György Kurtág Jr., son of the great Hungarian composer, has long been developing his own electronic music. In this unusual project, fellow composer László Hortobágyi integrates Kurtág themes into his own arrangements in a recording that celebrates a long friendship. “This is,” say the group members, “a Hortobágyi album about Kurtág,” as well as “an invitation to discover a new sphere of music”. Drifting ambient washes of synthesized sound, near-subliminal bass, collages of subtle colours and sudden eruptions are but part of the story. An intriguing addition to ECM’s growing catalogue of electronica for discerning listeners.
Kurtágonals
György Kurtág jr., László Hortobágyi, Miklós Lengyelfi
- 1Intraga
09:10 - 2Kurtagamelan
14:05 - 3Interrogation
10:09 - 4Lux-abbysum
13:54 - 5Dronezone
07:28 - 6Kurtaganja
08:15 - 7Twin PeaX
04:07 - 8Necroga
04:51
Die drei Musiker besitzen ein intuitives Gespür dafür, dass man bei dieser Art von Musik die Gefühle nicht herausquetschen darf, sondern mit fast klassizistischer Strenge die filigranen Formen und Strukturen zu sich selbst kommen lassen muss, weil sich der emotionale Gehalt eben in der Sublimierung solcher Details am ausdrücklichsten verwirklicht. Lässt man sich darauf ein, wird man auf eine gewissermaßen metaphysische Klangreise mitgenommen.
Michael Pitz-Grewenig, Klassik.com
An ECM debut for György Kurtág jr, in a strikingly unusual context. The son of the great Hungarian composer is himself an influential figure in new music, particularly in the electronic and electro-acoustic domain. “Kurtágonals” is, amongst other things, a celebration of his work in this area, as fellow composer László Hortobágyi adapts and develops Kurtág jr themes – some of them more than 30 years old - , setting them in new sound-environments. Hortobágyi views “Kurtágonals” as both a diary of a long friendship and a succinct summary of the musical oeuvre of the contributors.
The three musician-composers, also known democratically as Hortogonals, have a vast range of experience between them which reaches beyond ‘new music’ into non-western forms, sound-collage, improvisation, folk music, pop, rock, and ambient music. The participants write, “The principal intention of the Hortogonals project is to re-contextualize these compositions, originally born in a classical avant-garde musical atmosphere, into a 21st century final form. Joint efforts have resulted in a so far non-existent genre of ‘contemporary audiopod’, a collage of music with unique tonality and unusual compositional form.”
The three musician-composers, also known democratically as Hortogonals, have a vast range of experience between them which reaches beyond ‘new music’ into non-western forms, sound-collage, improvisation, folk music, pop, rock, and ambient music. The participants write, “The principal intention of the Hortogonals project is to re-contextualize these compositions, originally born in a classical avant-garde musical atmosphere, into a 21st century final form. Joint efforts have resulted in a so far non-existent genre of ‘contemporary audiopod’, a collage of music with unique tonality and unusual compositional form.”
