Zwiegespräche

Description

L'album Zwiegespräche is released on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Heinz Holliger (May 21) whose creativity as a composer and his virtuosity as an instrumentalist remain intact. The album concludes with Holliger's Oboe Sonata, composed in 1956, and still performed by its author with the same absolute authority. Zwiegespräche is the meeting of two 'brother spirits'. "We compose in the same way," said György Kurtág to Heinz Holliger while listening to this album honoring pieces for oboe by these two great composers. Both indeed reference the entirety of music history in their work, incorporating into the fabric of their compositions dedications and messages to their friends and fellow musicians, and each taking literature as a major source of inspiration. Another common point: the miniature as a favored form of expression; here the short pieces by Kurtág and Holliger composing the album are subtly intertwined. Holliger's suite titled Airs (2015/6) is inspired by seven texts from the Swiss poet Philippe Jaccottet, whose voice can also be heard.