Casals Quartet & Tamara Stefanovich Hungariana Sunday 3 February 2019, Milton Court Concert Hall

Concert 1: 11am

Concert 2: 3pm

Concert 3: 7.30pm Igor Cat

Casals String Quartet Vera Martínez Mehner violin (leader) Abel Tomàs violin Jonathan Brown viola Arnau Tomàs cello Tamara Stefanovich piano Gerard McBurney creative director Amelia Kosminsky video designer Pete Wallace video operator

Part of Barbican Presents 2018–19

Programme produced by Harriet Smith; printed by Trade Winds Colour Printers Ltd; advertising by Cabbell (tel 020 3603 7930) Please turn off watch alarms, phones, pagers etc during the performance. Taking photographs, Marco Borggreve Marco capturing images or using recording devices during a performance is strictly prohibited. Please remember that to use our induction loop you should switch your hearing aid to T setting on entering the hall. If your hearing aid is not correctly set to T it may cause high-pitched feedback which can spoil the enjoyment of your fellow audience members. We appreciate that it’s not always possible to prevent coughing during a performance. But, for the sake of other audience members and the artists, if you feel the need to cough or sneeze, please stifle it

The City of London with a handkerchief. Corporation is the founder and If anything limits your enjoyment please let us know principal funder of during your visit. Additional feedback can be given the Barbican Centre online. 2

Fortepan, Donator: Pesti Brúnó and contributors to Fortepan.hu original images credited to the many creators Amelia Kosminsky Gerard McBurney Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet nocturnes’ Ligeti Ligeti György Kurtág Bartók 3 Concert Amelia Kosminsky Gerard McBurney Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet Bartók Ligeti Bartók György Kurtág 2 Concert Amelia Kosminsky Gerard McBurney Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet Bartók György Kurtág 12 Microludes, Op 13 György Kurtág Ligeti 1 Concert Milton CourtConcertHall Sun 3Feb Hungariana Tamara Stefanovich & Quartet Casals String Quartet No 1, ‘Métamorphoses Musica ricercata VI–XI Études –excerpts Musica ricercata I–V String Quartet No 1, Op 7 Three Burlesques,Op 8c String Quartet No 3 14 Bagatelles, Op 6 11am 7.30p 3pm

m Játékok –excerpts Six Momentsmusicaux,Op 44 Játékok –excerpts Hommage àMihályAndrás: creative director creative director creative director video designer video designer video designer piano piano piano

3 Sun 3 Feb 4 died inBudapest1919. wonderful Five Songs,Op 16 to Ady’s words). He modernist French poetry. (In1916 Bartókwrote his time inParis, where hewas deeplyinfluenced by Romania. Between 1904 and1911 hespent much was born in1877 inasmallvillage inwhatisnow Endre Ady, theemblematicHungarianSymbolist, to ourthree composers. century, both of them,indifferent ways, important the two mostfamous Hungarianpoetsof the20th the lives of agreat many Hungarianartists.Take There’s apattern here. Andit’sonemirrored in a decade, before moving back to Budapest. move to France oncemore, where they spentover in ournew millennium,heandhiswife choseto postgraduate student.Many years later, early went to Paris, where hespenttwo years asa to Budapestin1946, andinthelate 1950s he in whatisstillRomania, in1926. Hemoved Bartók andLigeti,was borninasmalltown György Kurtág ishappilystillwithus.He,like in Vienna2006. Germany, theUSA andother places, andhedied Austria. Thereafter, hisworking life took himto Uprising andtheSoviet invasion, hefled to in Budapest.In1956, following theHungarian most of hisstudentandearlyprofessional years he was imprisonedinalabourcamp,butspent in whathad recently becomeRomania. In1944 In 1923 György Ligetiwas borninasmalltown States. HediedinNew York in1945. In 1940 helefthisnative landfor theUnited Slovakia, before eventually moving to Budapest. what isnow Ukraine andanother inwhatisnow now Romania. Part of hischildhoodhespentin what was thentheAustro-Hungarian Empire. Itis In 1881 BélaBartókwas borninasmalltown in background to Hungariana Gerard McBurney, creative director, onthe Hungarian Dreams The commonthreads are asfollows: Hungarian cinema.Somany talents! Casablanca Curtiz, famously remembered asthedirector of Robert Capa;André Kertész; andMichael Berlin andLondon,before endingupinChicago. László Moholy-Nagy moved through Vienna, Or thephotographers, painters andfilm-makers? hand inSanDiego1989. 1948 andthentheUSA, where hediedby hisown memoirist SándorMárai emigrated to Italy in many years inGermany. Thenovelist and chronicler of theHolocaust,Imre Kertész, spent And theprose writers? TheNobelPrize-winning accident. Some thinkthiswas suicide,others thatitwas an the carriages of atrain thatsuddenlymoved. 1937 Józsefwas killedwhenhestepped between there, afew years later, heandBartókmet.In to Paris. In1927 hereturned to Budapestand 1925 hemoved to Vienna,thenthefollowing year Attila Józsefwas borninBudapest1905. In The emergence of modernHungaryfrom The ideaof emigration andreturn. Francophilia). enabled (Romania had adeep tradition of The access to French culture thatTransylvania the new Romania. Hungarian culture even after itbecamepartof The unusualrole of Transylvania asacradle of Germany andtheSoviet Union. related disasters of beinglaidwaste to by Nazi fascism andHungariancommunism,the The compoundcatastrophe of Hungarian wars, treaties andrevolutions. subsequent andoften disastrous reshaping by the ruinsof theHabsburg Empire, andits

