By Jacqueline Waeber

“As a conductor and composer, I feel comfortable everywhere, but at home nowhere. Such is my fate. I have a marvelous and very pleasant life, but it is the life of an outsider watching things happen around him.”¹

Is it possible to define Peter Eötvös musically? One would be hard pressed to identify an “Eötvös sound” like the immediately recognizable sonic fingerprint of Salvatore Sciarrino or György Ligeti. Nevertheless, three threads, overlapping yet quite distinct, weave their way through this Transylvanian composer’s creative journey: a heightened theatricality, already apparent in his early instrumental works; a penchant for spatializing sound in spectacular ways; and an attraction to the musicality of words and of language as a generative matrix for his works with text.

Models

In the course of his studies at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Eötvös learned much about melodic invention — a notable feature throughout his work — from János Visni, a student of Zoltán Kodály. But his musical roots lie closer to Béla Bartók than Kodály, a trait he shares with Ligeti and especially György Kurtág. “For me,” he declares in an interview,

[Bartók] speaks the absolute mother tongue of music, a language that I speak as a composer and as a conductor too. By mother tongue of music, I mean not just the compositional process but also articulation. In this respect I can’t really maintain a distinction anymore between the act of composing and that of conducting. As a result of speaking this mother tongue, a special accent, on which Bartók had a formative influence, appears in each work I conduct.²

Bartók’s pervasive influence in Hungary, partly attributable to political factors, compelled Eötvös to look beyond the beaten path. The Second Viennese School never had the formative role for him that it had for many other composers of his generation. Hence the more overt eclecticism of his musical influences, often derived from works and composers of the distant past: Gesualdo above all, but also the madrigalesque comedies of Adriano Banchieri (1568-1634). Eötvös served his time as a working musician in theater and film, even as an adolescent, and he has never tried to distance himself from such experiences, which contributed to his stylistic diversity and the sense of contagious theatricality evident at all levels of his compositional process — in the theatrical gestures of his performers as much as the inherent theatricality of his sound, whether vocal or purely instrumental.

The influence of Bartók also owed much to the theorist Ernő Lendvai, whose teaching Eötvös followed assiduously in Budapest in the 1960s. Lendvai’s theories, based on intervallic relationships, would leave traces in numerous works by Eötvös, recent as well as early. As late as 1999, Eötvös was still highlighting the importance of intervallic relationships to his technique and musical aesthetic.³ In his operas, the use of particular intervals to highlight tension between characters remains a favorite technique, recalling the fact that for centuries intervals have been attributed affective qualities, categorized as perfect or imperfect, even ostracized.⁴ This dramatization of the interval is central to Intervalles intérieurs (1981), an instrumental piece with magnetic tape that uses intervals as vectors of tension by amplifying the voltage curve between two notes. The work sums up Eötvös’s trajectory over the course of the 1960s and ’70s, when he drew close to Karlheinz Stockhausen and joined Új Zenei Stúdió (Studio for New Music), an important group that functioned as a conduit between foreign music and official culture in Communist Hungary and to which he would belong until 1976.⁵

Even the juvenile work Kosmos (1961) for one or two pianos, conceived as an homage to Yuri Gagarin and the conquest of space, begins from a sonic range limited to the semitone and widens symmetrically through gradual interval expansion, as a metaphor for the expansion of the cosmos after the Big Bang. This play on the spatialization of sound returns in Psychokosmos (1993), which is an expansion of Kosmos but scored for solo cimbalom and an orchestra that extends and echoes the solo part. Though predating his familiarity with Stockhausen, Kosmos, based as it is on the transformation and expansion of limited material, shows Eötvös’s early affinity for the style of his older contemporary, whom he would meet in 1968.

The seventies saw Eötvös embrace electroacoustic composition and electronic media, with pieces for magnetic tape. Cricketmusic (1970), for example, is constructed entirely from recorded cricket song, and the opening material of Elektrochronik (1974) consists of nothing more than a simple interval played on the organ.

In his well-rounded musical career, Eötvös has worked as a repetiteur in opera houses; as a technician in electroacoustic studios in Cologne (1971-1979); in the electronic music studio of West German Radio, directed by Stockhausen with whom he collaborated closely; and at IRCAM, where Pierre Boulez entrusted him with the direction of the inaugural concert for 1978 and then asked him to take over the musical direction of Ensemble Intercontemporain, which would occupy him until 1991. The ludic element intrinsic to such technical challenges is something Eötvös embraces: “The moment I feel constrained, I feel free.”⁶ Such an attitude highlights the two recurrent traits of his work, namely theatricality and the manipulation of sound-space.

It is important to remember that composition for Eötvös is inextricably tied to orchestral conducting, as well as to an interest in improvisation and its liminal relationship to composition. Several of his works explore this boundary between composition and improvisation, including Snatches of a conversation (2001), which errs on the side of improvisational freedom over written composition. Also relevant to works such as the saxophone concerto Focus (2021) and Jet Stream for trumpet and orchestra (2002) is jazz, which Eötvös discovered as a child. ZeroPoints (2000), written by one composer-conductor for another (Boulez), with billowing sonic waves worthy of Boulez’s Répons, is an orchestral piece that illustrates the pleasure Eötvös finds in working with sound. Like a nostalgic salute to his own creative journey, ZeroPoints (the title alludes to the measure number 0 at the beginning of Boulez’s Domaines) also evokes an electroacoustic language through traditional means. Steine for twenty-two instruments (1985-1990, for Boulez’s sixtieth birthday) explores the ludic process of improvisation mutating into an act of composition and vice versa. In its first part, the conductor does not conduct but joins the percussion; the other musicians try to strike up a rapport while maintaining the autonomy necessary to improvisation. The only fully written-out part of Steine is the second, which opens with a quotation of the first chord of Pli selon pli.

An Operatic Turn

At the Lyon Opera in 1998, the premiere of Tri Sestry / Three Sisters, with a Russian libretto adapted from Anton Chekhov by C. H. Henneberg and Eötvös, was one of the most stunning successes, popular as well as critical, in contemporary operatic music, one that subsequent revivals have only reaffirmed. If the first part of Eötvös’s career was characterized by experimentation, opera has taken center stage since Three Sisters, not only in his output but also in European theaters. Eötvös has written thirteen operas to date, most recently Valuska, a “tragicomedy with music, or grotesque opera” premiered in Budapest in December 2023.

Among his later operas, Der goldene Drache (The Golden Dragon, 2014) and Sleepless (2020) illustrate the “conflict between the individual and society” that for Eötvös is almost the paradigm for the genre.⁷ The German libretto of The Golden Dragon (by Roland Schimmelpfennig, adapted by Eötvös) deals with illegal immigration through the tragic fate of a young Chinese man employed in an Asian restaurant. Exploitation, poverty, social marginalization, and moral distress feature equally in Sleepless (English libretto by Mária Mezei after Jon Fosse), a drama centering on the sleepless, ceaseless wanderings of a couple of adolescents on the streets, Asle and Alida.

Even before Three Sisters, several works by Eötvös presaged this operatic turn, including staged pieces such as Harakiri (1973), a “scene with music,” and the “chamber opera” Radames (1975, rev. 1997). Anyone looking for an introduction to Eötvös’s operatic works could do worse than to start with Atlantis (1995), not a staged work but an oratorio for virtual choir, baritone, and boy soprano. In its evocative power, the text by Sándor Weöres, set in a country that might really exist or might be the product of a dream, seems to call for staging. Despite its timeless quality, the narrative alludes to contemporary ills such as environmental disaster and ethnic strife. The same goes for the oratorio Halleluja - Oratorium balbulum (2015), in whose libretto, a chaotic collage by Péter Esterházy, we cross a drunk Nietzsche, the medieval monk and music theorist Notker the Stammerer, and the 9/11 attacks.

