GYÖRGY KURTÁG JR. / MIKLÓS LENGYELFI / LÁSZLÓ HORTOBÁGYI Kurtágonals

An ECM debut for György Kurtág jr, in a strikingly unusual context. The son of the great Hungarian composer is himself an influential figure in new music, particularly in the electronic and electro-acoustic domain. “Kurtágonals” is, amongst other things, a celebration of his work in this area, as fellow composer László Hortobágyi  adapts and develops Kurtág jr. themes – some of them more than 30 years old - , setting them in new sound-environments. Hortobágyi views “Kurtágonals” as both a diary of a long friendship and a succinct summary of the musical oeuvre of the contributors.

The three musician-composers, also known democratically as Hortogonals, have a vast range of experience between them which reaches beyond ‘new music’ into non-western forms, sound-collage, improvisation, folk music, pop, rock, and ambient music. The participants write, “The principal intention of the Hortogonals project is to re-contextualize these compositions, originally born in a classical avant-garde musical atmosphere, into a 21st century final form. Joint efforts have resulted in a so far non-existent genre of ‘contemporary audiopod’, a collage of music with unique tonality and unusual compositional form.” (ECM Records)