D. Balazs Kecskes

Bagatelles

What could be the speciality of a genre to which so many different composers connected from Beethoven to Bartók, from Smetana to Kurtág? Is it lightness, brevity, transiency, or ambiguity? The French word bagatelle (trifle, nothing) can mean all of them. The best bagatelles in the history of music, however, are not superficial at all. Although they grasp the moment, and they are often unpredictable and whimsical, they still contain deep, pithy, and original ideas. The inspiration to compose my own bagatelles was partly drawn from the Beethoven anniversary in 2020. In that year, I spent a lot of time studying the composer's pieces of the same genre for the piano, especially the two late cycles. I was fascinated by the freedom and the clear and transparent structure of Beethoven's works. The titles of the pieces in my own series are: 1. Nocturne, 2. Restlessly, 3. Confession and reminiscence, 4. A simple song. (The pieces may be played on their own, independently of the series, too.) Familiar and unfamiliar slivers of sounds billow in the work. We can recognise a chord, but why does it get discoloured? We are listening to a melody, but what becomes of it? We might understand where we come from, but where are we going? We are in the third decade of the 21st century. (Balázs Kecskés D.)