Atlantisassembles a number of themes that would return amplified in Eötvös’s operas and in other of his works from the 1990s. Each of its three movements finishes with a reference to Transylvanian music, but without a found-object aesthetic as in Luciano Berio or sublimated folklore as in Bartók or Kodály. Rather, Transylvanian fragments litter the postapocalyptic landscape ofAtlantislike echoes of a vanished world reconstituted through the crackle of an old LP. This theatrical gesture is not so far removed fromKosmos, in which quotations from the “night music” in Bartók’s suiteOut of Doors twice intrude in this musical imagination of the Big Bang.

The opening of Atlantis, a texture of sonic layers and distorted resonances (thanks especially to the sonority of the cimbalom), establishes a kind of stasis unusual with Eötvös, immersing the listener in what seems at first to be the fog of a dream but soon turns into a convulsive magma, until five fanfare signals emerge at last. The spatial distribution of the instruments is governed by a carefully worked out plan: ten percussionists surround the orchestra and public. The downstage is shared by a saxophone, electric keyboards, and three synthesizers, with the strings further back. The arrangement makes possible spatialization effects and sonorous textures that seem to hover outside of space and time, utopian in the literal sense of the word. Such modulations of sound underscore the importance of the visual dimension even in non-scenic works, and their latent theatricality.

Another non-scenic work charged with visual theatricality is Shadows (1996), which is also a fine example of Eötvös’s aversion to the traditional orchestral layout. This composition too calls for a precise placement of instrumentalists and loudspeakers: the sound requires space in which to do its work, a work of colliding with other sounds, invading the space of other sonic entities. Shadows is scored as a double concerto for flute and clarinet, who are surrounded by four groups of instruments. Each group generates a distinct sonic entity that confronts those of the flute and clarinet. These entities move like objects in space, colliding with the others, splitting apart, and projecting sonic “shadows.” The winds shadow the flute, the brass the clarinet, and the timpani the tambour. The celesta meanwhile creates another space, a more ethereal and distant sonic plane. This play of masses and shadows is amplified by the six loudspeakers facing the audience, which repeat snatches of sound emitted by the instruments, giving rise to still another sonic plane, distinct from those of the celesta and the instruments on the stage.

The floating between dream and reality heard in Atlantis returns in several later works, including the opera Angels in America (2002-2004, libretto by Mezei after Tony Kushner). Yet his quest to create multiple levels of perception, most evident in the multiplication of sonic spaces, reaches its culmination in the opera Le balcon, after Jean Genet (2002), in which action, places, scenes, spaces, and times proliferate in a polyphony bordering on chaos. This proliferation extends to the music, chock-full of pastiches of cabaret and popular French song from Fréhel to Léo Ferré. Much the same applies to As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (1998-1999), a “dream piece” inspired by the Sarashina Nikki, the journal of a Japanese noblewoman from the early eleventh century. The dramatic arc of this work (which became raw material for the opera Lady Sarashina, premiered at the Lyon Opera in 2008) involves a collision between planes of reality and dream, reflected in the musical setting. The idea of spatial music reaches its apogee: the sonorities of the trombone, bass trombone, and three of the voices render Lady Sarashina’s subjectivity and visions, while the other instruments, manipulated by computer, create new sonic and spatial strata.

Language, Ritual, Vision

The intrusion of visuality into auditory culture is a theme that has much preoccupied Eötvös, one that he encountered early on through his adolescent work as a composer of film music. The libretto for Three Sisters was first conceived as a film script, rather than a traditional theatrical text, for Eötvös hoped from the start to be able to visualize it and translate its close-ups and wide-frames into acoustic terms. For this, he divided the orchestra: in addition to the main chamber orchestra of eighteen musicians, an orchestra of nearly fifty players sits further downstage, once again in an effort to deepen and broaden the sonic space. This cinematic and spatial conception is taken still further in Angels in America, in which loudspeakers amplify the instruments and singers and play on the spatial mobility of their sonic masses.

The visual and spatial parameter also relates to the attention Eötvös pays to the gestures of musicians. As a conductor, he knows as well as anyone that physical gesture is what determines the duration, intensity, pitch, and timbre of a sound. This insight partly explains his interest in non-European forms of theater in which gesture can attain an almost ritual level of significance, as in kabuki or certain African ritual practices. Eötvös often associates sonorous or vocal effects with a precisely specified repertoire of gestures, which when repeated create ritualistic effects. Such a procedure is central to Psalm 151, in memoriam Frank Zappa for solo percussion (1993), designated a “ritual piece.” “Ritual is in my nature,” Eötvös affirms. “I would actually describe all of my pieces as rituals, since ritual is the most primordial form in which gesture and sound appear in perfect union.”⁸ In Psalm 151 the rhythms and durations are indicated not by the usual means of notation, but by instructions of gestures to be performed: gesture generates the music itself. The scoring for percussion carries a special symbolic significance for Eötvös, who considers percussion a medium of communication capable of transmitting information, as it did in prehistoric times and in non-European cultures. This notion of conveyance, diffusion, dissemination of information informs his other works for percussion too. Triangle (1993), an “action for a creative percussionist” plus twenty-seven musicians divided into four groups, consists of ten sections in the form of a procession: the soloist is less a soloist in the traditional sense of the term than an African-style drum master, whose actions and initiatives are taken up in responsorial fashion by the choir of percussion.

This notion of physical movement as generator of music was already central in Chinese Opera (1986, written for the tenth anniversary of the Ensemble intercontemporain). Neither a reflection on nor an homage to traditional Chinese opera, this work is rather a musical experiment — almost an opera without words — in theatricality and physicality, emanating from the gestures of the musicians.

One is tempted, given his attraction to ritual, to label Eötvös a “spiritual” composer, even if he describes himself as non-religious but interested in religions; yet what his works invoke is more the theatricality of hieratic and ceremonial atmospheres, with their underlying mechanisms of repetition and scansion. Zen Buddhism is the religion to which he refers most overtly, in works such as Cricketmusic (1970), Intervalles intérieurs, Windsequenzen (1975, rev. 1987 and 2002), Harakiri (1973), Elektrochronik (1972-1974), As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (1998-1999), and Secret Kiss (2018). This last is a melodrama for narrator and five instruments, with a text adapted from Alessandro Barricco and for the Noh actress and singer Ryoko Aoki. In it, the highly ceremonial quality of the declamation goes hand in hand with a dramatization of instrumental playing.

If gesture can be considered as a matrix for all music, language can be invested with similar potential. The idea that music originates in language pervades works as chronologically far apart as Mese, a 1968 “Klangspiel” (“sound play”) for magnetic tape, and the cantata IMA for choir and orchestra (2002). Both take language as a generative sonic material. Mese (“tale” in Hungarian) calls for a single female voice, electro-acoustically modified and multiplied on three tracks so as to create a three-part canon. The resulting incessant repetition of words gives rise to music: “This constant connection between speech music and musical speech is a strong characteristic of my thinking,” Eötvös has noted.⁹ That connection certainly animates IMA (Hungarian for “prayer”), a setting of two abstract texts by Sándor Weöres and Gerhard Rühm that give sonority precedence over signification. The first evokes the creation story in Genesis as transcribed into an imaginary language, while the second is a litany, repeated over and over in a mumble. Such manipulation of language continues in Speaking Drums, for percussionist and orchestra (2012-2013), in which the percussionist launches into a similarly asemantic speech-music, whose rhythms gradually spread to the instruments: words emerge from the rhythm, then phrases from the words, and finally a musical narration.

