Among the early miniatures of Kurtág Eight Duos Op. 4, show a new departure in instrumentation: the combination of violin and cimbalom, two instruments that were to play an important role in Kurtág's later works, but it was in these duos that he purported to have captured the "essence" or the cimbalom. He did not write for it in the traditional Hungarian manner but in a way reminiscent of Webern's short studies. In these duos one becomes increasingly aware of the characteristic "soundscape" of Kurtág: his use of trills, muted tremolos, percussive sounds, ostinato techniques - all indicate that a new musical language is being developed.