butoneof thegreatest pioneersof poet between thetwo world wars. Attila József(1905–37): thegreatest Hungarian Nyugat the mostimportant Hungarianliterary magazine 1949): scholar, criticandwriter, andfounder of Hugó Veigelsberg, known as‘Ignotus’ (1869– writer of shortstories. greatest of allHungarian poetsandabrilliant Endre Ady (1877–1919): oneof thebestloved and concentration campattheage of 43. and novelist, whowas beaten to deathina Antal Szerb(1901–45): theJewish scholar order inwhichwe meetthem: The writers whosewords we hearinclude,inthe conversations. through theirdiaries,letters, reminiscences and We hearfrom thecomposersthemselves, buildings, streets, rivers, fields andvillages. as focusing inontiny andevocative details of through whichHungarianshave lived, aswell 20th century–to evoke thegreat historical events photographers from around 1900 to thelate photographs of Hungary–mostlyby amateur composers came.We alsouse fragments of old reflect theHungarianworld from whichthese we canwithscraps of prose andpoetrywhich environment, complementingthemaslightly We surround thesepieceswithapoeticandvisual emphasis ontheirearlierworks. and Kurtág –withaspecialbutnot exclusive celebrate three great composers–Bartók,Ligeti Over thecourseof thesethree concerts,we artist whoever lived there. on theother –seemsto have haunted every – Buda,onesideof theriver Danube,andPest Budapest, whosedoublyenigmaticcharacter And, rightatthecentre, thecapital cityof Hungarian identities. many great artistsbetween theirJewish and and thecreative tension inthemindsof so The overwhelming impact of theHolocaust, A great love of theHungarianlanguage. (‘West’). photography from 1900 to 2000. an onlinecollectionof amateur Hungarian came across thisincredible archive of Fortepan, Brassaï, Capa,Moholy-Nagy andKertész, I through theworks of photographers suchas the day. Inresearching Hungarianphotography the correct visualstyleto supportthemusicof one of themostimportant elementswas finding When Gerard andIembarked onthisproject, Amelia Kosminsky onbringingthevisualsto life © Gerard McBurney Samuel Beckett. from aletter by György Kurtág’s favourite author, Alexander Ryan for thebriefbuttelling quotation through themysteries of Hungariana,andto Deep thanks to Peter Sherwood for guidingme and scholarPeter Sherwood. these concertsby theAnglo-Hungarianwriter and Józsefhave beenspeciallyrecorded for The originalHungariantexts of poemsby Ady memoirist andjournalist. Sándor Márai (1900–89), poet,novelist, theatre director andtranslator Samuel Beckett (1906–89) Irishplaywright, author, Gyula Krúdy(1878–1933), novelist andjournalist. © AmeliaKosminsky through history through theirdocumentation. and donators of Fortepan for allowing usto walk A hugethankyou to thecreators, contributors composers were writing. intriguing insightinto thecountryaboutwhich video designfor theconcertsandallowed for its photographers was crucialto creating the Being ableto seeHungarythrough theeyes of non-narrative way. musical ideasof Bartók,LigetiandKurtág ina create adreamlike atmosphere thatreflects the throughout thecentury, Icollated imagery to Using elementsof real Hungarianphotographs

5 An introduction 6 original images credited to the many creators and contributors to Fortepan.hu Kosminsky Amelia McBurney Gerard Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet 7 Op 1, No Quartet String Bartók Béla II V&Book Book Játékok –excerpts III, Book from Kurtág György 13 Op András: àHommage Mihály Twelve Microludes, Kurtág György Musica ricercata György Ligeti 11am: Concert 1 3Feb: Hungariana Sun (1977–8)

(1881–1945) creative director director creative (1951–3) video designer designer video (1923–2006) piano

(born 1926)(born

– Nos I–V – Nos

(1908–9)

single interval –aminorsecond, oddlypitched II: Inwhatisagain aminiature sound-drama, a doorway leading on. octave spread, isnot somuchahomecomingas a keyboard. Theentryof anew note, D,again in an goes on,inoctaves atthetop andbottom of the and seeminglyfinished, themusicintemperately ostinato. After having spedup,simplified itself monotone themeisassembledover anoctave registers. There isatheatricalstart, andthena I: Atfirst thisisone-note music,allonAinvarious this morningandcompletes thesetthisevening. Tamara Stefanovich performs thefirst five pieces brilliance, variety andhumour. as well asthoroughly appealing,by virtueof its from then,itmightappearstartling allover again, had made itmore plausible.Halfacenturyon developments innew music,andinhisown work, He therefore kept itunder wraps until1969, when Stockhausen orNono–to not sound,like Cage. who expected new musicto soundlike Boulez, Europe, too tame to besetbefore audiences its composer, after hisemigration to western in Budapestatthetime,work seemedto Baroque times.Too audacious for performance end withsomethinglike aricercare, orfugue,of available store of notes, beginningwithtwo, to a suite of pianopieceseach adding oneto the from nothing’. Hencethis‘researched music’, to goback to basics‘to buildupanew music lingua franca post-Bartók, post-Kodály idiomthatwas the in Budapest.Feeling hehad exhausted thefolksy, late twenties andteaching attheLisztAcademy ricercata An earlyexample canbefound inhis or rules,by whichmusiccouldbegenerated. was fascinated by other kindsof algorithms, Though scepticalof Schoenberg’s ,Ligeti V Rubato. Lamentoso Barbarie’) IV Tempo divalse (pocovivace –‘àl’orgue de III Allegro conspirito II Mesto, rigidoecerimoniale I Sostenuto –Misurato –Prestissimo Musica ricercata György Ligeti of 1951–3, written whenhewas inhis in Hungary at the time, he decided in Hungaryatthetime,hedecided Musica Musica

agitato –XIXIILeggiero, conmoto, dolce sentito –VIVIIVIIIConslancioIX —XMolto I –IIIIIIVPresto –VLontano, calmo,appena Op 13 Hommage àMihály András: 12Microludes, György Kurtág resonating on. piece comesto rest onG,withtheminorchord and wholetones). Bellsare evoked, andthe from anoctatonic scale(of alternating semitones is revisited, butnow indenserharmony, derived V: Theminor-second chantof thesecondnumber note, Gsharp. itself thanks to ascare from themovement’s fifth (orgue deBarbarie).Almostlost,thetunerecovers for atipsy waltz, comingasiffrom a barrel organ IV: Four notes from a Gminorscaleare enough sounding like folk music. Not for thelasttime,anabstract constructendsup around atriad inCwithmajorandminorthirds. through apiecethatthereby wobbles andskips III: Now thefullassemblyof four notes runsall 1999 film Stanley Kubrick made telling useof thepieceinhis halfway through, changingthelocusof thethreat. – G,adding afurtherminorsecond– to arrive threatening. Here, too, anote isheldinreserve material necessaryfor aslipof chant,darkand between EsharpandF–provides allthe light, nomatter what. keeps comingback inthe violins,like apersistent of space andtime. Inthenext, anFmajorchord are heard asiffrom across immensedistances the fifth piece,where phrases from afolk song the narrative impetus.Whatremains longestis the quicksuccessionof thosescenesintensifying characters, different situations,different locations, to scenesfrom afilm, inwhichthere are different as soonithasbeensetup,mightbecompared atmosphere oragesture to aconclusionalmost minutes in total. These tiny movements, bringing an takes theform of 12 ‘microludes’ playing for 10 for the60thbirthday of amusicianherevered; it Kurtág composedhissecondquartet in1977–8 Eyes WideShut .

