The classics of tomorrow and the modern masters of the past—this is one way to describe the four Hungarian composers brought together in this programme by their shared spirit of musical exploration and discovery.
Patrik Oláh’s Fusion won the composition competition marking the 150th anniversary of the unification of Budapest in 2023. In this work, the young composer brings together the rich traditions of authentic Romani music and classical composition.
Exactly one hundred years earlier, Béla Bartók’s Dance Suite had been composed to celebrate the same anniversary of Budapest’s unification. László Dubrovay’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, by contrast, was written for the Jávorkai brothers, who appear as the evening’s soloists.
The concert concludes with Zoltán Kodály’s Háry János Suite, another work that draws deeply on Hungary’s cultural heritage. Composed a century ago, Kodály’s singspiel was inspired by the folk-inspired artistic ideals of Hungary’s Reform Era, transforming traditional musical elements into one of the defining masterpieces of the national repertoire.
Patrik Oláh: Fusion
László Dubrovay: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello
Béla Bartók: Dance Suite, BB 86a
Zoltán Kodály: Háry János Suite, Op. 15
