Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments and Hommage à R. Sch.

This chapter examines two of Kurtág's compositions. It first considers the compositional genesis of Kafka Fragments and charts the deliberations over what pieces to include in the work and in what order. The chapter demonstrates how the sketches and drafts for “Du bist die Aufgabe” illustrate characteristic features of Kurtág's working procedure. This leads in turn to a consideration of the important links connecting the Kafka Fragments to another of Kurtág's major compositions, the Hommage à R. Sch . Finally, this chapter examines selected songs of the cycle in detail, giving special attention to “Der wahre Weg,” which forms the whole of part II of Kafka Fragments .