''Pápainé'' (''Widow Pápai'') is an early vocal composition by Hungarian composer

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

. It is based on a text by Hungarian poet

Sándor Weöres Sándor Weöres (; 22 June 1913 – 22 January 1989) was a Hungarian poet and author. Born in Szombathely, Weöres was brought up in the nearby village of Csönge. His first poems were published when he was fourteen, in the influential journ ...

and reflects Bartók's influence on Ligeti.

Composition

The composition was finished in 1953, as a composition for his classes at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

, when Hungary was going through the Stalinist era. The piece was not given an immediate premiere in Hungary because it was deemed too dissonant. As with most of his early vocal compositions, it was premiered some years later. The premiere took place in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, on May 16, 1967. The

Swedish Radio Choir The Swedish Radio Choir is a professional choir. It is part of Sveriges Radio, the public radio broadcasting company of Sweden. The choir consists of 32 singers and their chorus master Marc Korovitch. Peter Dijkstra is the choir's most recent chief ...

gave the first performance, conducted by

Eric Ericson Eric Gustaf Ericson (26 October 1918 – 16 February 2013) was a Swedish choral conductor and influential choral teacher. Life and career He graduated from the Royal College of Music (''Kungl. Musikhögskolan'') in Stockholm in 1943 and we ...

. It was later published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

Analysis

This composition is in one movement and takes three minutes to perform. It is scored for a normal SATB mixed choir, but it requires SAATBB in some segments. The text is extracted from a traditional Hungarian ballad by Sándor Weöres, and has been translated into English by collaborator

Desmond Clayton Desmond or Desmond's may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Desmond'' (novel), 1792 novel by Charlotte Turner Smith * ''Desmond's'', 1990s British television sitcom Ireland * Kingdom of Desmond, medieval Irish kingdom * Earl of Desmond, Irish a ...

. The composition has a steady rhythm, marked ''Andante moderato (♩ = 88)'', and only changes its tempo towards the end, to a ''Meno mosso (♩ = 68) (Andante poco sostenuto)''.

References

External links

A preview of the score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papaine Compositions by György Ligeti 1953 compositions Contemporary classical compositions Choral compositions