Four pieces from Játékok Vol 1 (1975-9)

Virág az ember…

…a csillag is virág…

Hommage à Bartók

Virág az ember…

Kurtág’s Játékok (Games) series for piano solo and piano duet, which now runs to eight volumes, originated as teaching pieces for children, including those “for whom,” according to the composer, “the piano still means a toy.” Far from inhibiting the child, many of the pieces in the Volume I, Basic Elements, actually encourage use of the palm, fist or forearm. The very short Virág az ember (Flowers we are, frail flowers…) is presented in seven versions, the first to be played pppp with the palm scarcely touching the keys, while the others are more precisely notated. In …a csillag is virág… (flowers also the stars…) the pitches of the wide leaps are defined but not the rhythms. The witty nine-bar Hommage à Bartók, one of six homages to other composers in Volume I, is to be played in a set rhythm with the side of the hand striking the keyboard.