Composed 1975–90; 11 minutes

Like Hungarian politics, the music and life of Hungarian composer György Kurtág have undergone turbulent change. Born in 1926 in Romanian Transylvania, Kurtág composed sparingly for years and rarely discussed his work. At 99, he is one of the most private and enigmatic living composers – and an indisputable elder statesman of contemporary music. Kurtág has charted his own path, creating music of profound expression with extraordinary economy. As he once said: “I keep coming back to the realization that one note is almost enough.” Kurtág’s aphoristic style defines much of his Hommage à R. Sch., which he began in 1975 and completed 15 years later. This work is a tribute to Robert Schumann, through six brief, enigmatic reflections. The instrumentation itself pays homage to Schumann. Below is background on the characters referenced in Kurtág’s movement titles:

(I) Johannes Kreisler is a fictional character in novels by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Hoffmann’s alter ego, Kreisler, is an introverted, unstable musical genius who inspired Schumann’s Kreisleriana, Op. 16.
(II and III) Eusebius (‘E’) and Florestan (‘F’) are names Schumann used to represent passive and active sides of his personality. These personas appear in his writings and, as in Kurtág, cryptically precede pieces as single letters in such piano works as Davidsbündlertänze, Op. 6.
 (IV) This movement reflects a line from Dal (Poem) by Hungarian poet Attila József and leads to (V) In the Night, which recalls the fifth piece of Schumann’s Phantasiestücke, Op. 12.
 (VI) Master Raro, another Schumann creation, symbolizes the union of Clara and Robert. He serves as a mediator between Eusebius and Florestan. In the longest of Kurtág's six movements, Raro discovers the music of Guillaume de Machaut, a pivotal medieval composer with an extensive surviving catalog.