World premiere for Kurtág in Geneva - Brefs Messages op. 47
György Kurtág’s recently finished work for nine instruments is performed by Ensemble Contrechamps on the 1st November together with the string quartet Officium breve in memoriam Andeae Szervánszky and works by Sándor Veress and the Swiss composer Roland Moser. The Brefs Messages op. 47 was commissioned by Contrechamps and dedicated to this ensemble and the conductor of the premiere Olivier Cuendet. Its first movement (Fanfare) is written directly to Cuendet, the second one (Versetto: Temptavit Deus Abraham - apokrif organum) is dedicated to the Hungarian musicologist László Dobszay. As often in Kurtág’s practice the third and fourth movements are scored version of earlier instrumental pieces: the former one (Ligatura Y) is originally a part of Games for piano, the latter one (Bornemisza: Az hit …) comes from the Sayings of Péter Bornemisza op. 7. The composition has been still opened as Kurtág plans to add more movements further on.
