“Our whole life is nothing more than a singular pilgrimage to rediscover the lost child within us,” György Kurtág once said. The ambivalent fascination, the complete openness and the fiery adoration that one or other figure from music history was able to inspire in the composer suggest that he was successfully reunited with the child in question. As a result, of all contemporary composers, it is perhaps his relationship with musical traditions that is least problematic. He has an overwhelming and encyclopedic knowledge of music literature and taught the chamber music repertoire for decades, yet there was never any danger that he would simply take on the role of imitator. Many moments of his compositions echo his favourite passages of music history, but in a manner that is unmistakably unique and direct. He has a similar relationship with Hungarian and Romanian folk music as his musical philosophy is influenced heavily by his experiences with folk music (and many individual movements also exist in many versions as folk songs). Yet Kurtág does not wish to consciously continue in the musical vein of Bartók and Kodály, while he simultaneously makes no attempt to distance himself from their influence. It is in this way that his music is able to preserve – free from any form of ideology – the hallmarks of Hungarian and Central European folklore to this day.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest, Budapest Music Center