minimal” into music criticism, and his research papers on experimental music have had a significant impact on later contemporary music criticism.

The work that made Nyman’s name known worldwide and showcased his talent even to those uninterested in minimal music is undoubtedly the score for the acclaimed 1992 film The Piano.

In particular, the piano solo piece widely known in Japanese as “Tanoshimi o Kou Kokoro” (“The Heart That Longs for Pleasure”) stands out for its beauty and became immensely popular as healing music.

The wonderfully wave-like, repeating melodies and the musical experience of being immersed in a flood of overwhelming emotion are truly extraordinary.

If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check out the film itself.

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Music for 18 MusiciansSteve Reich

Steve Reich, “Music for 18 Musicians” – FULL PERFORMANCE with eighth blackbird

Within the category of contemporary music, there exists a genre known as minimal music.

Rooted in classical music, minimal music, as the word “minimal” suggests, is created by severely restricting the movement of tones and employing the repetition of a single pattern.

Later genres such as minimal techno are among those that adopted the musical methodology of minimal music.

Let me introduce a masterpiece by Steve Reich, a composer who represents this field: Music for 18 Musicians.

Composed between May 1974 and March 1976, it embodies the basic structural principles of minimal music, in which multiple motifs are repeated while the piece gradually transforms.

At the same time, true to its title, it requires a large ensemble for performance, making it no exaggeration to call it a landmark work that opened up new possibilities in the history of music.

Though it may seem complex, it is surprisingly approachable: as phrases with a rich resonance—distinct from conventional melodies—are reiterated, the listener finds themselves opening the door to a world unlike anything they have experienced before.

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Piano ConcertoElliott Carter

Elliott Carter, Piano Concerto (1964)

Born in 1908 and remaining active until the end of his life at the age of 103 in 2012, Elliott Carter was a towering American figure in contemporary music.

His long career as a composer is generally divided into three periods: the early neoclassical phase; the middle period, in which he moved away from tonality, adopted complex rhythms, and advanced concepts known as pitch-class set theory; and the late period, when he was introduced to Europe and achieved worldwide fame.

The Piano Concerto introduced here is a mid-period work composed in 1964.

It is an extremely complex and challenging piece, quite different from the conventional “piano concerto,” and even today it is said to be performed relatively rarely.

For those seeking beautiful melodies or lyrical phrases, it may prompt the question, “Is this really music?” Precisely because its style could be called quintessentially contemporary, if this work evokes any response in you, it may serve as a springboard for deeper exploration.

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