years of the BUDAPEST PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Dear Audience, The 160 years of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra embrace the longest period in Hungarian musical history. During these decades, Erkel, Liszt, Bartók, Kodály and Dohnányi – just to name the most illustrious examples, all of whom are connected to our orchestra in a thousand ways – were all actively composing. While 160 years is not the usual round number for a jubilee, it is nevertheless a key number, since it is twice the 80th that was celebrated under the direction of Ernő Dohnányi with the world première of Zoltán Kodály’s work, Dances of Galánta. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the piece will also be played at this current jubilee concert, in the company of works by Bartók and Mahler chosen because their fi rst performances are likewise connected to the Budapest Philharmonic. For today’s concert marking the 160th anniversary of the Orchestra’s founoundation – which as a symbolic gesture I am conducting jointly with the Orchechestra’s next chairman-conductor – as well as all of the other concerts in thisis festival season, I wish you blissfull relaxation and wonderful musical enjoymement. DR. GYÖRGY GYÔRIVÁNYI RÁTH Photo: Attila Juhász Dr. Györgyyörgy GyőrivGyőriványi Ráth They say that music is the food of the soul. If this is true, thent the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra has nourisheded many souls by pperforming the greatest musical works over the last 160 years.ears. Throughout ththese rich decades, the orchestra has inspired the fi nestt of of composers composers to to w write masterpieces, and thus the ensemble can boast numerousmerous world premièpremières, not to mention a history of musical direction which includesncludes some of ththe world’s most renowned conductors. As the new chairman-conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic, it is my express aim to bring back to this orchestra,orc which once played a signifi cant cultural olerole at at a aEuropean European lev level, the standing that it deserves. Pinchas Steinberg PINCHAS STEINBERG 3 A CONCERT BY THE BUDAPEST PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (28 OCTOBER 2011) – Photo: Attila Juhász Contents Programme notes 6 Endre Tóth Béla Bartók (1881–1945): Dance Suite 6 I. Moderato II. Allegro molto III. Allegro vivace IV. Molto tranquillo V. Comodo VI. Finale – Allegro years of Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967): Dances of Galántaa 8 Gustav Mahler (1860–1911): Symphony No.o. 1 in D major, “Titan” 10 the BUDAPEST PHILHARMONIC I. Langsam, schleppend. Im Anfang sehrseh gemächlich. II. Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnchnell. ORCHESTRA III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohnee zuz schleppen. IV. Stürmisch bewegt. Failure in Budapest, or a composermposer striving to plplease? 12 Dr. György Győriványi Ráth Gala concert at the Hungarian State Opera Furtwängler and the Budapestdapest Philharmonic Orchestra 16 Monday, 18 November 2013, 7.30 pm Zoltán Rockenbauer Music and the humann mind 20 József Hámori To an orchestra 23 Zsófi a Balla The Budapestest Philharmonic Society 2004-2013 24 Anna Scholz PROGRAMME: Béla Bartókk X Dance Suite Zoltán Kodály X Dances of Galánta Publisher: Szilveszter Ókovács, general director of the Opera House Editor: Anna Scholz CONDUCTOR – DR. GYÖRGY GYŐRIVÁNYI RÁTH Photo editor: Jozefa Iványi English translation: Adrian Courage X Photos: Szilvia Csibi, Pál Csillag, Vera Éder, Péter Herman, Attila Juhász, Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Titan” Béla Mezey, Attila Nagy, Tomas Opitz, Mario Pertorini Typographyy and design: Mátai és Végh Kreatív Műhely CONDUCTOR – PINCHAS STEINBERG Programme notes Endre Tóth In 1923, there was a movement to almost as war criminals for several years. off ered by folk dance: and it was into this celebrate the 50th anniversary of the The composers – particularly Bartók andnd that Bartók placed his new message: the unifi cation of Pest, Buda and Óbuda, Kodály – performed the requestst iin a fantasy image of the happy meeting of which eventually did not compare to unique manner, similarly to howw theth poet peoples.” the scale of the Hungarian Millennium. János Arany reacted to the celebrationce of Before the première, the composer spoke Fortunately – at least from the point Franz Josef in his poem,m, TThe Welsh Bards. of his new composition with customary of view of musical history – one highly Kodály reaped enormomous success with the terseness: “My dance suite is one of signifi cant event did take place: ag ala 55th Psalm, todayy betterbe known as Psalmusus my newest works. I wrote it during the concert by the Philharmonic Society’s Hungaricus, whose text by 16th centucentury summer. It consists of fi ve parts, which Orchestra was held in the Vigadó poet Mihályály Vég Kecskeméti shouldshou be come one after the other without a pause, Concert Hall on 19 November 1923. read betweenetween the lines. For eexample, as attaccas. All fi ve dances are original, and have a folk-like, but not folk, character, and in place of pauses, I have employed a little ritornello, an orchestral