7 Sun 3 Feb 8 pieces reflect awholemusical universe. They Altogether, ina multitudeof fragments, the André Hajdu. who emigrated to Paris andeventually Jerusalem, and Endre Szervánszky;andayounger colleague protectors of anoldergeneration, AndrásMihály Kadosa; thepoetGyörgy Somlyó;two important two of Kurtág’s teachers, Ferenc SzabóandPál other composers.Amongthosepresent here are homages: portraits of friendsorevocations of of humangestures andrelationships. Alot are suggest images, from aflower to infinity by way his wife Márta andhimself.Many of thepieces hall, andinparticularto creating repertoire for shifted from theteaching studioto theconcert was outstrippedasthecomposer’sattention The originalpurposeof exercising infant fingers (which translates as‘Games’or‘Play Material)’. there are now several hundred of these since whichtimehehasnever stopped, sothat 1979 hehad written enoughfor four volumes, commission, butthemotor went onturning.By some children’s pianopieces.Hefulfilled the The sparkwas aninvitation in1973 to compose what hecouldnever have expected to be:prolific. and for smallforces. Then,suddenly, hebecame writing justnineworks, nearlyallof themshort In hisfirst periodof maturity, Kurtág spent14 years André Hajdu–12 Hommage àNancySinatra – 10 ‘Messzenezo 12 Microludes (Hommage àKadosa): 1–9untitled from Játékok, BookII birthday) A Voice intheDistance (for Alfred Schlee’s80th from Játékok, Book V Half Asleep(Hommage àChristianWolff) Dirge (2) Silence (Hommage àSzervánszky) Shadowplay (3) Elegy for theLeftHand Dirge (1) Quiet Talk withtheDevil Play withInfinity Stockhausen 10 Vivo –11 Hommage àJSB–12 Hommage à Mihály –8 Conslancio9Obstinate Aflat – à György Somlyó)–7Hommage àAndrás Ferenc Szabó)–6Shadowplay (Hommage 4 Labyrinthine D–5Tune (Hommage à 12 New Microludes: 1–2Agitato –3 from Játékok, BookIII György Kurtág ” szepkonyoklo ” ’– 11 Hommage à Játékok

Kurtág wrote ‘AVoice intheDistance’ –or‘Aus resonances, reaching home. the composer, andthento ChristianWolff’s gentle inscribed to IlonaLigeti,physician andmother of later years) goesonto adirge of worry andbells Jews, hewas acomposerwhowrote littleinhis Szervánszky’s silence(awartime hero insaving shadowplay hasonehandshadowing theother. that isagain oneof thelongerpieces.Another broken-chorale dirge and aleft-handelegy conversation thatfollows, after whichcomea and thesky. Thedevil lurks inthebassfor the In ‘Play withInfinity’, Kurtág scansthe keyboard momentum here. ‘Con slancio’means‘Withmomentum’–jumpy cracked bells,insistence andwispsof amelody. in bellsounds,whileAndrásMihályreceives scales. Ferenc Szabó’stuneisalmostburied Agitation inthenext pieceiscausedby rising several responses, none of themsatisfactory. of aKurtág type,theinsistent questionthatelicits sounds andresonances). Firstoff isanexample to acoupleof minutes (theshadowplay of soft few seconds(awobble andaskidfor JS Bach) of hisThird Book,ranging induration from a microludes thecomposerplaced attheend This first Kurtág group beginswithasetof seriousness. him, of composition asplaying gameswithdeadly this afternoon –butalsoa spirithehaskept with compositions –includingthequartet to beheard gave Kurtág not onlycluestoward larger composer. When, however, hebeganto take his with piecesfor thepianothat hestarted outas a Bartók’s instrument was thepiano,anditwas 3 Allegro vivace 2 Allegretto 1 Lento String Quartet No 1,Op7 Béla Bartók Made for Walkin’’. and No 12 recalls ahitof 1966, ‘TheseBoots are conveying thesameposture softly andbrightly; to lookoutinto thedistance; No 11 might be by Bartók)suggestive of leaningonawindowsill quote from BélaBalázs’s untitled, butnot thelastthree. No 10 carriesa closes thesecondvolume of selection thenendswiththesetof microludes that German title–for hisAustrian publisher. The der Ferne’ (From theDistance), to give ititsoriginal Bluebeard’s Castle Játékok . Most are . Mostare (set (set rustle of parallel triads over acelloline,followed semitones andthentheviolinsviolamakinga middle section,withtheviolastraining atfalling joining theothers infour-part interplay. There isa is to repeat theopeningdown anoctave before Verklärte Nacht young Bartókof Reger andtheSchoenberg of movement, whichindicates theimportance to the sets outtheessentiallypolyphonicterms of this apart, feel themselves adrift. Theduoalso perhaps expressive of two peoplewho,drifting unprecedented inthequartet literature and a pairof straying, unsupported lines –asound soon departsfrom strictcanon,continuingas These sixthsopenaduofor theviolinsthat reconfigured asapairof falling sixths,inFminor. now, intheequivalent movement of thequartet, luminous first movement of theconcerto was seventh chord thathad beenStefi’s motif inthe finished, itwas allover. Thearpeggiated D major passionately inlove; by thetimequartet was both theconcerto andthequartet in1907, composing hisFirstViolinConcerto. Hebegan whom, andaround whom,hewas simultaneously out of hisbreaking romance withStefi Geyer, for Quartet was partof themusicalstory thatcame separate, Hungarian.Atthesametime,thisFirst on nearby Vienna,yet to remain distinctively himself by thelightsof thegreat tradition centred it had beenwithhisquartets of before: to prove Bartók’s intention for thepiecewas probably what next three stages.) journey, andto give thefirst performances of its accompany Bartókthroughout his30-year quartet March 1910. (Waldbauer andKerpely were to they introduced themattwo portrait concertsin for ayear, andcommitting themto memory, of thegroup at23.After rehearsing thetwo works teenagers, withJeno second violinandviolaheconscripted were also play thework andalsoaquartet by Kodály. The Waldbauer, justturning17, formed aquartet to Soon afterwards, ayoung violinistnamedImre completed inJanuary1909. before thefirst quartet hewas to publish,whichhe 15 and17. There was thenagapof adecade of whichhewrote three between theages of music for stringsandpianothestring quartet, extended hisrange to theviolinsonata, chamber composing more seriously, inhismid-teens, he . Whentheviolaandcelloenter, it ” Kerpely, thecellist,doyen the themehasbeensubsumedinto opera, in playful that of thepreceding movement) isteased into a principal theme(tweaked andextended from for instance, isafugato inwhichtheabrupt reach parody. Muchof thedevelopment section, by aspiritof variation sointense assometimesto and first violin.Themovement isalsogalvanised summonses separating recitatives from thecello prefaced by an introduction made upof chordal In form thefinale isagain asortof sonata, migration of 1,000 years before. ancient, perhapspredating thegreat Magyar of tunesthat,beingpentatonic, hebelieved to be first visitto Transylvania, andhisdiscovery there quartet’s first sketches was alsothesummerof his on Bartók’smindatthistime.Thesummerof the concerto. However, there was somethingelse fast diptych, comparable thereby withStefi’s The quartet couldhave endedhere, asaslow– of Debussy. (though soindependently)thecontinuinginfluence of thewhole-tone scale,perhapsconceding not onlyby chromaticism butalsoby thepresence followed by afifth. Tonality iscompromised here affirming themainmotif –asemitonal fall in duos,anddefined by thesecondviolinin gained through anintroduction for thequartet form, dancingandspectral. Thefaster tempo is What itprepares isatwilightAllegretto insonata at oncereprise andpreparation. by anapotheosis of thebeginningupanoctave, Programme notes © improvisatory kind. the more sofor comingafter two of asuspended, a wholemakes adecisive homecoming, andall offices of traditional tonality. Themovement as tonal certitude,onA,achieved withoutthegood was to make hisown, andleading to ablazeof edged, fiercely dynamicterritory thatBartók syncopations, bringingthequartet into thehard- by ostinatos, fast pulsationsandvigorous Even so,themovement isprincipally characterised an impassioned drop of aminorthird) immune,for itcanbecome (a semitonal fall heard three times,followed by a G sharp minor. Noristhedrivingsecondsubject grazioso , andeven before thispassage adagio lamentorbeinverted.

