Olivier Messiaen wrote his immensely powerful Quartet for the End of Time while a prisoner of war in Stalag VIII-A in Silesia, and it was premiered in the camp in 1941 to an audience of 400 fellow prisoners and Nazi guards. Despite its apocalyptic themes, drawn from the Book of Revelation, it is a glittering work of sublime, transcendent beauty, and it is performed by an ensemble of exceptional international soloists.