interlude, A GREETING FROMM BÉLA BARTÓK TO TTHE HONORARY MEMBERS (1933) between the various dances. These Philharmonic Society Archive ritornelli are situated between the fi r st placed side by side, andd in such a way attempting to identify its origin. The and second movements, between the that the diff erent partsts of the work showsho second movement is Hungarian in second and the third, and between the defi ned types. Thehe peasantpeasant musicmusic of all character, and the third is Hungarian in fourth and fi f th. There is also an attacca- kinds of nationalitiesnalities served as ththe model: places and Romanian in others.” section after the fifth movement or Hungarian,n, Romanian, SlovaSlovak, and even The Budapest Philharmonic Society’s REMIÈ dance, in a fi nale-like section, in which Arab, andnd there is also the cross-breeding concert of exactly 90 years ago was all the themes that have emerged are of theseese types. So, for example,ex the melody greeted with extraordinary acclaim. István repeated.” In his essay, The Eff ect of Folk in the fi rst theme of the fi rst movement Péterfi , in the next day’s Világ, stressed, with Music on Modern Art Music, Bartók set is reminiscent of tthe most primitive Arab regard to the Dance Suite, “how new andd down on paper more of his analyticall folk music, whilewh its rhythm belongs to surprising the composer’s twists and turnns Bartók (1881–1945): Dance Suite Dance (1881–1945): Bartók thoughts on the Dance Suite in 1931, bubut Eastern Euroopean folk music. The theme were, and how rich his poetic imaginatioon removed these from the fi nal versionon. In of the foururth movement is an imitation was”. Shortly after the première, seveeral POSTER FOR THE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF DANCE SUITE (1923) SocietyPhilharmonic Archive the crossed-out lines, new materialal by the of morere complicated Arab music. The European orchestras included Barttók’s Béla Bartók (188 Molto IV. vivace Allegro III. molto Allegro II. Moderato I. – Allegro Finale VI. Comodo V. tranquillo On the occasionccasion of this festivefestiv event, one section reads, “the entire city is full composer can be read regardingg thet “aim” themee of the ritornello is such a faithful new work in their programmes. Inn 1925 the city’s’s leadership asked BéBéla Bartók, of rage”. Bartók, meanwhile, encoded of the work, which was no lessle than “a replilica of certain types of Hungarian it was played at the Prague Festitival, of Zoltán Kodály and Ernő DohnányiDoh (who into his Dance Suite, “the notion of the kind of ideally conceived pepeasant music, sonongs that even the most seasoned which the Italian composer Alfredodo Casella was also both conductor aand soloist for brotherhood of the peoples”, to which I would say: composed peaeasant melodies ethnomusicologiste maybe fooled into wrote in his column, Il Pianofortete, “bathed the evening) to compose new works. In a political message could be ascribed a in fantasy, rich in colour, likike certain BÉLA BARTÓK’S WORDSS OF GREETINGS IN TTHE GUEST BOOK OF THE PHILHARMONIC thee time of the short-livedshort-l Hungarian mere few years after the Trianon peace Philharmonic Society Archiveve magnifi cent Hungarian mbroideries,emb it Sovietoviet Republic, BartóBartók and Kodály had treaty. As Tibor Tallián writes of the work is music of astonishing tecechnicality, but both been membersmembe of the musical in his book on Bartók, “Bartók […] sought in addition to this it is off a cunning and directorate under thhe leadership of Béla out those musical layers – with political spontaneous poetic nature that makesmake Reinitz, and the commissionsc for the consciousness – in which ethnic and one gape. In recent years only rarely has new works were inintended as a symbolic democratic integration could become anything appearedd with such beautybeaut and gesture of friendndly reconciliation with reality. Just as in Viennese classicism, the with such perfection,tion, both intellectualintellec and the composers,, who had been treated purest opportunity for integration was technical.” 7 because, from a statement he made appreciation for the new Kodály in the 20 October 1933 Evening News composition playedd at thet jubilee daily newspaper, it emerged that this concert eightyhty yeyears ago – which was had been the fi rst “orchestra” he had conducteducted by Ernő Dohnányi on 23 ever heard in his life. The composer OctoberOcto 1933 – along with, naturally, also noted that in Vienna around 1800, its interpretation. The critic from the several notebooks worth of Hungarian Budapesti Hírlap wrote that the piece dance music had been published, “brings to life the fi re and radiance and the music of the Galánta gypsieses of old Hungarian life, with its many had served as the source for onene of magnificent, warm colours”, while them. The composer was alertedaler to Viktor Lányi dubbed Zoltán Kodály’s the existence of the publiblications by creation as “a masterfully realised new ZOLTÁN KODÁLY musical historian Dr ErvErvin Major, who work constructed on a grand scale and had discovered themem in the library of infl uenced yb the new, the great and “No Musicians get the Verbunkos the National Musicusic School.