One can see why Eötvös, a man of many languages, refuses to have his operas sung in translation: the choice of language always affects the character of the music. “I’ve composed music for several languages,” he explains in an interview, “and they have always been influential because I hear languages like instruments: they have their own particular tone and timbre…. [E]ach language has made me write a different music.”¹⁰ All of Eötvös’s operas show this linguistic individuation. One of his most recent, Valuska, was also the first with a libretto in his native language, whose familiarity nevertheless presents him with an additional difficulty:

I can’t hear Hungarian abstractly. With other languages that I know less well, I hear more of the musical qualities — the rhythm, the noises, the accentuation. When it comes to setting a text in Hungarian, for me and other composers of my generation the vocal music of Kodály and Bartók is definitive. It seems more difficult to find a personal point of contact with the language.¹¹

This special perspective on language and its potential musicality has a parallel in the relation between noise and sound that Eötvös has been exploring since the 1970s, most notably in Harakiri (1973). In this “scene with music” the two musical layers — respectively, the narrator’s vocal cantillation and two shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flutes) — are superimposed onto the onstage action of a woodsman cutting timber with an ax. This integration of noise into musical composition represents a quite different procedure from the “instrumental musique concrète” of someone like Helmut Lachenmann, who aims to draw attention to the noisy origins of the sounds produced on traditional instruments. Eötvös, conversely, aspires to recover what is naturally musical in noise and language. Hence the scene in Three Sisters (in the third sequence, “Masha”) in which the monotony of the protagonists’ dialogue, superimposed on the equally repetitive and mechanical piano and upper strings, is suddenly set to the frail, irregular tinkling of a broken teacup. Eötvös’s use of raw, undisguised noise injects into organized sound a musicality as unprecedented as it is unexpected.

Jet Stream shows us how, as a child, Eötvös discovered this music through the high-frequency radio, banned in Hungary in the 1950s. The composition recreates that primordial sound in which music reached him through static and other extraneous noises.

This ability to make music out of everything is not merely a testament to Eötvös’s capacity for wonder at the phenomenon of sound.¹² It is also what has most infallibly guided the whole of his work: “my relationship to music, sound, sonority, is that of a fish in water. I live in it, and I could never imagine living otherwise.”

Translated from the French by Tadhg Sauvey.

<sup>1. Pierre MOULINIER, “‘L’opéra n’est pas mort’: Un entretien avec Peter Eötvös,” in the CD booklet for Trois Sœurs, Deutsche Grammophon, 2 CD 459-624, 1000, p. 59.↩
2. Simone HOHMAIER, “Mutual Roots of Music Thinking: György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös and their Relation to Ernö Lendvai’s Theories,” Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 43/3 (2002), p. 223.↩
3. HOHMAIER, p. 224.↩
4. HOHMAIER, p. 224.↩
5. See the anthology Új Zenei Stúdió: Joint Works of Contemporary Hungarian Composers from the 1970s, BMC Records, CD 116.↩
6. “Dialog über ein Doppelleben: Peter Eötvös in Gespräch mit Michael Kunkel und Torsten Möller,” in Kosmoi — Peter Eötvös an der Hochschule für Musik der Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel: Schriften, Gespräche, Dokumente, Michael Kunkel (ed.), Saarbrücken: Pfau, 2007, p. 104.↩
7. “Die Opera als Gattung beschäftigt sich fast immer mit dem Konflikt zwischen Individuum und Gesellschaft.” Matthias Nöther, interview with Peter Eötvös, Concerti, winter 2021/2022, https://www.concerti.de/interviews/peter-eoetvoes/, accessed 3 December 2023.↩
8. “Das Rituelle liegt in meiner Natur. Alle meine Stücke würde ich eigentlich als ‘rituelle’ bezeichnen, weil das Rituelle die ursprünglichste Form ist, in der Gestik und Klang in absoluter Einheit erscheinen.” (Peter Eötvös, introductory text to Psalm 151).↩
9. Rachel Beckles WILLSON, “Péter Eötvös in Conversation about ‘Three Sisters,’” Tempo, 220 (2002), p. 12.↩
10. WILLSON, p. 12.↩
11. “Ich kann Ungarisch nicht abstrakt hören. Bei den anderen Sprachen, die ich weniger kenne, höre ich mehr auf die musikalischen Eigenschaften, auf den Rhythmus, auf Geräusche, auf die Akzentuierung. Beim Ungarischen ist die Tradition auch sehr stark. Wenn man einen ungarischen Text vertont, ist für mich und meine Generation die Vokalmusik von Kodály und Bartók prägend. Es scheint mir schwieriger, da einen eigenständigen musikalischen Kontakt zur Sprache zu finden.” Thomas Meyer, “‘Meine Kultur ist eine Mischkultur’: Péter Eötvös im Gespräch,” Dissonanz/Dissonance, 06/2008, no. 102, p. 4.↩
12. As stated about Eötvös in Judit Kele’s documentary film, La Septième Porte (1998) DVD IDEALE AUDIENCE 9DS16, 2006.↩</sup>

Sources
Texte révisé par l'autrice en 2023.

