Music in the Art of Samuel Beckett

Abstract

In November 2018, the premiere of the opera "Fin de parties" by György Kurtág took place at the Scala theater in Milan. On a stage with a rather conservative and traditional reputation, the performance based on Samuel Beckett’s libretto invites an exploration of the musicality of this modernist playwright. Often, in his correspondence, Beckett resorts to a critical, aesthetic reading of the concerts he heard. Being also a quite appreciated pianist (in non-professional circles), we can realize the importance that music had in shaping both his aesthetics and his dramaturgical constructions. This essay aims to explore the “musical details” present in Beckett’s work, aiming at a reconstitution, even if not complete, of the theatrical expression of the musicality of his texts. The possibilities of staging them were fulfilled by countless compositions, or musical works, including Kurtág’s work, "Fin de parties", which we will mainly deal with and from which we will actually start our research.