9 Sun 3 Feb 10 original images credited to the many creators and contributors to Fortepan.hu Kosminsky Amelia McBurney Gerard Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet 3 No Quartet String Bartók Béla Études György Ligeti 6 Op Bagatelles, 14 Bartók Béla 44 Op musicaux, Moments Six Kurtág György 3pm: Concert 2 3Feb: Hungariana Sun (1985–95)

– excerpts – (1881–1945) creative director director creative video designer video (1923–2006) piano (1908)

(born 1926)(born (1927)

(2005)

and teacher György Sebo followed by amemorialto theHungarianpianist ostinatos, thefirst partbeingrepeated; thisis Next, agamewithquickfire responses and someone were coming…’. the HungarianpoetEndre Ady: ‘…asthough to whichthecomposeradds anepigraph from from oneof SamuelBeckett’s shortlate plays, ‘Footfalls’, thefirst slow movement, takes itstitle fingerboard. given thenasalsoundof bow strokes closeto the in turn,allplaying chromatic melody, unfolded by theinstruments impassioned andloud,butatitsheartliea The openingmovement ismostlydriving, between speedandslowness. make awholeform, awholedrama, alternating distinct musicalmoments,even ifthey combineto gave itanaptlySchubertiantitle,for theseare Kurtág wrote this,hisfourth quartet, in2005,and 6 Lesadieux—in Janácˇ eks Manier 5 …rappel desoiseaux… 4 InmemoriamGyörgy Sebo 3 Capriccio 2 Footfalls 1 Invocatio Six Momentsmusicaux, Op 44 György Kurtág 10 Allegro 9 Allegretto grazioso 8 Andante sostenuto 7 Allegretto molto capriccioso 6 Lento 5 Vivo Grave 4 3 Andante 2 Allegro giocoso 1 Molto sostenuto 14 Bagatelles, Op 6 Béla Bartók powerfully andmovingly withitsown voice. Sonata, Op 81a) aswell asJanácˇ ek,yet speaking carrying thoughtsof Beethoven (his‘Lesadieux’ homage to Messiaen, followed by a farewell ‘study inharmonics’andpaying unspoken Then comesabirdsong movement, subtitled as was thatof thefinale. original of thispiecewas oneof Kurtág’s pianissimo ” k (1922–99). Thepiano ” , and a chorale, , andachorale, k Játékok , Both were leading himaway from traditional encountered onthepages of hiscontemporaries. what Bartókheard inremote villages andwhathe However, there was acertain accord between fourth, too, isbasedonafolk song). on atuneBartóktranscribed inSlovakia (andthe far removed from theliveliness of thefifth, based eighth of theset,highlychromatic, mightseem Bartók was closebehindhim.Apiecesuchasthe at justthistime,andinsomeof thesebagatelles The latter was openingthedoorinto atonality not onlywithDebussy butalsowithSchoenberg. others suggestacomposerabsolutely upto date, very muchtoward ancient folk music,whereas Correspondingly, someof thebagatelles lean collecting folk songs. before heandKodály had goneontheirfirst tour Zoltán Kodály brought back from Paris. Theyear Debussy’s pianomusic,through scores hisfriend appointment hemade theacquaintance of demanded attention. Intheyear of hisacademy a lot of new musicalimpulsesinhismindthat Budapest, asapianoprofessor. Buthealso had the staff athisalmamater, theLisztAcademy in stability may have helped:in1907 hejoined String Quartet andalot of pianomusic.Financial that produced several orchestral scores, hisFirst In hislate twenties Bartókenjoyed acreative surge 14 Valse (mamiequidanse):Presto 13 (Elleestmorte …):Lento funebre 12 Rubato –Poco piùmosso 11 Allegretto molto rubato being visited by hisex-lover’s ghost. nightmare presto, asiftheyoung composerwere he associated withStefi –agesture taken into a and thefinale isbasedonamelodicgesture of Bartók’saffair withthe violinistStefi Geyer, (She isdead), isalamentprompted by theending piece, parenthetically entitled‘Elleestmorte …’ at leastasthecycle nearsitsend.Thefateful 13th They seemto bepersonal,too, insubjectmatter, style, withtheirtraits of insistence andintensity. in them,thesepiecesare completely personalin At thesametime,despite alltheinfluences aswirl immediacy through compactness. too, Bartókhad learnedto achieve strength and and abstract inanother. From both hissources, and melodicmotifs cansoundfolkish inonepiece tonality andrhythm, andsosimilarharmonies