© Ircam-Centre Pompidou, 2009

• Solo (excluding voice)
  • Kosmos for solo piano or two pianos (1999, 1961), 15 mn, Salabert
  • Derwischtanz from Triangel, for solo clarinet or three clarinets (1993, 2001), 3 mn, Ricordi
  • Psalm 151 In memoriam Frank Zappa, for solo percussion or four percussionists (1993), 19 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Thunder solo of Triangel, for a bass timpani (1993), 5 mn, Ricordi
  • Two Poems to Polly for a talking cellist (1998), 5 mn, Ricordi
  • Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier nr. 1 In memoriam Luciano Berio, for solo piano (2003), 3 mn, Schott
  • Un taxi l'attend, mais Tchékhov préfère aller à pied. for solo piano (2004), 2 mn, Schott
  • UNICEF Ein Fünffingerstück, um eine Geschichte zu erfinden, children's piece, for piano (2005), 60 s, Schott
  • Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier nr. 2 In memoriam Luciano Berio, for solo piano (2003-2006), 3 mn, Schott
  • Cadenza from Shadows, for solo flute (2008), 3 mn, Ricordi
  • Dances of the Brush-footed Butterfly for piano (2012), 4 mn
  • New Psalm for percussion (2012-2013), Inédit
  • a Call for violin (2015), 6 mn, Schott [program note]
  • O rose! for piano (2015), 1 mn 20 s, Schott
  • para Paloma for violin (2015), 3 mn, Schott
  • Sentimental for Eb trumpet and bugle, for an instrumentalist (2017), Schott
  • Joyce for clarinet (2018)
  • Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord for violin or viola solo (2019), 13 mn, Schott
• Chamber music
  • elec Music for New York improvisation for soprano saxophone and percussion with tape (1971), 10 mn 40 s
  • elec "Now, Miss!" Klangspiel for violin, DX-7 synthesizer and stereo tape (1972), 18 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • elec Intervalles intérieurs for clarinet, trombone, violin, cello and stereo tape (1981), 30 mn, Salabert [program note]
  • Brass - The Metal Space for seven brass instruments and two percussionists (1990), 22 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Korrespondenz for string quartet (1992), 16 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Zwei Promenaden maskulin / feminin, from Triangel, for two percussions, keyboard and tuba (1993, 2001), Ricordi
  • Psy for flute, cello (or viola) and cymbalum (or piano, or harp or bass marimba) (1996), 9 mn, Ricordi [program note]
  • Désaccord In memoriam B.A. Zimmermann, for two violas (2001), 8 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • Encore for string quartet (2005), 2 mn, Schott
  • elec Sonata per sei for two pianos, three percussions and a synthesizer (2006), 18 mn, Schott
  • Lectures différentes for saxophone quartet (2014), 9 mn, Schott
  • Molto Tranquillo for flute, cello and piano trio (2015), 5 mn, Schott
  • "Now, Miss!" for violin and cello, based on Embers by Samuel Beckett (2016), 10 mn about , Ricordi
  • désaccord 2 for two violas, in memoriam B.A. Zimmermann (2018)
  • Lisztomania for piano four hands (2018), Schott
  • Trio à cordes in memoriam Christophe Desjardins, for violin, viola and cello (2020, 2022), 8 mn, Schott [program note]
  • Echo for piccolo trumpet and organ (2022), 10 mn
• Instrumental ensemble music
  • Windsequenzen for ensemble (1975, 1987, 2002), 29 mn, Editio Musica
  • Pierre Idyll for ensemble (1984), 8 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • elec Chinese Opera for ensemble (1986), 27 mn, Salabert
  • elec Steine for instrumental ensemble (1985-1990), 17 mn, Editio Musica [program note]
  • ZeroPoints for orchestra (1999), 14 mn, Schott
  • 600 Impulse for brass ensemble (2000), 10 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • Per Luciano Berio for orchestra (2018, 2003), 4 mn about , Schott
  • Octet for flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets, two trombones (2008), 13 mn, Ricordi
  • The gliding of the eagle in the skies for orchestra (2012), 7 mn, Schott
  • Dodici for twelve cellos (2013), 20 mn, Schott
  • Alle vittime senza nome for orchestra (2016), Schott
  • Dialog mit Mozart Da Capo for orchestra (2016), 17 mn, Editio Musica
  • elec Reading Malevich for orchestra (2017-2018), 20 mn, Schott
  • Fermata for ensemble (2020), 19 mn, Schott
  • Sirens' song for orchestra (2020), 13 mn, Schott
  • Ligetidyll for ensemble (16 players), for the 100th anniversary of György Ligeti’s birth (2022), 10 mn, Schott
• Concertant music
  • Psychokosmos for solo cymbalum and traditional orchestra (1993), 16 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Triangel action for a creative percussionist and ensemble (1993), 35 mn, Ricordi
  • Shadows version for amplified flute and clarinet and orchestra (1996), 15 mn, Ricordi
  • Shadows version for amplified flute and clarinet and ensemble (1996), 15 mn, Ricordi
  • Replica for viola and orchestra (1998), 15 mn, Ricordi
  • Paris-Dakar for solo trombone, brass and percussion (2000), 7 mn, Schott
  • elec Snatches of a conversation for trumpet and ensemble (2001), 11 mn, Schott
  • Jet Stream for solo trumpet and orchestra (2002), 18 mn, Schott
  • Cap-ko concerto for acoustic piano, keyboard and orchestra (2005), 20 mn, Schott
  • elec Seven Memorial for the Columbia Astronauts, for solo violin and orchestra (2006), 21 mn 30 s, Schott
  • Konzert für zwei Klaviere (2007), 20 mn, Schott
  • Levitation for two clarinets, string orchestra and accordion (2007), 20 mn, Schott
  • Cello Concerto Grosso for cello and orchestra (2010-2011), 27 mn, Schott
  • DoReMi violin concerto n° 2 (2012), 21 mn, Schott
  • Speaking drums four poems for solo percussion and orchestra (2012), Schott
  • Hommage à Domenico Scarlatti for horn and string chamber orchestra (2013), 9 mn, Schott
  • Da Capo (Mit Fragmenten aus W. A. Mozarts Fragmenten) for cymbalum or marimba and ensemble (2014), 17 mn, Editio Musica
  • Joyce for clarinet and string quartet (2017), 20 mn, Schott
  • Multiversum for organ, Hammond organ and orchestra, in memoriam Pierre Boulez (2017), Schott
  • Alhambra concerto for violin and orchestra (2018), 20 mn about , Schott
  • Aurora for double bass and string orchestra and accordion (2019), 19 mn, Schott
  • Cziffra Psodia piano concerto (2020), 30 mn, Schott
  • Focus concerto for saxophone (2021), 20 mn, Schott
  • Respond for viola and 32 musicians (1997-2021), 18 mn, Ricordi
  • Harp Concerto (2022-2023), 20 mn
• Vocal music and instrument(s)
  • Harakiri Scène avec musique (1973), 20 mn, Ricordi
  • stage Radames chamber opera (1975, 1997), 35 mn, Schott
  • Endless Eight I for ensemble of solo voices, two percussions, electric guitar and two Hammond organs (1981), 36 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • Endless Eight II. - Apeiron musikon for solo voices, mixed double choir, two percussions, synthesizer (1988-1989), 32 mn 40 s, partition retirée du catalogue
  • elec Atlantis for baritone solo, child soprano, cymbalum, virtual choir and orchestra (1995), 37 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • elec stage Three sisters opera in three parts (1996-1997), 1 h 40 mn, Ricordi
  • Two monologues for baritone and orchestra (1998), 13 mn, Ricordi
  • elec stage As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams scenes from japan in the eleventh century (1998-1999), 52 mn, Ricordi
  • IMA for solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra (2002), 27 mn 13 s, Schott
  • elec stage Le balcon opera in ten tableaux (2001-2002), 1 h 50 mn, Schott
  • elec stage Angels in America opera in two parts (2002-2004), 2 h 20 mn, Schott
  • Natasha for countertenor or soprano, violin, clarinet in A and piano (2006), 4 mn, Ricordi
  • stage Lady Sarashina opera in one act and nine tableaux (2007), 1 h 20 mn, Ricordi
  • elec stage Love and other Demons opera in two acts (2007), Schott
  • Octet plus for soprano, flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets and two trombones (2008), 20 mn, Ricordi
  • stage Die Tragödie des Teufels opera in two tableaux (2009), 1 h 40 mn, Schott
  • Schiller, energische Schönheit for eight voices, eight woodwinds, two percussions and accordion (2011), 17 mn, Schott
  • stage Paradise reloaded (Lilith) opera in twelve scenes (2012-2013), 1 h 40 mn, Schott
  • Die Lange Reise for soprano and piano (2014), 8 mn, Schott
  • stage Golden Dragon musical theater for five voices and ensemble (2013-2014), 1 h 30 mn, Schott
  • elec Halleluja - Oratorium balbulum four fragments for mezzo-soprano, tenor, narrator, choir and orchestra (2015), 48 mn, Schott
  • stage Senza sangue one-act opera for two singers and orchestra (2014-2015), 48 mn, Schott
  • elec ircam The Sirens Cycle for soprano and string quartet (2015-2016), 45 mn, Schott [program note]
  • Secret kiss melodrama for narrator and five instruments (2018), 20 mn about , Schott
  • stage Sleepless opera ballad (2018-2020), 2 h, Schott
  • stage Valuska tragicomedy with music or a grotesque opéra (2018-2023), 1 h 40 mn, Schott
• A cappella vocal music
  • Solitude / Egyedül In memoriam Kodály, for children's or women's choir (1956, 2006), 5 mn, Salabert
  • Drei Madrigalkomödien for twelve voices (1970-1990), 20 mn, Salabert
  • Magány for children's choir (1956-2001), 5 mn, Salabert
  • A magyar romokon for mezzo-soprano (1959, 2006, 2011), 5 mn
  • Herbsttag for women's choir (2011), 6 mn
  • Goretsch! Goretsch! for mezzo-soprano (2016), 3 mn, Schott
  • Drei Aphorismen von Heinrich Heine for mixed choir (2019), 10 mn, Schott
• Electronic music / fixed media / mechanical musical instruments
  • Mese Sprachkomposition, on tape (1968), 12 mn 34 s
  • elec Cricketmusic nature sounds organized on tape (1970), 5 mn
  • Elektrochronik stereo tape, recording of an Electrocronic live session (1974), 30 mn
  • elec Der Blick multimedia piece, for video and tape (1997), 16 mn 40 s, partition retirée du catalogue

