Repertoire

György Kurtág: Seven songs, op. 22
Duos for violin and cimbalom, op. 4
Scenes from a novel
Pierre Boulez: Le Marteau sans Maître

Artists

A/B Ensemble
Jordi Francés, conduction

Programme

A concert to discover ‘small form’: miniature sounds that condense all the intensity of an explosion. The great contemporary master of these small forms is undoubtedly György Kurtág, who has just turned 100 years old. This concert presents three contrasting compositions that both cover different stages and styles of his oeuvre, and reflect his great interest in words and poetry.

There are some truly era-defining works. The same could be said of Pierre Boulez’s Le Marteau sans maître when it premièred in 1955. Composed for six instruments and mezzo-soprano and based on texts by poet René Char – who co-founded Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution magazine along with Breton – the work exudes the spirit of renewal and rebellion sought by young post-war composers, through a refined and exotic exploration of sound.