11 Sun 3 Feb 12 the bass and thenreappears in thehightreble – a typicalLigetian tactic, themusicdescendsinto blocking, sothat its even rhythm is hobbled.In strike akey theleftisholdingdown andthereby hand’s notes are interrupted whenittriesto ‘Touches bloquées’(Blocked Keys): Theright distantly remembered folk song. Hence themodalcolourings,and senseof black plusonewhite, andthesix white remaining. hands have non-overlapping setsof keys: five an attempt to recall Debussy’s ‘Clairdelune’.The ‘En suspens’(Suspended):This original speed. territory isgoneover again atone-third of the and also luminous.(InHungarian harsh, clangorous, indeedmetallic, andindeed and triads to more complex chords: thesoundis into closeregistral spaces, andmoving from fifths rhythmic values, alternately loudandsoft, locked ‘Fém’ (Metal): Thepieceisahocket ineven string instruments. fifths, hencethetitle’sreference to thetuningof bewilderment orveiling. Thispieceisastudyin from folk music;harmony andmetre instates of construction from simpleelements;imprints First Bookshare certain basicfeatures: generative ‘Cordes àvide’(OpenStrings): Thestudiesinthe different speeds. illusion of several simultaneous layers moving at Nancarrow, allhelpingLigetito create the music andthecomplex cross-rhythms of Conlon multiplied ononeanother infinitely), African fractal patterning (whereby similarimages are in Debussy, andnewer enthusiasmsthatincluded European folk music,thesurvivingdiatonic light experience of composingandof Central So muchfeeds into thesepieces:allhisearlier medium inthefantastic machinery of thepiano. his creative mentality had discovered aperfect stop adding more: thefantastic machinery of published in1985, Ligetifound itimpossibleto Having begunwithabookof sixpianoétudes, No 10 DerZauberlehrling No 15 White onWhite No 5 Arc-en-ciel No 3 Touches bloquées No 11 Ensuspens No 8 Fém No 2 Cordes àvide Études György Ligeti fény is ‘light’.) In a quiet coda, some of the is‘light’.)Inaquietcoda,someof the fém Étude means ‘metal’ means‘metal’ sounds like soundslike 1 Primaparte: Moderato – String Quartet No 3 Béla Bartók main crisispointinto anAflat Phrygianscale. move rhythmically andharmonically, turning atthe in whichasimpleostinato isconstantly onthe Mouse intheDisney film Apprentice story musicallyretold inDukas’s ‘Der Zauberlehrling’:BasedontheGoethe until very neartheend. running quavers, butstillonlyonthe white notes asymmetrical melodyonasymmetrically grouped time. Thepiecethenturnsinto atypicalplay of to bepullingintwo ormore directions atthesame and chords are generally unrepeated) often seem unstable: progressions (inthiscasetriads are rare, harmonic inclinationsthatare crooked and though outof theserestricted meanscome entirely onthewhite keys inthetreble register, ‘White onWhite’: Aslow chorale-canon proceeds above therange of thepiano’skeyboard. rejoin, andthepiecevanishes into theinfinite blue chromatic scales.Thehandscomeapartand despite thepressure to descendcausedby between thehandsto keep themusicafloat hang onlongarcs, thegentlefigures jostling ‘Arc-en-ciel’ (Rainbow): Fresh-coloured harmonies right hand’shaltingrace isthenbriefly resumed. strikingly transformed, asitturnsout,thoughthe embraced – twiceover. Whatbegins the supplemented inhisFirstQuartet he here The slow–fast pattern thatBartók had February 1929. the work before giving itsfirst performance, on19 Waldbauer–Kerpely Quartet took time to prepare imitations andinversions, presented in canon. The ideas are often immediately countered by harmony isastringentandrestless, andmotivic had recently beenconcentrating. Moreover, the the world of thepiano,onwhichcomposer chords –suggestaneffort to bringthequartet into attacks onthetailpiece, emphaticdissonant sounds –notes played intemperate andformally complex. Percussive Bartók’s shortest quartet andalsohismost Completed inSeptember 1927, theThird is 4 Coda:Allegro molto 3 Recapitulazione dellaprimaparte: Moderato – 2 Secondaparte: Allegro – (andmusicallyenacted by Mickey col legno Fantasia , The Sorcerer’s martellato ), this is a scherzo ), thisisascherzo

Fortepan, Donator: Hungarian Museum of Technology and Transportation part ismore arevisiting of certain ideasfrom the What ensuesintherecapitulation of thefirst recapitulation moves oninto acoda. fugato passage, after whichaclearthematic whose development sectionfinds issueina of thiscomesaquick sonata movement, fourth followed by afalling minorthird. Out cells, of whichthe most important hasarising work isasequenceof meditations onsmall Programme notes ©Paul Griffiths that hasbeencutoff almostagainst itswill. string instruments’tuning,andmay suggestmusic dissonant, besidesbeingoff-centre interms of semitones. However, thechord isstillstrongly be regarded asaresolution of theopeningpiled Quartet, there isapile-upof fifths, whichcould ending ambiguously. Asatthecloseof theFirst the harmony andthe tempo of thesecondpart, final sectionasimilaraltered return to thethemes, introduction inanew context. There follows inthe