Catalog sources and details

Pièces composées pour le théâtre

• Büchner, Leonce és Léna [Leonce and Lena] (1961)
• Sean O’Casey, Az ezüst kupa [The Silver Tassie] (1961)
• Tenessee Williams, Üvegfigurák [The Glass Menagerie] (1963)
• O’Neil, Amerikai Elektra [Mourning becomes Electra] (1963)
• Madách, Az ember tragédiája [Tragedy of Man] (1964)
• Lermontov, Hóvihar [The Storm] (1964)
• Pirandello, Hat szerep keres egy szerzöt [Six characters in search of an author] (1964)
• Anouilh, Becket (1965)
• Katona, Bánk bán (1968)
• Shakespeare, Téli rege [The Winter´s Tale] (1969)
• Shakespeare, Athéni Timon [Timon of Athens] (1969)
• Oliver Twist (1963)
• Hét szem mazsola [Seven Raisins] (1965)
• Ellopott bejárat [Stolen Entrance] (1965)
• Foltos és Fülenagy [Spotty and Bigears] (1966)
• János Rózsa, Tér [Space] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, Prometeusz [Prometheus] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, A megérkezés [The Arrival] (1962)
• Károly Esztergályos, Ötödik pozicióban [In fifth position] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, Aranykor [Golden Age] (1963)
• Zoltán Fábri, Nappali sötétség [Darkness at noon] (1963)
• István Bácskay-Lauro: Igézet - Spell (1963)
• István Szabó, Álmodozások kora[The Age of Daydreaming] (1964)
• Iván Lakatos, Mozaik [Mosaic] (1964)
• János Szücs, Szomjuság [Thirst] (1965)
• Mihály Szemes, Az alvilág professzora [The professor of inferno] (1969)
• Ferenc Kardos, Egy örült éjszaka [A Crazy Night] (1969)
• János Tóth, Aréna [Arena] (1969)
• Zoltán Huszárik, Amerigo Tot (1969)
• Károly Makk, Macskajáték [Cat´s play] (1974)
• Sándor Sára, Tüske a köröm alatt [Thorn under the Nail] (1987)
• Judit Elek, Tutajosok Raftsmen (1990)
• Sándor Sára, Könyörtelen idök [Relentless Times] (1991)

• 2023
  • Harp Concerto, 20 mn
  • stage Valuska tragicomedy with music or a grotesque opéra, 1 h 40 mn, Schott
• 2022
  • Echo for piccolo trumpet and organ, 10 mn
  • Ligetidyll for ensemble (16 players), for the 100th anniversary of György Ligeti’s birth, 10 mn, Schott
• 2021
  • Focus concerto for saxophone, 20 mn, Schott
  • Respond for viola and 32 musicians, 18 mn, Ricordi
• 2020
  • Cziffra Psodia piano concerto, 30 mn, Schott
  • Fermata for ensemble, 19 mn, Schott
  • Sirens' song for orchestra, 13 mn, Schott
  • stage Sleepless opera ballad, 2 h, Schott
  • Trio à cordes in memoriam Christophe Desjardins, for violin, viola and cello, 8 mn, Schott [program note]
• 2019
  • Adventures of the Dominant Seventh Chord for violin or viola solo, 13 mn, Schott
  • Aurora for double bass and string orchestra and accordion, 19 mn, Schott
  • Drei Aphorismen von Heinrich Heine for mixed choir, 10 mn, Schott
• 2018
  • Alhambra concerto for violin and orchestra, 20 mn about , Schott
  • Joyce for clarinet
  • Lisztomania for piano four hands, Schott
  • elec Reading Malevich for orchestra, 20 mn, Schott
  • Secret kiss melodrama for narrator and five instruments, 20 mn about , Schott
  • désaccord 2 for two violas, in memoriam B.A. Zimmermann
• 2017
  • Joyce for clarinet and string quartet, 20 mn, Schott
  • Multiversum for organ, Hammond organ and orchestra, in memoriam Pierre Boulez, Schott
  • Sentimental for Eb trumpet and bugle, for an instrumentalist, Schott
• 2016
  • "Now, Miss!" for violin and cello, based on Embers by Samuel Beckett, 10 mn about , Ricordi
  • Alle vittime senza nome for orchestra, Schott
  • Dialog mit Mozart Da Capo for orchestra, 17 mn, Editio Musica
  • Goretsch! Goretsch! for mezzo-soprano, 3 mn, Schott
  • elec ircam The Sirens Cycle for soprano and string quartet, 45 mn, Schott [program note]
• 2015
  • elec Halleluja - Oratorium balbulum four fragments for mezzo-soprano, tenor, narrator, choir and orchestra, 48 mn, Schott
  • Molto Tranquillo for flute, cello and piano trio, 5 mn, Schott
  • O rose! for piano, 1 mn 20 s, Schott
  • stage Senza sangue one-act opera for two singers and orchestra, 48 mn, Schott
  • a Call for violin, 6 mn, Schott [program note]
  • para Paloma for violin, 3 mn, Schott
• 2014
  • Da Capo (Mit Fragmenten aus W. A. Mozarts Fragmenten) for cymbalum or marimba and ensemble, 17 mn, Editio Musica
  • Die Lange Reise for soprano and piano, 8 mn, Schott
  • stage Golden Dragon musical theater for five voices and ensemble, 1 h 30 mn, Schott
  • Lectures différentes for saxophone quartet, 9 mn, Schott
• 2013
  • Dodici for twelve cellos, 20 mn, Schott
  • Hommage à Domenico Scarlatti for horn and string chamber orchestra, 9 mn, Schott
  • New Psalm for percussion, Inédit
  • stage Paradise reloaded (Lilith) opera in twelve scenes, 1 h 40 mn, Schott
• 2012
  • Dances of the Brush-footed Butterfly for piano, 4 mn
  • DoReMi violin concerto n° 2, 21 mn, Schott
  • Speaking drums four poems for solo percussion and orchestra, Schott
  • The gliding of the eagle in the skies for orchestra, 7 mn, Schott
• 2011
  • Cello Concerto Grosso for cello and orchestra, 27 mn, Schott
  • Herbsttag for women's choir, 6 mn
  • Schiller, energische Schönheit for eight voices, eight woodwinds, two percussions and accordion, 17 mn, Schott
• 2009
  • stage Die Tragödie des Teufels opera in two tableaux, 1 h 40 mn, Schott
• 2008
  • Cadenza from Shadows, for solo flute, 3 mn, Ricordi
  • Octet for flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets, two trombones, 13 mn, Ricordi
  • Octet plus for soprano, flute, clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets and two trombones, 20 mn, Ricordi
• 2007
  • Konzert für zwei Klaviere , 20 mn, Schott
  • stage Lady Sarashina opera in one act and nine tableaux, 1 h 20 mn, Ricordi
  • Levitation for two clarinets, string orchestra and accordion, 20 mn, Schott
  • elec stage Love and other Demons opera in two acts, Schott
• 2006
  • A magyar romokon for mezzo-soprano, 5 mn
  • Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier nr. 2 In memoriam Luciano Berio, for solo piano, 3 mn, Schott
  • Natasha for countertenor or soprano, violin, clarinet in A and piano, 4 mn, Ricordi
  • elec Seven Memorial for the Columbia Astronauts, for solo violin and orchestra, 21 mn 30 s, Schott
  • elec Sonata per sei for two pianos, three percussions and a synthesizer, 18 mn, Schott
• 2005
  • Cap-ko concerto for acoustic piano, keyboard and orchestra, 20 mn, Schott
  • Encore for string quartet, 2 mn, Schott
  • UNICEF Ein Fünffingerstück, um eine Geschichte zu erfinden, children's piece, for piano, 60 s, Schott
• 2004
  • elec stage Angels in America opera in two parts, 2 h 20 mn, Schott
  • Un taxi l'attend, mais Tchékhov préfère aller à pied. for solo piano, 2 mn, Schott
• 2003
  • Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier nr. 1 In memoriam Luciano Berio, for solo piano, 3 mn, Schott
  • Per Luciano Berio for orchestra, 4 mn about , Schott
• 2002
  • IMA for solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra, 27 mn 13 s, Schott
  • Jet Stream for solo trumpet and orchestra, 18 mn, Schott
  • elec stage Le balcon opera in ten tableaux, 1 h 50 mn, Schott
• 2001
  • Désaccord In memoriam B.A. Zimmermann, for two violas, 8 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • Magány for children's choir, 5 mn, Salabert
  • elec Snatches of a conversation for trumpet and ensemble, 11 mn, Schott
• 2000
  • 600 Impulse for brass ensemble, 10 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • Paris-Dakar for solo trombone, brass and percussion, 7 mn, Schott
• 1999
  • elec stage As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams scenes from japan in the eleventh century, 52 mn, Ricordi
  • ZeroPoints for orchestra, 14 mn, Schott
• 1998
  • Replica for viola and orchestra, 15 mn, Ricordi
  • Two Poems to Polly for a talking cellist, 5 mn, Ricordi
  • Two monologues for baritone and orchestra, 13 mn, Ricordi
• 1997
  • elec Der Blick multimedia piece, for video and tape, 16 mn 40 s, partition retirée du catalogue
  • elec stage Three sisters opera in three parts, 1 h 40 mn, Ricordi
• 1996
  • Psy for flute, cello (or viola) and cymbalum (or piano, or harp or bass marimba), 9 mn, Ricordi [program note]
  • Shadows version for amplified flute and clarinet and orchestra, 15 mn, Ricordi
  • Shadows version for amplified flute and clarinet and ensemble, 15 mn, Ricordi
• 1995
  • elec Atlantis for baritone solo, child soprano, cymbalum, virtual choir and orchestra, 37 mn 30 s, Ricordi
• 1993
  • Derwischtanz from Triangel, for solo clarinet or three clarinets, 3 mn, Ricordi
  • Psalm 151 In memoriam Frank Zappa, for solo percussion or four percussionists, 19 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Psychokosmos for solo cymbalum and traditional orchestra, 16 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Thunder solo of Triangel, for a bass timpani, 5 mn, Ricordi
  • Triangel action for a creative percussionist and ensemble, 35 mn, Ricordi
  • Zwei Promenaden maskulin / feminin, from Triangel, for two percussions, keyboard and tuba, Ricordi
• 1992
  • Korrespondenz for string quartet, 16 mn 30 s, Ricordi
• 1990
  • Brass - The Metal Space for seven brass instruments and two percussionists, 22 mn 30 s, Ricordi
  • Drei Madrigalkomödien for twelve voices, 20 mn, Salabert
  • elec Steine for instrumental ensemble, 17 mn, Editio Musica [program note]
• 1989
  • Endless Eight II. - Apeiron musikon for solo voices, mixed double choir, two percussions, synthesizer, 32 mn 40 s, partition retirée du catalogue
• 1986
  • elec Chinese Opera for ensemble, 27 mn, Salabert
• 1984
  • Pierre Idyll for ensemble, 8 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
• 1981
  • Endless Eight I for ensemble of solo voices, two percussions, electric guitar and two Hammond organs, 36 mn, partition retirée du catalogue
  • elec Intervalles intérieurs for clarinet, trombone, violin, cello and stereo tape, 30 mn, Salabert [program note]
• 1975
  • stage Radames chamber opera, 35 mn, Schott
  • Windsequenzen for ensemble, 29 mn, Editio Musica
• 1974
  • Elektrochronik stereo tape, recording of an Electrocronic live session, 30 mn
• 1973
  • Harakiri Scène avec musique, 20 mn, Ricordi
• 1972
  • elec "Now, Miss!" Klangspiel for violin, DX-7 synthesizer and stereo tape, 18 mn 30 s, Ricordi
• 1971
  • elec Music for New York improvisation for soprano saxophone and percussion with tape, 10 mn 40 s
• 1970
  • elec Cricketmusic nature sounds organized on tape, 5 mn
• 1968
  • Mese Sprachkomposition, on tape, 12 mn 34 s
• 1961
  • Kosmos for solo piano or two pianos, 15 mn, Salabert
• 1956
  • Solitude / Egyedül In memoriam Kodály, for children's or women's choir, 5 mn, Salabert

