Stele — a gravestone as end or Beginning? György Kurtág's long march towards the orchestra

Abstract

Few works by Kurtág have gained as much immediate attention as his first major orchestral work Stele (1994), composed at the age of 68. While primarily regarding himself as a composer of vocal and chamber works, from 1987 Kurtág wrote a series of works for spatially separated small ensembles whose gradual paving of the way for the overtly symphonic sonorities of Stele is examined here. Two further orchestral works written since 1994 suggest a return to a more chamber music-based conception of ensemble writing.