13 Sun 3 Feb 14 original images credited to the many creators and contributors to Fortepan.hu Kosminsky Amelia McBurney Gerard Tamara Stefanovich Casals Quartet (1953–4) nocturnes’ ‘Métamorphoses 1, No Quartet String György Ligeti Musica ricercata György Ligeti V,Book VI &uncollected Book III, Book Játékok II, –excerpts Book I, Book from Kurtág György 8c Op Burlesques, Three Bartók Béla 7.30pm: Concert 3 3Feb: Hungariana Sun

(1881–1945) creative director director creative (1951–3) video designer video (1923–2006) piano

(born 1926)(born

– Nos VI–XI Nos –

(1908–11)

Stubbunny Tumble Bunny from Játékok, Book III Antiphony inFsharp Dialogue Devil’s Jump Adoration, adoration, accursed desolation… Forte-Piano Play withOvertones (3) Quarrelling (4) from Játékok, BookII Beating (3tones, 3rhythmic patterns) Hommage àLigeti Little Chorale (2) Boisterous Csárdás Detecting Chords (Hommage àIstvánMáriássy) Hommage àBartók Little Chorale (1) 1b) Flowers we are, frail flowers …(versions 1aand from Játékok, BookI György Kurtág reconceived humorously. which Bartókwas composingatthistime,is The armouryscenefrom Ostinatos figure inthelastpiece,from May 1911. the hiccupsof dissonantgrace notes. but ‘inanunsteady rhythm’, Bartóknotes, andwith theme isafolk-type tuneplayed atfirst intriads, insight into therealities of folk-song collecting.Its ‘A BitDrunk’was written in1910 andmightbean C like the10th Bagatelle. highly chromatic subject,therefore, resolving into idea made upof semitones andatritone –a the larger scale,itisanargument onasix-note salting of octaves withbitingmajorseconds.On overlaps of tripleandquadruple time,andto the the handsrushafter each other inimitation, to which itmighthave fitted. Itstitlerelates to how 1908, thesameyear asthe The first of Bartók’s 3 Molto vivo, capriccioso 2 ABitDrunk:Allegretto 1 Quarrel: Presto Three Burlesques,Op 8c Béla Bartók Three Burlesques Bluebeard’s Castle Bagatelles dates from 6, into , Op 6,into , in soft (long) and loud (short). In the ensuing in soft (long)andloud(short).Intheensuing intense, even sinister –andanelemental study – aprimeexample of playfulness becoming benign dispute, followed by asongof resonances From theSecondBook,‘Quarrelling (4)’isa ‘Boisterous Csárdás’ thatwent earlier. which, interms of dumbabruptness,beatsthe a sequenceof cloudsfor Ligeti,and‘Beating’, (István Máriássy was adistinguishedmusiceditor), complex chords release simplerresonances which fingers are progressively released sothat chords, asnapof dancefor Bartók,apiecein though, we goonto two littlechorales of bell more versions inthisvolume andlater. Here, Sayings of Péter Bornemisza melody from hismajorwork of the1960s, Kurtág placed two variations onastrand of Close to thebeginningof hispianocompendium For Márta Kurtág’s 90thBirthday from Játékok: uncollected Doina her lefthand(Souvenir deKuhmo) Birthday Elegyfor Judit–for thesecondfinger of A HungarianLessonfor Foreigners For Dóra Antal’s Birthday from Játékok, Book VI only 3?) (or: How canthesame4sounds beanswered with Dialogue for the70thBirthday of AndrásMihály Fanfares from Játékok, Book V whose later numbersincludeabrieflanguage on achant-like motif atthe start of hisSixthBook, who served his music faithfully, with alittlefantasy Kurtág honoured Dóra Antal, amusicproducer by another tribute to AndrásMihály. trumpets, somewhat Stravinskian, to be followed Book V, the ‘Fanfares’ comefrom cracked composer’s many tiny butfirm refusals. From ‘Stubbunny’ (i.e.Stubborn Bunny) isoneof the game of rolling aboutontheground, while Bunny’ tripsover scalesinsuggestingachildren’s Of two cunicularpiecesfrom BookIII,‘Tumble particular kind. in Fsharp’,of course,isalittledialogueof a pieces, for how they speak,wordlessly; ‘Antiphony ‘Dialogue’ isatitlethatcouldfit many of these this morningquietly, jumpswithatightclangour. cimbalom, after whichtheDevil, heard from folk-song sketch thepianodiscovers itsinner . There are many The The

15 Sun 3 Feb 16 compact Ligetian comedy. be heavily chromatic ordissonated, inanother X: With11 notes now to hand,simpletunescan hoped to study, was onlyafew years inthepast. coda. Thedeathof Bartók,withwhomLigetihad of adifferent colour, flights of panicandalong minor-third swings above, soongives way to bells IX: Regular tolling atthe bottom of thepiano,with the tunefrom thepreceding piece,butpersists. VIII: ABartókianrampage isdelicately invaded by dissolve. where theeighthnote comes in.Shiftslead to a joined by acanonicvoice afifth below, whichis through, thethememoves upanoctave andis in thecomposer’sViolinConcerto.) Halfway (Four decades later thistunewas to reappear folk-like, thatcouldbeinCminororGminor. hand, therightpicks outatune,oncemore diatonic. Against anostinato cloudintheleft VII: Again themusicisclearlybutambiguously flavour. and E,withacorresponding brightnessandfolk equivocating between modalvarieties of Amajor possible acomplete diatonic scale,butone VI: Thepresence now of seven notes makes is now completed. Begun inthefirst concertof theday, thissequence misurato etranquillo XI (Omaggio aGirolamo Frescobaldi) Andante X Vivace. Capriccioso Allegro maestoso IX (BélaBartókinmemoriam)Adagio. Mesto – VIII Vivace. Energico VII Cantabile, molto legato VI Allegro molto capriccioso Musica ricercata György Ligeti her 90thbirthday on1 October 2017. and allyineverything, thisoneoccasionedby written for hiswife Márta, performing partner The lastpieceisoneof several Kurtág has music scholarinIsrael. resonances, for hispupilJuditFrigyesi, currently a (Romanian folk song),withfurthercimbalom 17-year-old granddaughter anda lesson, a‘birthday elegy’for thecomposer’s doina