Catalog source(s)

Pièces composées pour le théâtre

• Büchner, Leonce és Léna [Leonce and Lena] (1961)
• Sean O’Casey, Az ezüst kupa [The Silver Tassie] (1961)
• Tenessee Williams, Üvegfigurák [The Glass Menagerie] (1963)
• O’Neil, Amerikai Elektra [Mourning becomes Electra] (1963)
• Madách, Az ember tragédiája [Tragedy of Man] (1964)
• Lermontov, Hóvihar [The Storm] (1964)
• Pirandello, Hat szerep keres egy szerzöt [Six characters in search of an author] (1964)
• Anouilh, Becket (1965)
• Katona, Bánk bán (1968)
• Shakespeare, Téli rege [The Winter´s Tale] (1969)
• Shakespeare, Athéni Timon [Timon of Athens] (1969)
• Oliver Twist (1963)
• Hét szem mazsola [Seven Raisins] (1965)
• Ellopott bejárat [Stolen Entrance] (1965)
• Foltos és Fülenagy [Spotty and Bigears] (1966)
• János Rózsa, Tér [Space] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, Prometeusz [Prometheus] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, A megérkezés [The Arrival] (1962)
• Károly Esztergályos, Ötödik pozicióban [In fifth position] (1962)
• Pál Gábor, Aranykor [Golden Age] (1963)
• Zoltán Fábri, Nappali sötétség [Darkness at noon] (1963)
• István Bácskay-Lauro: Igézet - Spell (1963)
• István Szabó, Álmodozások kora[The Age of Daydreaming] (1964)
• Iván Lakatos, Mozaik [Mosaic] (1964)
• János Szücs, Szomjuság [Thirst] (1965)
• Mihály Szemes, Az alvilág professzora [The professor of inferno] (1969)
• Ferenc Kardos, Egy örült éjszaka [A Crazy Night] (1969)
• János Tóth, Aréna [Arena] (1969)
• Zoltán Huszárik, Amerigo Tot (1969)
• Károly Makk, Macskajáték [Cat´s play] (1974)
• Sándor Sára, Tüske a köröm alatt [Thorn under the Nail] (1987)
• Judit Elek, Tutajosok Raftsmen (1990)
• Sándor Sára, Könyörtelen idök [Relentless Times] (1991)

Documents

• Entretien avec Peter Eötvös : du langage au quatuor par Jérémie Szpirglas, Feb. 22, 2017

Sites Internet

• Site de Péter Eötvös : www.eotvospeter.com
• Fondation Péter Eötvös : www.eotvosmusicfoundation.org
• Éditions Schott : www.schott-music.com
• Éditions Ricordi : www.ricordi.com
• « Peter Eötvös, la langue de la musique » dans Le Portrait contemporain d’Arnaud Merlin sur France Musique le 25 avril 2018.
• « De la terre aux étoiles - avec Peter Eötvös » dans Carrefour de la création sur France Musique le 7 novembre 2021.
• « Metaclassique #150 - Substituer » par David Christoffel, 15 décembre 2021.
• David Christoffel, « “En général, c’est la réponse A.” Entretien avec Péter Eötvös, compositeur et chef d’orchestre », magazine en ligne de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, 11 décembre 2023.

