Játékok (Games)
- György Kurtág

The idea of composing the piano collection Games was inspired by children playing piano spontaneously. For them, the instrument is still a toy. They experiment with it, caress it, attack it, and run their fingers over it. They pile up seemingly disconnected sounds and—if it awakens their musical instinct—they look consciously for harmonies they find by chance and keep repeating them. This series, therefore, does not provide a tutorial, nor does it simply stand as a collection of pieces. It is meant for experimenting, not learning “to play the piano.” The pleasure of playing, the joy of movement, daring fast movements over the entire keyboard right from the first lesson, instead of clumsy groping for keys and counting rhythms: these rather vague ideas became the core of this collection. Playing an instrument requires a great deal of freedom and initiative from the performer. With the passage of time, however, the pieces lost their didactic character and became a sort of document from Kurtág’s workshops, offering a key also to his larger symphony, chamber, and vocal works.