KURTÁG’S JÁTÉKOK: PLAYING GAMES WITH TRADITION

by

GABRIEL NEVES COELHO

A LECTURE-DOCUMENT

Presented to the School of Music and Dance of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts

December 2014

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“Kurtág’s Játékok: Playing Games with Tradition,” a lecture-document prepared by Gabriel

Neves Coelho in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in the School of Music and Dance. This lecture-document has been approved and accepted by:

Alexandre Dossin, Chair of the Examining Committee

Date: 12/07/2014

Committee in Charge: Alexandre Dossin, Chair Jack Boss Loren Kajikawa

Accepted by:

Phyllis M. Paul, Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Studies, School of Music and Dance

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© 2014 Gabriel Neves Coelho

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ABSTRACT

This study approaches the compilation of pieces known under the general title

Játékok (or Games), which was written by the Hungarian composer György Kurtág. Started in 1973, the set reflects the political context of under Soviet domination, as well as its posterior dissolution, also revealing the composer’s sensitivity and openness to create in a moment of historical and aesthetic transition. In analyzing how the collection achieved a synthesis between the radical experiments of the avant-garde and the canonic repertoire, it focus on the cultural symbols he manipulates within his music, juxtaposing elements from several layers of tradition.

The concept of musical games unfolds in different ways. They can be analyzed as performative games, in which ‘playing’ is interpreted as the more obvious act of performing the pieces, but also related to the idea of ‘playfulness’, therefore treating the piano almost as a toy, exploring all possibilities of movement. Another even larger group is represented by those pieces treated as compositional and/or cultural games. Here, the composer is ‘playing’ with tradition, alluding to other composers, artists and historical practices, and by consequence also relocating the cultural meaning embedded in those borrowings.

This research concludes focusing on the private games, in which people, colleagues and facts from the composer’s personal life stimulate his own composition. The last section analyses the process of transmutation from a pedagogical series to the increasing exposure of his private world and frequent references to loss, identifying certain recurrent patterns occurring already in the first volumes.

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CURRICULUM VITAE

NAME OF AUTHOR: Gabriel Neves Coelho

PLACE OF BIRTH: Brazil

GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:

University of Oregon, Eugene University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

DEGREES AWARDED:

Doctor of Musical Arts, Piano Performance, 2014, University of Oregon Master of Music, Piano Performance, 2007, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Bachelor of Music, 2005, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:

Contemporary music – Scholarship and Performance Practice Piano Performance Piano Pedagogy Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Piano Faculty, Amazonas State University (UEA), Manaus, Brazil, starting on March, 2015

Pianist and Choir Director, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Eugene, Oregon, 2013- 2014

Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2011- 2014

Pianist/Instructor, Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil, Joinville, SC, Brazil, 2008- 2009

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GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:

Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Oregon, School of Music and Dance, 2011-2014

Gary E. Smith Summer Professional Development Award, University of Oregon, G