Cours de ou sur Peter Eötvös à l’Ircam

• Cours de composition de Peter Eötvös (28 juin 2014)
• Peter Eötvös : apprendre à diriger (7 avril 2014)
• Gabriele Faust : Introduction aux œuvres de Peter Eötvös (25 juillet 2001)
• Peter Eötvös : La spatialisation orchestrale (17 juillet 2001)
• Peter Eötvös : Analyse de Séquence des vents - Ecoute d’extraits de Chinese Opera (16 juillet 2001)
• Peter Eötvös : Analyse de Korrespondenz, pour quatuor à cordes (1992) (15 juillet 2001)
• Peter Eötvös : Atelier sur Korrespondenz avec le Quatuor Arditti (12 juillet 2001)

(liens vérifiés en janvier 2024).

Bibliographie

• Philippe ALBÈRA, entretien avec Peter Eötvös (pages 120-128) dans Contrechamps-Festival d’Automne à Paris 1989.
• Varga BALINT ANDRÁS, 3 kérdés 82 zeneszerzö [3 questions 82 compositeurs], Zenemükiadó Budapest 1986 (pages 101-109).
• Varga BALINT ANDRÁS, « Composing and/or conducting - Péter Eötvös or his dilemma », dans The New Hungarian Quarterly, vol. XXVIII. n° 105, printemps 1987 (pages 218-225).
• Evelyne DREYFUS, « Peter Eötvös », dans CNAC Magazine - Centre Georges Pompidou, n° 24-9f, 1984, Centre Pompidou, Paris, p. 28.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Claude DELANGLE, entretien, dans APES (Association Internationale Pour l’Essor du Saxophone), n° 14 août 1990, APES, Lyon (pages 14-18).
• Péter EÖTVÖS,« Penser à Bruno Maderna » dans Bruno Maderna - Festival d’Automne à Paris 1991 (pages 52-53).
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Pedro AMARAL, Parlando, rubato, Paris, Editions MF, 2021.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Pedro AMARAL, Parlando, rubato, Budapest, Rózsavölgyi és Tsa, 2015.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Martin LORBER, “Meine Musik ist Theatermusik” / Peter Eötvös im Gespräch mit Martin Lorber, dans MusikTexte Zeitschrift für Neue Musik / Heft 59, juin 1995 (pages 7-14).
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Ich sehe mich als “Testpiloten” für Neue Musik », dans “Eine Sprache der Gegenwart” / Musica viva 1945-95, Dr. Renate Ulm, Karlsruhe, 28. Oktober 1994 (pages 332-339).
• Peter Eötvös : Trois Soeurs, L’Avant Scène Opéra n° 204 [livret, analyses, photos, etc., de Michel Pazdro, Christian Merlin, Jean-Michel Brèque, András Zoltán Bán, Jean-Francois Labie], 2001.
• Peter Eötvös, Ricordi, 2004.
• Stefan FRICKE, « Über Peter Eötvös und ein komponiertes Harakiri », dans “Zwischen Volks- und Kunstmusik” / Aspekte der ungarischen Musik, Saarbrücken: Pfau, 1999.
• Márta GRABÓCZ (sous la dir. de), Modèles naturels et scénarios imaginaires dans les oeuvres de Peter Eötvös, François-Bernard Mâche et Jean-Claude Risset, Paris, Hermann, 2019.
• Márta GRABÓCZ (sous la dir. de), Les Opéras de Peter Eötvös. Entre Orient et Occident, IUF éditions des archives contemporaines, 2012.
• Paul GRIFFITHS, « Shadowplay », The Hungarian Quarterly, vol. 42, printemps 2001.
• Hans-Klaus JUNGHEIRICH, Identitäten. Der Komponist und Dirigent Peter Eötvös, Schott Musik International, 2005.
• Michael KUNKEL, Kosmoi - Peter Eötvös : Schriften, Gespräche, Dokumente, Musik-Akademie der Stadt Basel, Pfau Verlag.
• J. Györi LÁSZLÓ, « A zenei hang fizikai jelenség » dans Kritika 1992/3, Népszabadság RT Budapest (pages 31-33).
• Max NYFFELER, « Von der Utopie des Metiers. Dirigieren als Praxis der Veränderung », [portrait et entretien avec Peter Eötvös], dans Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 1/2002, Schott, Mainz, p. 16-22.
• Aurore RIVALS, Entretiens autour des cinq premiers opéras de Peter Eötvös, éditions Aedam Musicae, coll. « Musiques XX-XXI^e siècles », 2012.
• Eckhard ROELCKE, « Peter Eötvös », dans Der Taktstock, Paul Zsolnay Verlag, Wien, 2000 (pages 128-131).
• Váczi TAMÁS, « Beszélgetés Eötvös Péterrel az elektronikus zenéröl », dans Muzsika, vol. 29. n° 12. Lapkiadó Publishing House, Budapest 1986 (pages 29-33).
• Ulf WERNER, « Das Sinfonieorchester: Perspektiven einer Institution, oder eine Institution ohne Zukunft? », dans 20 Jahre Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft, Regensburg 1994 (pages 90-97).

