WE’RE LATE! creates a contemporary frame for Olivier Messaien’s iconic Quartet for the End of Time. Messaien’s celestial understanding of time is contrasted here with Lukas Foss’ Time Cycle, which takes a sarcastic view of time’s inescapable weight, and Elliot Carter’s Tempo e tempi, a lyrical setting of Italian poems on time.
Acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Polese joins The Happenstancers for these mesmerising contemporary song cycles, as well as a stunning new arrangement of Messiaen’s Résurrection, commissioned specifically for this project.
Completing the programme are theatrical works by Anna Korsun and Toshi Ichiyanagi which each utilise technology in novel and compelling ways. Alongside John Cage’s 4’33”, these pieces hold time as central themes while incorporating influences from performance art and eastern religious practice, further contrasting Messiaen’s devout Catholicism.