not challenging enough. Though he implicitly not challengingenough.Thoughheimplicitly gained experience of electronic music, itwas however, whoby thetimeof itspremiere had where aStalinist aesthetic ruled.For thecomposer, been too challengingfor presentation back home, in Viennaayear andahalflater. Thework had quartet withhim,andsecured aperformance domination had beenrestored, hetook this When LigetileftHungaryin1956, after Russian accelerando–Ad libitum,senzamisura –Lento – Allegro comodo,gioviale –Sostenuto, poco asinalprestissimo –Prestissimo Poco piùmosso–Subito allegro conmoto, string. sostenuto –Allegretto, unpocogioviale –Allarg. capriccioso –Subito prestissimo –Subito: molto Tempo divalse, moderato, coneleganza,unpoco sostenuto–Andante tranquillo –Piùmosso – Adagio, mesto –Presto–Prestissimo –Molto Allegro grazioso –Vivace, capriccioso–Atempo nocturnes’ String Quartet No 1, ‘Métamorphoses György Ligeti especially contrapuntal tradition. something abouthisconsciousnessof tradition, of thefirst great masters of thefugue,italsosays Ligeti’s wholemusicalproject. Inaddressing one breakdown, themovement says somethingabout is largely composed.Maintaining itselfagainst melting itinto thechromatic scalesof whichit round acircle andmore of risingfifths whilealso and presents a12-note theme,whichittakes XI: Atfour minutes, thisismuchthelongestpiece G–A–G sharp–A sharp, asavariation onparallel a motif that magically first emerges, intheform humorous –threaded through withreferences to of episodes–atmospheric,macabre, dancing, old), andachieving acontinuousconcatenation Sixth Quartet was barely more thanadecade Ligeti was ablyproceeding from Bartók(whose rustic andlearned. skilfully incorporating from Hungariansources, even –orespecially –theinformation itwas so and itsdissatisfaction withreceived information, its busy polyphony, itsabundanceof new colours composer’s own term) isalready fullyLigetianin less distant. And,indeed,this‘prehistoric’ work (the beginning to make his a renewed enthusiasmfor folk music–were changes inhisway of working – including,soon, the quartet was not recorded until1976. Bythen he didnot encourage further performances, and legitimised itby callinghisnext quartet ‘No 2’, Métamorphoses nocturnes

Fortepan towards theclose,theirintervals are progressively a dashingfolk dance,andsoon.InthePrestissimo moment of night-time stillness,agrotesque waltz, distinctly Hungarianlament,anintensive fugato, a reshaped invarious ways. They canbecomea and diverse sequence,inwhichthe four notes are to make room for thefirst variation inacontinuous chromatic scales.Thisthemeisthenbundledaway Programme notes ©Paul Griffiths farewell party, are already moving on. motif comefrom instrumentsthat,after atipsy satisfied. Thelasttrailing statements of themain however, theyoung composermay not have been with stringharmonics.Even whenstillin Budapest, again. There are alsothefirst signsof aconcern oscillation to more jagged contours andback expanded andcontracted inamove from

17 Sun 3 Feb 18 Igor Cat Mundi whichrange from Spanishcomposers discography, including12 discsfor Harmonia The quartet has compiled asubstantial Amsterdam Concertgebouw, amongmany others. Paris, Schubertiade inSchwarzenberg andthe the ColognePhilharmonie,Cité delaMusiquein prestigious concert halls,includingCarnegieHall, has beenaregular guestattheworld’s most Brahms–Hamburg competitions,thequartet Since winningfirst prizesattheLondonand the musicof Bartók,LigetiandKurtág. as thecurrent ‘Hungariana’project focusing on include cycles of thelate Mozartquartets, aswell Latin America.Highlightsof comingseasons performed incitiesthroughout Europe, Asiaand accompanied by sixnewly commissionedworks, concert seriesof thecomplete Beethoven quartets, especially ambitiousmulti-year project: asix- 20th-anniversary seasonwiththelaunchof an Escuela Reina Sofía inMadrid. Itcelebrated its The CasalsQuartet was founded in1997 atthe Arnau Tomàs Jonathan Brown Abel Tomàs Vera Mehner Martínez Casals Quartet About the performers violin cello viola violin (leader) of theBeethoven quartets to great critical released thefirst of athree-volume recording Schubert quartets for NeuRecords. Lastyear it a live Blue-Ray recording of thecomplete Zemlinsky; theensemblehasalsoreleased and Brahms, through to Debussy, Ravel and repertoire suchasMozart,Haydn, Schubert Arriaga andToldrà viacornerstones of the life withinCatalonia andthroughout Spain, In recognition of itsuniquecontributionsto cultural Nacional deEspaña. Francisco Coll,premiered withtheOrquesta concerto for stringquartet andorchestra by leading Spanishcomposers,includinganew given the world premiere of quartets written by composers, especiallyGyörgy Kurtág, andhas profoundly influenced by itswork withliving musical styles.Inaddition, thequartet hasbeen refining itsability to distinguishbetween diverse uses for works from Purcell through to Schubert, Baroque andClassicalperiodbows whichit the quartet to beginacollectionof matching An award from theBorletti–Buitoni Trust enabled birth. with the250thanniversary of thecomposer’s and thefinal instalment in2020, to coincide acclaim; thesecondwillbereleased in2019 Marco Borggreve Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Chamber Orchestra Symphony orchestras, LondonPhilharmonic Bamberg, Bavarian Radio, Chicago andLondon orchestras, includingtheCleveland Orchestra, the Beethovenfest Bonn.Shehasworked withleading Roque d’Anthéron, Salzburg, Styriarte Graz and appears atinternational festivals suchasLa London’s Royal AlbertandWigmore Halls.She Berlin Philharmonie,Suntory Hall,Tokyo, and the world’s majorconcertvenues, includingthe repertoire, Tamara Stefanovich performs at Known for captivating interpretations of awide Tamara Stefanovich live. Catalunya inBarcelona, where allfour members residence attheEscolaSuperiordeMúsica masterclasses, theensembleisquartet-in- In addition to givingmuchsought-after residence in2020. Palace inMadrid, where itwillbequartet-in- of decorated Stradivarius instrumentsintheRoyal performs yearly ontheextraordinary collection and thePremi Ciutat Barcelona. Thequartet the Premi Nacional deCultura deCatalunya awards includethePremio Nacional deMúsica, Llull, aswell asSpain’sMinisterio deCultura. Past Generalitat of Catalonia andtheInstitutRamon acknowledged ascultural ambassadors by the the membersof theCasalsQuartet have been Bremen andSwedish Chamber Orchestra. of Europe, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Tamara Stefanovich piano

