''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 music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

. 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 jour ...

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 Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, 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 Liszt Collection, which features several ...

, 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, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, 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 ...

. 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 foun ...

Analysis

This composition is in one movement and takes three minutes to perform. It is scored for a normal

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

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. 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