THE KURTÁG PROJECT: THE COMPLETE JÁTÉKOK
FRI 14 JUNE, 10AM
DUKE’S HALL
A unique immersion in the music of the great Hungarian composer György Kurtág, running all day in Duke’s Hall, as the complete ten volumes of
Játékok (Games) are performed spatially throughout the day: Kurtág’s brilliantly inventive notations for over 400 pieces - for solo piano and piano duet, two pianos, two upright pianos, harp and organ - will be screened live, interspersed with chamber music and the Bach transcriptions he wrote for himself and his wife Márta.
It’s the first time these witty, poetic and thought-provoking miniatures have been performed complete. They contain homages to friends and composers, games and jokes, farewells and remembrances - a diary of Kurtág’s life, who is ninety-eight this year. You are invited to drop in to see over thirty performers on this fifty-year journey of music - from the first volume begun in 1973 up to the rarely heard Volume X, completed in 2021.
Joanna MacGregor, Joseph Havlat, Harry Rylance, Junyan Chen, Ignas Maknikas, Xiaowen Shang, Julian Chan, Kasparas Mikužis, Milda Daunoraite, Hayden Miller, Aidan Baracol, Sadra Mahshidfar, Bridget Yee, Jilai Wang, Pei-En Wu, Sejin Yoon, Sofia Reznikova, Shutian Cheng, Tomos Boyles, Andra Bacila, Zara Williams, Lily Petrova, Katya Grabova, Hamish Wagstaff, Vitas Li, Jeremy Ng, Leon Chen and
Lin Xu-Zhang piano, upright piano and organ
Adrian Brendel cello
Ivan Rogachev clarinet
Wanshu Qiu viola
Kathy Hinde visual artist
10.am-11.30am
Concert 1: Játékok Volumes I & II
Kurtág’s early volumes are full of witty jokes and ebullient notation, designed to rediscover the fun and theatricality of playing the piano. Waltzes, phone numbers and ‘microludes’ mingle with brief homages to other composers, including Tchaikovsky, Kabalevsky and Shostakovich.
12pm-1pm
Concert 2: Játékok Volume III & Volume IV
Volume III plays with infinity and has a quiet talk with the devil; Volume IV branches out into works for two pianos, including a mysterious homage to Stravinsky, a wild one to Paganini, and a transcription of the medieval composer Machaut.
1.30pm-3.30pm
Concert 3: Játékok Volumes V & VI
Short works for organ and harp are added in these volumes, alongside daydreaming, a whale-waltz, and
Les Adieux in Janacek’s manier.
4pm-5.30pm
Concert 4: Játékok Volumes VII & VIII
A pianist plays the tam tam and bass drum; delicate Bach transcriptions from the cantatas on muted upright pianos; a clarinet trio pays homage to Schumann.
6.30pm-8.30pm
Concert 5: Játékok Volumes IX & X
All the performers return for our final concert, the rarely played Volumes IX and X. Bach transcriptions interweave Kurtág’s fallen leaves, memories of little tin soldiers, Henri Pousseur and babysitters dancing on the carpet. We finish with a Kurtág’s transcription, Bach’s chorale
Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier.
