Five Composition Commissions

Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, Basel, Switzerland

 

In February 2016 the Hungarian composer and pianist György Kurtág will be celebrating his 90^th birthday. Over the course of his life he has, with his wife, the pianist Márta Kurtág, composed 50 pieces for piano, piano for four hands and two pianos, amongst others. Most of these works are either from his on-going cycle “Játékok” (Games) or imaginative transpositions of the music of Machaut, Purcell, Frescobaldi, Lasso, Schütz and Bach.

With close ties to Kurtág, the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo is organizing several concerts in his birthday year that are dedicated to Kurtág’s exceptional music. Furthermore, to accompany this, the duo has initiated a composition project and ten new works – five of which are supported by the EvS Music Foundation – featuring respected composers from various countries and different generations.

The new works – each lasting about three minutes – form a 30-minute series of “Microludes” that are inspired by Kurtág’s “Játékok”.

The new series featuring aesthetically very varied pieces for piano for four hands explores the acoustic and theatrical possibilities of the genre. The pieces will be performed in 2016 together with Kurtág’s music.

March 2016
Colegio Nacional, Mexico City

September 2016
Music on the Edge Series, Pittsburgh

October 2016
International Symposium on Kurtág, Paris
Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest
Noise-Bridge, Stuttgart

Further Information
www.bugallowilliams.com