This dissertation analyzes the third movement of the Hungarian composer György Kurtág's Stele, and, since it is so intimately connected to it, the solo piano piece András Mihálv Emlékére by the same composer. The biography of Kurtág is covered first, in order to better understand the composer's motivations and ideas, and to present the composer should the reader of this dissertation not be familiar with him. Since András Mihály Emlékére, from the Játékok selection of small piano pieces, is the blueprint for the third movement of Stele, it is then analyzed in detail with regards to form, harmony and thematic structure in the second section of this paper. The analysis of the harmony takes up the largest part of this section, since the major thesis of this paper is that it was constructed by deliberately disturbing symmetrical chords in order to achieve a special atmosphere, one of serenity and other-worldliness. The third section maps out the network of references—to Kurtag's own pieces as well as to a piece by Bartok—that make up Stele. It also investigates how the transformation from the solo piano piece to Stele, for large orchestra, was conceived. Finally, a brief look at the other movements of Stele to discover common elements throughout the movements in the orchestra piece concludes the paper.