It was on 22 January 1823 when Ferenc Kölcsey completed the manuscript of the Hungarian National Anthem in Szatmárcseke. To honour this event, we celebrate the Day of Hungarian Culture on this very day. As Kölcsey was brooding over the tempestuous centuries of the Hungarian people in an isolated manor in the east of Hungary on that gloomy winter day, we will now also recall both the glorious and sorrowful days of our history, pehaps associating with them the notion of a passing winter and the revival of hope. The somewhat "storm-tossed" programme of the concert containing exclusively Hungarian compositions reflects this turmoil as well: several works were scheduled already for last year' concerts, which had be postponed because of the pandemic-related re-arrangements. These turbulences come to show in  Threnos (Tears) written by Bartók’s student and fellow-composer, Sándor Veress. He penned the composition in a devastated Hungary in 1945 to commemorate Bartók’s death in a distant land. This grim introduction is balanced out three buoyant pieces. First, the afore-mentioned Bartók’s Divertimento (literally, “entertainment” music) and the Cappriccio (caprice) written by our orchestra's concertmaster, Zoltán Bánfalvi, which was scheduled and then cancelled twice last year. Finally comes a real hit: Zoltán Kodály's Dances of Galánta.

With the latter, we come to celebrate the treats of January, dancing and celebrating the carnival. This year, we will have to make do with a virtual version, however. We, therefore, recommend this concert to all of you who enjoy Hungarian music and who long for a bit of cheering up, a bit of virtual dancing and a bit of humour in music on these gray winter days.

A co-production by the MÜPA Budapest and the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra.

"... The second part is quick-paced; I wrote it in just one day, inspired by a dream. There, the movement was played several times in a row, from beginning to end, so the next day, all I had to do was write it down note by note. While composing this piece that exploits the enormous pitch range, the great wealth of colours, virtuosity and polyphony (double-string technique) of the cello, I had those cello concertos in mind that were dearest to my heart (by Dvořák, Elgar and Shostakovich (No. 1)). As to its style, the piece is Neo-Romantic with several references to jazz and film scores. Besides, Elgar's influence becomes quite clear in the second movement, while Shostakovich's impact shows best in the third. The orchestra is the soloist's equal; it completes and complements its material rather than merely accompanies it."

Please click HERE, we offer you the festive music-programme online in English!