Chorus Book in Memory S. A. II.

Persisten Dreams

''I wrote my solo clarinet piece Persistent Dreams in 1991 before my 'Opus 1' Lightshadow-trembling, inspired by Salvador Dal 's painting La persisténcia de la memória. The musical equivalent of the infamous melting clocks is like a convolvulus made of notes moving between various overtone systems, interrupted here and there by short chromatic outbreaks. Although it recurs in various forms, in its variations it portrays the immutability and persistence of time and memory.'' (Gergely Vajda)

Melodie

In 1952, one of the most prolific years of his life, Pál Járdányi composed his Vörösmarty Symphony, several choral works and a chamber piece for music education. During this period, he also wrote the piece Melody for cello and piano. The pure, almost romantic beauty of the composition evokes the memory of the youthful Adagio of Zoltán Kodály, almost as if it would be Járdányi's echo to the piece sounding about half a century later.This publication is part of the curriculum of elementary arts education.

Concertino

With its energetic impetus and imposing instrumentation, Concertino is certainly outstanding in the oeuvre of Árpád Balázs. Among his compositions for concert band, it is by far the most engaging and exacting work. Passing away and a will to live are simultaneously present in Concertino, which Árpád Balázs composed in memory of his beloved father. Its structure brings Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies to mind: its solemn opening, which returns at the end,is followed by a slow and a fast movement. The funereal music of the slow movement evolves from a motif of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with enormous intensification equal to the lament in Grieg’s Peer Gynt.

Four Chants about Saint Stephen the King

János Galli (1921-2006) was a conductor, composer, music teacher, a well-known and highly respected personality in Hungarian wind music life. As a music teacher he directed numerous string and wind ensembles and choirs, made hundreds of transcriptions for wind orchestras, and instrumented works for ensembles of all sizes and formations. The most important of his works are his series of volumes of marches, folksong arrangements and church music. He was excellent at instrumentation. For its fine sound and easy playability we recommend to youth wind bands and their conductors this work of his composed in memory of the king who founded the Hungarian state.

Concertino

With its energetic impetus and brilliant instrumentation, Concertino is outstanding in the oeuvre of Árpád Balázs. Among his compositions for concert band, it is by far the most engaging and demanding work. Passing away and a will to live are simultaneously present in Concertino, which Árpád Balázs composed in memory of his beloved father. Its structure brings Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies to mind. Its solemn opening (which returns at the end) is followed by a slow and a fast movement: the funereal music of the slow movement evolves from a motif from Bach's St. Matthew Passion which intensifies in a manner similar to the lament in Grieg's Peer Gynt.

Handshake After Shot : for 5 performers

Suggested instrumentation: two muted trumpets (sounded on both sides of the stage), an oboe (in the centre), an electric organ (background, centre) and a cardboard box (foreground, centre). "The memory I have is seeing Fellini's Clowns - Requiem for a Circus four times in succession in 1974. There are some allusions to the last scene of the film (where clowns are sending messages to each other by means of trumpets across an empty circus-ring, while the lights go out one by one) in Handshake after Shot. The piece was composed in 1977, it has been dedicated to the late Hungarian poet, János Pilinszky." - Gyula Csapó

Four Chants about Saint Stephen the King

János Galli (1921-2006) was a conductor, composer, music teacher, a well-known and highly respected personality in Hungarian wind music life. As a music teacher he directed numerous string and wind ensembles and choirs, made hundreds of transcriptions for wind orchestras, and instrumented works for ensembles of all sizes and formations. The most important of his works are his series of volumes of marches, folksong arrangements and church music. He was excellent at instrumentation. For its fine sound and easy playability we recommend to youth wind bands and their conductors this work of his composed in memory of the king who founded the Hungarian state.

Triptichon - in Memoriam Ildiko Vékony

The work was composed in memory of the Hungarian cimbalom player Ildikó Vékony, who died in an accident in autumn 2009. It is based on an earlier piece for solo cimbalom Slow and Brisk (Sáry László: Dance music, Z. 14263) dedicated to her and played several times and also recorded by her. The first and third parts of the composition are variants of each other. Between these two parts there is a slow, richly ornamented movement with freely moving rhythms, in which the often broken melodies of the viola da gamba (or violoncello) appear as reminiscences.The piece was premiered in Budapest on 4th December 2011 by Nóra Kallai (viola da gamba) and András Szalai (cimbalom).