do Estado deSãoPaulo. Shealsoundertook an Orchestra of Europe andOrquestra Sinfônica WDR CologneSymphony orchestras, Chamber with theBavarian Radio, MDRLeipzigand Recent highlightshave includedperformances Barcelona andhere attheBarbican. Festival, Brucknerhaus Linz, SWR Mainz, Auditori Stefanovich alsoperforms atthePharos Music Berlin andtheSouthbankCentre. Tamara at Norway’s UltimaFestival Norway, Musikfest the USA andwillperform Stockhausen’s duo have alsoundertaken anextensive tour of Festival andHamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.The of Zimmermann’s the LucerneFestival Orchestra for performances joined forces withPierre-Laurent Aimard and 80th birthday. Atthestart of theseasonshe Ensemble shecelebrated Reinbert deLeeuw’s alone performances of HansAbrahamsen’s Orchestra underMichael Schønwandt for Eggen andtheDanishNationalSymphony Stavanger Symphony Orchestra underChristian Gedizlioglu’s new pianoconcerto. Shereturns to giving theworld premiere of Zeynep Sinfonieorchester underJonathanStockhammer, This seasonshemade herdebutwiththehr- piano studieswith theWDRCologneSymphony Hans Abrahamsen’s PianoConcerto and10 Harmonia Mundi. Recent recordings include for DG. Shehasalsorecorded for theAVI and Boulez andtheLondonSymphony Orchestra Orchestra withPierre-Laurent Aimard, Pierre Concerto for Two Pianos,Percussion and the Grammy-nominated recording of Bartók’s Tamara Stefanovich’s discography includes at Klavier-Festival Ruhr. the BarbicanCentre, ColognePhilharmonieand She regularly leads educationalprojects here at Eötvös, HansAbrahamsen andGyörgy Kurtág. leading composersincludingPierre Boulez,Peter Ashkenazy andSusannaMälkki,aswell as Esa-Pekka Salonen,Vladimir Jurowski, Vladimir She hascollaborated withconductors suchas USA to markthe90thbirthday of . extensive andhighlyacclaimed recital tour of the . Together withtheAsko|Schönberg Dialogue at the Lucerne attheLucerne Left, Mantra

19 About the performers 20 Todd Rosenberg Leeuw (ECM). Asko|Schönberg EnsembleandReinbert de una fantasia Orchestra (Winter &Winter) andKurtág’s for voice andorchestra, for the1998 Proms. and another Kharmssetting, Simon McBurney, andtheNational Theatre; Daniil Kharms,for hisbrother, thedirector the life andworks of theLeningrad Absurdist of ahousewalked aman Brandstrup andtheEnglishNationalBallet; and Mussorgsky, for thechoreographer Kim with His own musicsometimesreflects Russianinterests, as well asbeinggiven atthe2015 BBC Proms. Orchestra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, then recorded by theLosAngelesPhilharmonic opera the Prologue to theuncompleted 1932 satirical 1938; andmostrecently anorchestration of of thelost Cheryomushki version of the1950s musicalcomedy and reconstructions, includingadance-band composer’s widow, to make furtherarrangements from IrinaAntonovna Shostakovich, the Murdered 1931 music-hallentertainment of fragments from Shostakovich’s forgotten asked himto make aperforming orchestration that timetheconductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky student attheMoscow Conservatoire, andduring For two years inthemid-1980s hewas agraduate and Soviet musicandculture. broadcaster, withaspecialistinterest inRussian Gerard McBurney isacomposer, writer and Gerard McBurney Gerard McBurney White Nights Orango , Op 31. Thisledto encouragement Jazz Suite andDoubleConcerto with the , Op 105; aperforming score . Thislastwas first performed and (1992), after Dostoevsky No 2for bigbandfrom creative director (1994), inspired by Letter to Paradise Hypothetically Hypothetically Moscow, Quasi Quasi Out Out ,

Matthew Andrews Recent piecesinclude Scriabin pianosonatas withPeter Donohoe. in 2017, by anexploration of thecomplete here atMilton CourtConcertHall,followed, festivals. In2015 he curated aShostakovich Day and thenattheOjai,HollandAldeburgh first staged inChicago inNovember 2014 designed by thearchitect Frank Gehry, was and work of Pierre Boulez, composer. Hisrecent celebration of thelife creating 30shows, each aboutadifferent Orchestra’s innovative series‘Beyond theScore’, Creative Director of theChicago Symphony From 2006to 2016 Gerard McBurney was children intheinstrumentsof theorchestra. in arrangements designedto interest small a CDof traditional Britishnurseryrhymes Sage Gateshead released to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In2014, The Cottage William Dunbar;andapianocycle, recently rediscovered lyricby theScots poet London. Plinth commission Lumiere London andAntony Gormley’s Fourth Music &Drama, sheworked onLumiere Durham, Prior to herstudiesattheGuildhallSchoolof Imaginarium Winter Gardens for LightPool and Guildhall Schoolincludes School of Music&Drama. Herprevious work for Design for Live Performance courseatGuildhall a mature studentinherfinal year ontheVideo Amelia Kosminsky isavisualartiststudyingas Amelia Kosminsky Amelia Kosminsky (2013), memorialisingfamily connections for Waddesdon Manor. One &Other videodesigner Sweit Rose Light Odyssey TheLittleNutTree A Pierre Dream for the Mayor of (2012), to a Waddesdon Cherry Cherry at the atthe , ,