Indispensable Kurtág discoveries: the premiere recording of Kurtág’s settings of the “Sudelbücher” closes a crucial gap in his discography. At the same time, additional new recordings provide a fresh approach to well-known chamber music by this master of miniature. The four outstanding soloists impress in the original scoring for soprano, violin, cimbalom and double bass.

György Kurtág, 93, ranks among the great living composers of classical modernism. Consistently shortening and accentuating his works, he perfected his aphoristic style, producing concise miniatures.

This new album is dedicated to previously unreleased works by Kurtág, presenting for the first time twenty-two movements after Georg Christoph Lichtenberg’s Sudelbücher, scored for soprano and double bass: a real discovery of aphorisms. Also based on literary models are his Scenes from a Novel, op.19, after fifteen poems by Rimma Dalos (soprano, violin, cimbalom, double bass). The Seven Songs, op.22 (soprano, cimbalom) and In Memory of a Winter Evening, op.8 (soprano, violin, cimbalom), appear for the first time on CD.

This thoughtfully compiled collection shows the Hungarian master as one of the most individual artistic voices of our time. The four internationally renowned soloists, here in the original and charming formation of soprano, violin, cimbalom and double bass, interpret some of the most densely wrought pieces by György Kurtág.