Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1978. július-december (32. évfolyam, 27-50. szám)
1978-11-02 / 42. szám
Thursday, Nov. 2. 1978. 8 ------------------------------------------AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZÓ INTERPRETING BARTÓK AND KODÁLY Alexander Farkas The debut of the young Hungarian pianist, Alexander Farkas at the Carnegie Recital Hall before a capacity audience on October 7th, 1978 was a unique and memorable event in the musical history of the United States and in the life of the Hungarian Culture Club under whose auspices it was arranged. For the first time a brilliant pianist and a profound scholar of the works of Bartók and Kodály, showed the musiclovers of New York how the piano compositions of these two towering masters should be played. Farkas’ rendition held the audience spellbound, even those who cannot yet fully fathom the profoundly and magnificence of the works of these composers. Mr. Farkas played with overwhelming conviction coupled with a sensitivity that brought out every significant nuance of the pieces. Below we offer the artist’s own analysis of the considerations that guided him in chosing his program. Zoltán Deák It was a great pleasure to play for an audience largely made up of friends and members of the Hungarian Culture Club. I have often felt that concerts given by touring artists before audiences which are not familiar with his work is a very limited experience. A much more significant event is a performance for a community in which the artist is known and which expects a certain type of communication, therefore an audience which is prepared for what the artist is about to say. One feels from the stage an expectancy from the audience and therefore a performer is thus encouraged to speak more intimately. The program which I chose was difficult both for the audience and for myself. For the most part, the repertory consisted of those pieces which I had carefully studied with mv teacher, Prof. Ernő Szegedi, at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. Hungarian music is very special and in order to perform it well, one must have some understanding of the Hungarian musical style, and particularly of the Hungarian language with its unique rhythm and inflection!. My overwhelming impression of my lessons with Prof. Szegedi was that whenever he would demonstrate a phrase or a portion of a piece, at each moment I felt that the music spoke to me. That ideal has remained for me the most important one to emulate. I chose to begin my program with a Sonata of Haydn. While an Austrian by birth, Haydn spent many years in the employ of the Eszterházy family and thus came to know and to value the Hungarian musical esthetic. He was greatly admired by Kodály both for his great genius and for his desire that his music be understood by all people and bring to them a measure of comfort and happiness in a life heavily burdened by care. The music of Haydn is often misunderstood, often under rated. The effortless mastery of Haydn often passes unnoticed even by musicians who ought to have greater appreciation for his music. For these reasons I often program works by Haydn in the hope that the joy of his music will prove effective. The Seven Pieces for piano of Kodály were all composed between the year 1910 and 1918. It is this early period of the twentieth century in which both Kodály and Bartók presented the first significant efforts of a new Hungarian musical style. After some years of collecting and studying folk music, an effort which began about 1903, these two great minds brought forth the first serious effort of musical composition based for the first time in history upon true understanding and appreciation for the peasant music found in the countryside. Earlier compositions in Hungarian style by Liszt and Erkel among others, were based on a type of popular music, containing elements of Hungarian melody, but largely corrupted by the Gypsies. It was not until serious folkmusic collecting was pursued by Kodály and Bartók, that a true concept of Hungarian music emerged. The Székely melodies of the Kodály pieces as well as the Four Laments of Bartók, embody a pure realization of the music and life of the Hungarian peasantry. The Improvizations on Hungarian Folk Tunes of Bartók were composed in 1926 and represent a more mature stage of his work. The melodies of the eight improvizations are authentic folk tunes, however the settings are much more sophisticated than his earlier efforts. It was Bartok’s intention to set the folk melodies in such a way that they would be enhanced and that their intrinsic beauty and simplicity would stand out and be recognized for its greatness. One must listen to Bartok’s music carefully and repeatedly. Eventually one comes to understand and value his work for its rigorous beauty. It is music in which there exists not one superfluous tone. It is his personal monument to the greatness of the creations of Hungarian folk culture. We must become part of that spirit in order to understand his clear message. The final group of the program presented two pieces from the very last years of Liszt’s life, the Bagatelle Without Tonality and the Lugubre Gondola II. These pieces are far in advance of the music composed by other musicians of the period and represent elements which were to be later incorporated in the works of important composers of the next 50 years. There is a strong connection between these late works of Liszt and the early compositions of Bartók and Kodály. Liszt heavily influenced the work of the later French impressionist composers, notably Debussy and Ravel, who several decades later became the leaders of the new music of the time which in turn became a strong influence on the earlier works of Bartók and Kodály. The final piece of the program, Liszt’s Rhapsody XI, is a very elegant testimony to Liszt’s devotion to the greatness of the Hungarian music which he knew in his lifetime. While the music of Liszt has passed in and out of vogue in western Europe and in the United States, in Hungary it has always been highly valued and never thought to be superficial. I have tried to present the Rhapsody in as elegant a manner as possible. An artist is never entirely satisfied with his own performance and judges a particular concert by the measure in which he was able to achieve his aims both technically and in communicative ability. In general I was satisfied with my efforts, although one returns to practice in the hope of improving the next performance. It is a quest for purity and clarity which is the most important aim. One performance leads back to the solitude in which one discovers more to bring to the next performance. CSOBÁNC CASTLE The fiery, flavoured wines of Balaton have also penetrated the world of legend. One story about Csobánc Castle tells of one of its lords, Balint VÖrós, who chose this rocky refuge because he had a loathing of water. On the other hand, he had a great taste for wine, and the surrounding vineyards rather (cont. on p. 10.)