Discographie sélective

• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Senza Sangue », 1 CD Budapest Music Center Records, 2020, BMC CD 278.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Tri Sestry », 2 CD Oehms Classics, 2019, OC 986.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, The gliding of the eagles in the sky ; Jet Stream ; Alle vittime senza nome ; Dialog mit Mozart, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, dans « Gliding - Four Works For Symphonic Orchestra », 1 CD Budapest Music Center Records, 2019, BMC CD 284.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Halleluja / Alle Vittime Senza Nome », 1 CD Wergo, 2019, WER 7386 2.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Pardadise reloaded (Lilith), voix solistes : Annette Schönmüller, Holger Falk, Eric Stoklossa, Rebecca Nelsen, Gernot Heinrich, Andreas Jankowitsch, Michael Wagner ; chœur : Avelyne Francis, Christina Sidak, Anna Clare Hauf ; Hungarian Radio Symphonic Orchestra ; direction : Gergeky Vajda, 1 cd BMC Records Budapest, 2016, BMC226.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, DoReMi ; Cello Concerto Grosso ; Speakins drums, violon : Midori ; violoncelle : Jean-Guihen Queyras ; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France ; direction : Péter Eötvös, 1 cd Alpha Classics/Outhere Music, 2015, alpha208.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Seven ; Levitation ; CAP-KO, violon : Akiko Suwanai ; clarinettes ; Richard Hosford, John Bradbury ; piano : Pierre-Laurent Aimard ; Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra ; BBC Symphony Orchestra ; direction : Péter Eötvös, dans « Concertos », 1 cd BMC Records Budapest, 2015, BMC170.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Harakiri, dans « Noh Contemporary Music », 1 cd ALM Records, 2013, ALCD98.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Sonata per sei ; Psalm ; Kosmos, piano : Paulo Alvarez ; Grau Schumacher piano duo ; Schlagquartett Köln, 1 cd Wergo, 2014, WER6784-2.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Two poems to Polly, violoncelle : Christina Meissner, dans « When! » avec des œuvres de Isang Yun, Adriana Hölszky, Salvatore Sciarrino, René Mense, Bernd Alois Zimmermann und Klaus Huber, 1 cd Querstand Records, 2014.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Love and other Demons, London Philharmonic Orchestra ; The Glyndebourne Chorus ; direction : Vladimir Jurowski, 1 cd Glyndebourne Productions, 2013.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Levitation, Christoffer Sundqvist et Kullervo Kojo : clarinette, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, direction : Hannu Lintu, 1 cd ALBA Records, avec des œuvres de Carl Nielsen et Aulis Saliinen, 2012, ABCD314.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Ensemble Linea plays Eötvös », Sonata per sei ; Octet plus ; Natasha ; Un taxi l’attend, mais... ; Erdenklavier-Himmelklavier No.2 ; Psy ; Cadenza, 1 cd BMC Records (édition Budapest Music Center Records), Prix Fonogram du meilleur CD de musique contemporaine aux “Hungarian Music Awards” 2011, Orphée d’Or de l’Académie Internationale de l’Académie du Disque Lyrique 2011.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Cap-Ko ; Seven;Levitation, BMC Records Budapest, 2009.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, “As I crossed a Bridge of Dreams”, BMC Records Budapest, 2008.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Psychokosmos ; Psy, Luigi Gaggero : cymbalum, Danjulo Ishizaka : violoncelle, Keiko Murakami : flûte, 1 Cd Zeitklang-Masterarts Records, 2008.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Cap-Ko, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Symphonieorkester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, 1 Cd NEOS, Musica Viva, avec des œuvres de Bernd-Alois Zimmermann et Martin Smolka, 2007, n° 10705.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Jet Stream, Håkan Hardenberger : trompette, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, direction : Péter Eötvös, 1 Cd Deutsche Grammophon - Universal, coll. 20-21, avec des œuvres de Heinz Karl Gruber et Mark-Anthony Turnage, 2006, n° DGG 00289 477 6150.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Snatches » : I. Snatches of a conversation ; II. Jet stream ; III. Paris-Dakar ; IV. Jazz improvisations on themes from Peter Eötvös’ opera Le Balcon, Marco Blaauw : trompette à double pavillon, Omar Ebrahim : récitant, musikFabrik, Ensemble für Neue Musik (I), Markus Stockhausen : trompette, BBC Symphony Orchestra (II), direction : Péter Eötvös (I, II), László Göz : trombone à double pavillon avec harmonizer, Budapest Jazz Orchestra, direction : Gergely Vajda, Béla Szakcsi : piano, Gábor Gadó : guitare électrique (IV), 1 Cd BMC, 2004, n° CD 097.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, I. Intervalles-Intérieurs ; II. Windsequenzen, UMZE Chamber Ensemble, Michael Svoboda : trombone (I), Klangforum Wien, direction :Péter Eötvös (II), 1 Cd BMC, 2003, n° CD 092.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, I. IMA ; II. Cosmos ; III. Correspondence, WDR Runfunkchor Köln & WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, direction : Sylvain Cambreling (I), Andreas Grau et Götz Schumacher : piano (II), Pellegrini Quartet (III), BMC Records Budapest, 2003, n° BMC CD 085.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Electrochronicle : I. Music for New York ; II. “Now, Miss!” ; III. Dervish Dance, László Dés : saxophone soprano, András Dés : bodhrán (I), Péter Eötvös : orgue électrique (II et III), János Négyesy : violon (II), Mesias Maigasgca : orgue électrique (III), BMC Records Budapest, 2002, BMC CD 072.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, zeroPoints, Göteborgs Symfoniker (The National Orchestra of Sweden), direction : Peter Eötvös1 Cd BMC Records Budapest, avec la symphonie n° 5 de Beethoven, 2001, BMC CD 063.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, « Vocal Works » : I. Two monologues ; II. Harakiri ; III. Tale ; IV. Insetti galanti ; V. Cricket music, Wojtek Drabowicz : baryton, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden/Freiburg, direction : Peter Eötvös (I), Kaoru Ishii : récitant, Shizuo Aoki, Katsuya Yokoyama : shakuhachi, Yasunori Yamaguchi : wood-cutter (II), Piroska Molnár : voix (III), Tomkins Ensemble Budapest, direction : Peter Eötvös (IV), 1 Cd, 2001, BMC CD 038.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Replica, Kim Kashkashian : alto, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, direction : Péter Eötvös, 1 Cd ECM New Series, avec des œuvres de Bartók et Kurtág 2001, n° 1711.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Chinese Opera ; Shadows ; Steine, Klangforum Wien, direction : Péter Eötvös, 1 Cd Kairos, 2000, n ° 0012082KAI.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Three sisters, Aubin, Kagan-Paley, Riabets, Boyce, Strorojev, Henschel a. o., Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Lyon, direction : Kent Nagano, Peter Eötvös, 2 Cds Deutsche Grammophon, coll. 20-21, 1999, n° 459 6942.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Psalm 151 ; Psy ; Triangel, Zoltan Racz, percussion (I et III), Zoltan Racz : marimba, Gergely Ittzes : flûte, Miklos Perenyi : violoncelle (II), UMZE Chamber Ensemble, Budapest, direction : Péter Eötvös (III), 1 Cd Grammofon AB BIS, 1999, n° BIS-CD-948.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams, dans “Donaueschinger Musiktage 1999”, avec des œuvres de Alan Ilario, Tato Taborda, Cergio Prudencio, Misato Muchizuki, 1 CD col legno, 1999, WWE 2CD 20075.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, I. Atlantis ; II, Psychokosmos ; III, Shadows, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cologne, Márta Fábián, cymbalum, Dietrich Henschel, baryton, soprano enfant du Kölner Domchor, direction : Péter Eötvös (I), Márta Fábián, cymbalum, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London, direction : Peter Eötvös (II), Dagmar Becker, flûte, Wolfgang Meyer, clarinette, Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden, direction : Hans Zender (III), 1 Cd BMC, 1998, CD 07.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Hochzeitsmadrigal, dans « Zeitreisen, Andere Welten, 50 Jahre Neue Musik in NRW », Collegium Vocale Köln, 1 Cd Koch Schwann, 1983, n° 3-5037-2.

Films

• Judit KELE, The seven door, film-portrait ZDF/ARTE, Les Film d’Ici production, Paris, 1998,  52 minutes, Prix du meilleur documentaire musical de création attribué par la SACEM, 1999, Grand Prix au Festival du film d’Art de Montréal, 2000, Mention spéciale du jury au Festival Classiques en Images, 2000.
• Judit KELE, En souvenir de Trois Sœurs, fim documentaire sur l’opéraThree Sisters, Les Film d’Ici production, Paris, 1999, 28 minutes.
• Sára BALÁZS, “Talentum” - Eötvös Peter, composer, film-portrait, DUNA TV Hongrie, 2000, 30 minutes.
• Péter EÖTVÖS, Trois Sœurs, film-opéra, réalisation : Don Kent, mise en scène : Ushio Amagatsu, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, direction : Kent Nagano, Peter Eötvös, coproduction LGM - RM Associates - Théâtre Musical de Paris-Châtelet - MUZZIK2001.
• *Péter EÖTVÖS, Le Balcon, film-opera, réalisation : Andy Sommer, mise en scène : Stanislas Nordey, Ensemble intercontemporain, direction : Peter Eötvös,  coproduction Bel Air Media et  Festival d’Aix-en-Provence 2002.
• *Péter EÖTVÖS, Angels in America, film-opéra enregistré au Théatre du Châtelet, Paris, Peter Eötvös : direction, Philippe Calvario : mise en scène, novembre 2004, Francois Roussillon et Associés production.