György Kurtág completed Quartetto per archi opus 1 in 1959. This work is in six movements and slightly less than 14 minutes in duration. The composer was already 33 when he published this Op. 1, and for the remainder of the century he continued to produce pieces at an astonishingly slow rate for a professional composer. No doubt what saved him from total obscurity is the strength of the few works he produced. Quartetto per archi opus 1 is an amazing accomplishment that grows more significant for the listener with each subsequent hearing. The value of each hearing is further compounded by the listener's grasp of twentieth-century music history, though one does not need to be an expert to enjoy this masterpiece, which is not a common moniker for an artist's first publication. However, this work manages to continue an extremely effective tradition of string quartet writing that was lost at the end of World War II with the deaths of Webern and Bartók. With the passing of these great artists came serialism and an explosion of composers who wrote in styles that included their influences amid a plethora of other considerations both musical and extra-musical. Music had taken off in countless directions concurrently, diluting the stream of influence. Webern and Bartók left behind perhaps the most resonant and encompassing pre-War quartet legacies, and Kurtág picked up exactly where they left off with Quartetto per archi opus 1. It is a magnificent fusion of these two styles, which influenced everyone, without exception. Brought together in Kurtág's effective handling, they are so razor-incisive that they are also a personal document into the composer as an artist himself. His honesty and direct nature does not expound loudly or make great claims; artists make art as they think it should be and reflect that conviction by composing. From Bartók, Kurtág develops a high-impact phrasing style with a question-answer methodology that verifies a true and astonishing discourse. As a Webernian, Kurtág reduces forms into cohesive, crystallized movements of effective brevity. The result of this blend is a noble, sentient process; the cerebral and visceral are in evidence. Flesh and spirit are heard concurrently and in equal measure.

In art, these poles of existence are traditionally presented in sequence if both elements are to be heard in the same work at all, in the same way that a recitative and aria are not heard concurrently because they are working with a tried and true method of dramatic unfolding. Kurtág's music does not concern itself with the urbane, urban approaches such as that of Berg, Satie, and the bulk of French styles. It is about the earnest, reticent masters. He is one himself, not talkative and very serious. In Bartók and Webern we hear opposite approaches to pastoral European, avant-garde music. The Hungarian Bartók works with down-to-earth folk tunes, which he sublimely ennobles with unique and effective harmony. Webern, an Austrian, draws his inspiration from the Germanic musical tradition and the effect that nature had on his imagination. The deadly intensity these composers represent can be tough on some listeners who prefer to be brushed only lightly by beauty and originality. Such listeners will find Kurtág overwhelming, and perhaps being overwhelmed is sometimes acceptable. Quartetto per archi opus 1 encapsulates the transcendent power of European art, the intense stuff for adults that wore many listeners out, and continued it. Make no mistake; this is a recommendation for the opposite of dinner music.

© All Music Guide