Lucy Railton releases recording of Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus’ on new 10”

Originally composed while Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Germany, and first performed inside a Nazi concentration camp. 

Cellist Lucy Railton has released a new recording of French composer Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus’, via Modern Love.

The fifth movement from Messiaen’s Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time), ‘Louange à l’éternité de Jésus’ was composed while Messiaen was a prisoner of war in Germany, and first performed inside a Nazi concentration camp during 1941.

Inspired by the Book of Revelation, its slow and haunting melodies reflect Quatuor’s vision of “immutable peace.”

With Railton on cello and Andrew Marx on organ, the music was originally recorded a decade ago at a concert at Buckfast Abbey in Devon.

“There was a kind of communal acknowledgement of something bigger than that moment and place, of the immense beauty of music, and of the human capacity for resilience, and transformation,” recalls Railton.

All proceeds from the record will be donated to The Grenfell Foundation and the UN Refugee Agency Covid-19 Appeal.

The recording follows the release of Railton’s collaborative album with Peter Zinovieff – RFG Inventions for Cello and Computer – on PAN in February.

Head here to purchase a copy of Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus (from Quatuor pour la fin du temps) – Performed by Lucy Railton, and check out the artwork below.