György Kurtág
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Diverse homages
György Kurtág
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Samuel Beckett - What is the word
Klaas de Vries
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Sonate (1961)
Klaas de Vries
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Hölderlin Liederen
Klaas de Vries
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Pianoconcert
Gerrie de Vries, vocals / Ellen Corver, piano / Jelmer de Moed, clarinet / Ernestine Stoop, harp / Slava Poprugin, piano / Niels Meliefste, percussion / Jellantsje de Vries, violin / René van Munster, cello / Arie van Beek, conductor
This Sunday afternoon, the Paleiskerk is dedicated to two composers with a combined working life of some 140 years. The oeuvres that Klaas de Vries (80) and György Kurtág (99 as of 19 February 2025) have built over all those decades are simply awe-inspiring: diverse, innovative, profound, beautiful and groundbreaking. In a three-part programme, some of the finest musicians of our time pay tribute to these two musical giants. This unique event is organised by Festival Dag in de Branding in collaboration with Classical NOW!
The first part is devoted entirely to Kurtág. It ends with his setting of Beckett’s What is the word for voice and piano, performed by Gerrie de Vries, Klaas’ wife. Kurtág is, to put it mildly, very specific when it comes to performances of his music and for a long time he did not consider any singer capable of performing What is the word. Until, that is, he heard a recording of Gerrie de Vries. Since then, the piece has been a fixture in her repertoire.
Prior to this, the musicians play a selection of short ‘homages’ such as Kurtág has been composing all through his life, in this case pieces that he dedicated to Dutch people who have been important to him.
The second part combines some very early works by De Vries and Kurtág (written in 1961 and 1943 respectively, when the composers were 17 and 16) with their very latest compositions. De Vries wrote a new series of Hölderlin lieder for voice and piano, to be sung by his wife Gerrie. And Kurtág wrote an homage to Madeleine Margot, the benefactress who, with her Société Gavigniès, made the Kurtágs’ stay in the Netherlands possible.
The third part is dedicated to the Concerto for Piano, composed by De Vries in 1998, in the revised edition of 2003.
The programme further includes a short documentary about Kurtág and his wife’s stay in the Netherlands (1997 – 1999), with footage shot in 1998 and contemporary retrospectives by Dutch people he worked with, as well as the presentation of a CD documenting the impact of Kurtág’s Dutch years. The CD, the documentary and today’s concert were made possible with the help of the Société Gavigniès.