Since the founding of the Modern Art Orchestra in 2005, it has dedicated itself to the re-evaluation of boundaries between genre, considering its mission to knowledgably express and hand down the Hungarian musical tradition. The large orchestra’s 2018 project Bartók: Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs was the first work that originated as part of the series paying homage to giant Hungarian composers. The presentation of the musical material, which was also recorded on the album and has been an unbroken international success ever since, earned it the Artisjus Award. Based on the idea of Kornél Fekete-Kovács, the artistic director of the ensemble, the creative compositional workshop operating alongside the MAO and the orchestra will pay tribute to Zoltán Kodály as the second part of the series.

Kodály’s oeuvre had an enormous influence on 20th-century Hungarian music. This is perhaps most marked in the culmination of the choir movement and its literature. Their joint successes of recent years have clearly demonstrated that the Hungarian National Choir is capable of being the MAO’s most outstanding partner in the realisation of this special production, as the ensemble has been nurturing the tradition of choral music at the highest level for decades. Through their performances ignoring boundaries between genres, the MAO makes contemporary music receptible by inspiring composers and regularly broadcasting their works, striving to make people love high-quality instrumental music and widely disseminate quality music. 

With their performance in THE PEACOCK – A tribute to Zoltán Kodály, the Modern Art Orchestra and the Hungarian National Choir pay homage to the oeuvre and spirituality of Zoltán Kodály, one of the most influential Hungarian composers, musicologists, music teachers and folk music researchers. In addition to Kodály’s settings of poems and folk song suites featured in the program, the composers of the MAO will perform in the language of today’s music, with works by János Ávéd, Kristóf Bacsó, Gábor Cseke, Kornél Fekete-Kovács and Gábor Subicz. As well as the sound of the original choral works, the sound of the choir also plays a key role in the newly created pieces.

“Without choral singing, no one would be a good musician”, wrote Kodály in his text Who Is a Good Musician?

Programme:

Kornél FEKETE-KOVÁCS : Prelude to the night

Zoltán KODÁLY: Este

Gábor SUBICZ: Determination

Zoltán KODÁLY: Sirató ének

János ÁVÉD: Eternity

Kornél FEKETE-KOVÁCS: False Call

Zoltán KODÁLY: Csalfa Sugár

Kristóf BACSÓ : The Scamp

Zoltán KODÁLY: Mátrai képek

Gábor CSEKE: Loyality

Kornél FEKETE-KOVÁCS: Dusk 

Zoltán KODÁLY: Fölszállott a páva

Kristóf BACSÓ: The Peacock

Kornél FEKETE-KOVÁCS: Gyermekek éneke

Zoltán KODÁLY: Túrót eszik a cigány

With: 

Hungarian National Choir 

Modern Art Orchestra

Conductor: Csaba SOMOS and Kornél FEKETE-KOVÁCS

Organizer: Hungarian National Philharmonic