Béla Bartók’s first creative period has strong ties to the world of the 19th century, especially the music of Ferenc Liszt. The symphonic poem centred around Lajos Kossuth connects to Liszt’s Hungarian Historical Portraits, or such hero-themed symphonic poems of the same programme as Mazeppa, Hamlet and Prometheus. In addition to ideas, the young Bartók also drew on the wisdom of Liszt as regarded composition technique: the motivic arrangement of Les Préludes was certainly an inspiration, so it will be particularly interesting to hear the two pieces one after the other.
The world premiere on the programme, Roland Szentpáli’s cantata, was an award winner of Müpa’s composer competition in 2020. The lyrics are based on a poem by Dániel Berzsenyi, which the composer found forceful and relevant. The piece incorporates narration and a solo voice, a solo horn, and additional horns arranged in space.