Free Concert and Exhibition: An afternoon of two epic artworks

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Cleve Gray’s immense Threnody (1972) and Olivier Messiaen’s monumental Quartet for the End of Time (1941) respond to wartime death and destruction not with rage but with love and hope. Brilliantly co-existing within Messiaen’s magisterial musical canvas – a cornerstone of the concert repertory – are the composer’s religious devotion, love of birdsong, and passion for mysticism and the supernatural.

The internationally-acclaimed Copland House Ensemble, hailed for its “absorbing concert experiences and polished, colorful, and communicative playing” (Opera News), performs Messiaen’s masterwork in the Neuberger Museum of Art’s Theater Gallery surrounded by Gray’s magnum opus.

The Copland House Ensemble in Threnody (July 2022)

A 250-foot-wide, 20-foot-tall, site-specific painting commissioned for the opening of the Museum in 1974, Threnody is a lament for the dead on both sides of the Vietnam War. Across its twenty-eight panels, rhythmically spaced motifs suggest a diversity of imagery. Most vividly, perhaps, is a procession of solemn dancers that express the artist’s hope for humanity’s spiritual and emotional healing. “The depiction of tragedy often requires an element of hope …” explained Gray. “In the midst of death it had to offer the hope of life ….”

Threnody is on view as part of the Museum’s commemorative golden anniversary exhibition, The Making of a Museum: 50 Years.  Guests are encouraged to browse the exhibition prior to the performance. The afternoon will be an unforgettable experience at the intersection of art, music, and spirituality.

Generous support for this concert has been provided by O. Anthony Maddalena.