The Path of a Hölderlin Topos

Farkas, Zoltán (2002) The Path of a Hölderlin Topos. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 43 (3-4). pp. 289-310. ISSN 0039-3266

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Abstract

The recurrence of certain musical ideas from piece to piece can be considered as one of the main characteristic features of Kurtág's music. These recurring ideas create a web between the different groups of compositions which should span over even more decades in his oeuvre. This essay follows the path of two musical materials which are associated with Hölderlin's name in Kurtág's music and at the same time, are closely connected with each other.The members of the first group of compositions examined ('Hölderlin' the 3rd out of  Four Songs to János Pilinszky's Poems, op. 11, - Study to 'Hölderlin”, Játékok IV,   - Sketch to Hölderlin,Játékok VII) are homogeneous pieces characterized by the exclusiveness of the Hölderlin topos. The three compositions can be considered as variants of each other. The members of the other group (The Székely Mangle, Nr. 2 out of Three Old Inscriptions - Preface to a Bálint Exhibition, Játékok V - Lebenslauf op. 32 and the 1st movement of Stele op. 33) however, are aesthetically autonomous, independent works and the Hölderlin topos is only one of their formal constituents. The musical form itself develops from the confrontation of the toposwith a new material. This essay tries to find an answer to the question how the role of the Hölderlin toposchanges in the form and dramaturgy of each individual composition.

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