On the fall of France in 1940 , Messiaen was made a prisoner of war , during which time he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ( `` Quartet for the end of time '' ) for the four available instruments-piano , violin , cello and clarinet .
While he was held in a Silesian camp he composed a work which was to become a very famous piece of chamber music : the Quatuor pour la fin du temps ( `` Quartet for the end of time '' ) for piano , violin , cello , and clarinet .