“Culture is a vast weapon, its artistic force is also strong.”1 Finding a context for Kurtág's works: an interim report.*

Abstract

This article is a preliminary attempt to set the scene of Kurtág's student period 1946–56. It introduces Kurtág's Oh — Were I a Dove, Pioneers' Dance Song, Suite, Korean Cantana and Our New World is Evolving through reference to unpublished manuscripts, contemporary journals and archive materials. Hungary's communist regime and its artistic policies are sketched out and Kurtág's position in relation to them is plotted. Some reference to Ligeti's parallel endeavours is also made.