György Kurtag – Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova, Op. 17 (excerpt)
Kurtag, Troussova, excerpt
Silvana Torto, soprano
Ensemble of Students of the Conservatoire de Strasbourg
Luigi Gaggero, conductor
___
Description by John Keillor [-]
György Kurtág completed his Messages of the Late Miss R. V. Troussova, Op. 17 in 1980. On the surface of its structure, this work immediately suggests Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire; both works feature 21 vignettes for soprano and chamber ensemble in three parts. It may be a nod to Schoenberg, but there is no detectable, deeper connection. The three separate sections of Kurtág’s Op. 17 are entitled « Loneliness, » « A Little Erotic, » and « Bitter Experience — Delight and Grief. » The poems are written by Rimma Dalos, a Russian writer residing in Hungary. The individual songs (messages) vary in duration from over three minutes to under a half-minute. In character, these little pieces reflect the group title in which they appear. The sound of them is initially Middle-European. Since Kurtág was a young man he remained a staunch lover of his native Hungary, lending to an immediate and natural affinity to Bartók. Subsequent listens reveal a deeply understated, probably unconscious plurality, even cosmopolitanism. His musical relationship to Webern has never been denied; it is impossible to miss their common love of the miniature. There are also definite associations heard in this work and the vocal work of Crumb (such as the American’s Madrigals from the 1960s), and hints of the most cosmopolitan of all Hungarian musicians, Ligeti. In spite of this, one must listen to Messages of the Late Miss R. V. Troussova for its deep originality of utterance, its unique humanism, and its fundamental relationship to the part of the world the composer came from.
It is an awkward situation to be a patriot of a country occupied by the Soviet Union, as was Hungary for many decades. To be an artist in those conditions can be unhealthy, and a vigorous discretion haunts the sensibilities of those who are courageous and have a talent worth preserving. It can also impart a sadness that is heightened by a clarity, which comes with the loss of the illusions erected by implicit safety, comfort, and easy access to consumer goods. Messages of the Late Miss R. V. Troussova displays what can happen to persecuted or denied people, in an extended diminuendo. The protagonist and her consort of timbres are initially vibrant and large, with a broad palette, which is gradually stripped down to nothing. Her initial vigor is worn down as the poems reflect the innumerable ways her vulnerabilities are eroding her strength. The colors become less broadly executed, until timbre becomes expressively inexpressive. It is not a delightful message, but it is a demonstration of how living in a police state can manipulate the individual’s outlook. The demanded and unremitting challenge to ennoble the state can be violating when the individual’s rights are not protected. These tiny pieces are like brief windows into the world of beauty for an artist who does not know the luxury of declaring his impressions openly. It is clenched and painful art, completely avant-garde. Everyone should listen to this soul-expanding work.
THE BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC 