Eric Whitacre: Five Hebrew Love Songs

Astor Piazzolla: Four seasons in Buenos Aires – No.2, Summer (transcription by José Bragato)

Astor Piazzolla: Libertango

Joby Talbot: Path of Miracles, No. 4, Santiago

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Martin Palmeri: MisaTango

Gabriella Busa voice
Dóra Bizják piano
Mihály Demeniv accordion
János Bodor violin
Eszter Kökény violin
Dénes Ludmány viola
Balázs Kántor cello
Tibor Zsákai double bass

Hungarian National Choir (choirmaster: Csaba Somos)

Conductor: Jack Apperley, award-winner at Gary Graden’s master class

Host: Roxána Somogyi

Conducting this special concert for choral music lovers will be the award winner of the Hungarian National Choir’s international conducting course led by Gary Graden, Jack Apperley, who said, “I felt fantastic and gained a lot of new experiences! I am delighted that the choir decided to have me join them for a concert next season. I am incredibly grateful for this wonderful opportunity and can hardly wait for it to take place.”

The British special prize winner, Jack Apperley will conduct works by such committed composers of choral music – by an Englishman, an American and two Argentines – among whom some are happy to combine singing genres with dance characters, and he is more than prepared to bring these within the framework of church music.

Eric Whitacre (1970) is an American composer who is primarily known for his choral works. He has been Artist in Resident at the Los Angeles Master Chorale since 2016. Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) was a legendary creator of Argentine tango whose name became synonymous with and integral to the genre. Jody Talbot is a remarkably versatile British composer who works with countless different styles and genres. His choral works are among the best known of his creative output. The Argentine Martin Palmeri (1965) is a composer, conductor, chorusmaster, pianist and singer who is equally committed to church music and tango.

Gabriella Busa is a member of the alto section of the Hungarian National Choir and regularly performs operatic roles. The pianist Dóra Bizják has been a répétiteur for the Hungarian National Choir since 2002. As part of the Duo-Klavi-Art with her husband Károly Zentai, she regularly performs pieces for four hands and two pianos. Mihály Demeniv has been playing the accordian since he was four years old. He became known nationwide in 2014, when he won the special prize in the Virtuózok television talent show. The chorusmaster for the concert, Jack Apperley, was a student of the Royal Academy in London and is dedicated to choral music. He has conducted a number of choirs in his career to date and has enjoyed success in several international competitions.

“When we are thinking of masterpieces of the musical literature and the subject of dance is mentioned, what usually comes to mind first are the waltzes and polkas of Johann Strauss or the works of Johannes Brahms. In the programme for our concert, however, the concept of dance is often one that cannot be categorised: it mostly emerges, or its presence is hinted at, when special emotional states are attained.

American composer Eric Whitacre wrote his Five Hebrew Love Songs to sentimental Hebrew texts. The movements of the cycle also conjure up a miniature picture of life before us. After the introduction, the movement entitled Light Bride depicts two young lovers’ yearning for each other, as the snapping kiss turns into a spontaneous joyful dance.

The superb instrumentalists of the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra will not only be playing alongside the choir: the second number in our concert will be performed by them alone.

Joby Talbot, a living British composer, wrote a remarkable piece for a seventeen-part choir in tribute to walking the El Camino in Spain. His work, Path of Miracles, originally consisted of four movements, each of which was named after a station on the pilgrimage route of Saint James. After Roncesvalles, Burgos and Leon, the final stop is Santiago de Compostela. It is this closing movement that we will be singing, in which the pilgrims, encouraging each other forward and praying to the Lord, get closer and closer to their holy objective. After lots of trying adversities that led many of their comrades to quit, the sight of the cathedral brings wondrous joy, prompting them to begin a refined medieval-inspired and dance-inflected song of thanksgiving.

In the second part of our concert, we leave the western edge of Europe and head across the sea to Argentina. Along with his countryman Astor Piazzolla, the Argentinian composer Martin Palmeri, whose Misa a Buenos Aires (MisaTango) dates from 1996, is becoming increasingly well known. In unconcealed fashion, the elements of the Catholic Mass are embedded in the hot and passionate atmosphere of tango. The mixed choir and string ensemble will be supplemented with a piano (played by our regular répétiteur, Dóra Bizják) and, of course, the indispensable accordion (Mihály Demeniv). Serving as the vocal soloist for the piece will be an outstanding artist from the Hungarian National Choir, Gabriella Busa.”

Somos Csaba