The “Games” cycle, created for piano from 1973 onwards, was originally conceived as a piano school, in the first volumes of which Kurtág introduced children to the basic elements of piano playing and musical thinking, and, perhaps even more importantly, of informal music-making. Over the past decades, however, the cycle lost its didactic character and became more of a document about Kurtág’s composer’s workshop, which also gives us a key to his large-format symphonic, chamber and vocal works. This change is indicated by the fact that from the fifth issue onwards the “Games” cycle has the subtitle “Diary notes, personal messages”.
The often aphoristically short sentences contain rich associations relating to numerous phenomena in European music history, and for the most part they are homage or in memoriam sentences or personal, very subjective messages to friends, colleagues, loved ones and students – and about them to all music-loving people.
perpetuum mobile prelude + waltz in c
Hitting with your palms is permitted
flowers the people flowers the people
tap flowers also the stars
funnel game
with the forearms homage to Verdi
strolling around the c toene night song
small chorale
tripping, staggering
carrying, swaying, dawdling
homage to bartok
let’s fool around
lost sounds
silent talking palms homage to mariassy istvan
harmonize slowly changing
the bunny and the fox legato
Waltz clapping hand game
The stone frog slowly went flowers to the people
fifths
pleasant moments of the young fist fighter
portrait
sleepy
5 small piano pieces play with three fingers
gallop
cocky csardas
tug pull
tone and cluster of melancholy overtones
small chorale
flowers the people
clay and clay grape sarabande
funnel game
scherzando homage to Beethoven
Fifths fourths palm play with overtones
knots almost in my sleep
hidden scale flowers the people
melody with twists sparrow noise
bicker mikrorondo
mime
homage to ligeti blows
palms in side movements
Homage to Tchaikovsky
homage to eoetvoes
homage to Paganini
preliminary studies on the hoquetus
perpetual motion and once again flowers the people