Olivier Messiaen - Hebrides Ensemble - Financial Times

This CD spans Messiaen's entire career, from the early 1930s Thème et Variations to the tiny but vigorous Pièce pour piano et quatuor à cordes , written in 1991 when he was 83. The centrepiece is Quatuor pour la fin du temps , the haunting eight- movement work based on material Messiaen composed in a Nazi prison camp in 1940-41. It exists outside time and far beyond the boundaries of his recognised style, bearing an extraordinary creative force that impresses even if you don't know its background. The Hebrides Ensemble play as if they believe in every note.