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Pannonhalma to Celebrate World Music Day with Works by Baroque Composers

Hungary Today 2024.09.13.

On September 27, on the occasion of the World Music Day, works by seven outstanding composers of the Baroque era will be performed at the Benedictine Archabbey of Pannonhalma (in western Hungary). The pieces will be played by organist Dániel Sárosi on the organ of the Chapel of Our Lady, built in 1820 and restored to its original state by 2023, kultura.hu reports.

Works by renowned Baroque composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Johann Adam Reincken will be performed at the World Music Day concert. Sweelinck, who established the organ tradition in the German Lowlands, will perform his Toccata in A minor. From Bach, the violin concerto in A minor, II. Andante, and the Pastorale in F major will be heard. Another toccata by Reincken, who had a great influence on the German composer, will also be featured.

Although he was one of the most important composers of the 17th century, few of his works have survived for posterity.

Unlike Georg Philipp Telemann, whose more than 3,000 works are known, he is one of the greatest German baroque composers of all time. Among his many works, the Fantasia in B minor was included in the repertoire of the concert in September.

Johann Jakob Froberger, the ‘father’ of the suite genre, will be represented at the concert by his Toccata in A minor. Froberger is one of the most important keyboard composers of his time.

He was a milestone in the history of European music, being the first composer to write not only for the organ but also for other keyboard instruments.

His contemporary Johann Caspar Kerll was also an influential and well-known composer, although many of his works are now lost. He also composed vocal and instrumental music as well as operas. His keyboard works are particularly significant. This time we can hear his Passacaglia in D minor.

The seventh composer in the repertoire is Georg Muffat, with his Toccata sexta. He is best known for the extremely clear and detailed performance instructions printed to accompany his collection of string pieces Florilegium Primum and Florilegium Secundum.

The pieces will be interpreted by organist Dániel Sárosi and violinist Ákos Barra Jr.

Dániel Sárosi performs regularly in Hungary and abroad. Currently he is organ teacher at the Kodály Zoltán Music Secondary School in Debrecen and adjunct professor at the Debrecen Reformed Theological University, organist of the Cantus of the Debrecen Reformed College, and music director of the Debrecen Reformed Church.

Organ of the Pannonhalma Archabbey. Photo via Wikipedia

Ákos Barra Jr. was the first violinist of the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra for six years, then concertmaster, and is currently assistant professor at the Kodály Zoltán Music Secondary School and the Faculty of Music at the University of Debrecen. He has worked with conductors and soloists such as Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Brian Fieldhouse, Ádám Medveczky and José Carreras.

Fact

The World Music Day concert in the Chapel of Our Lady will be the fifth in the Pannonhalma Archabbey’s 2024 Organ Concerto Series. The final, sixth concert of the year, will be held in the medieval St. Martin’s Basilica, celebrating the 800th anniversary of its restoration and consecration, on December 26. Zsolt Kiss, organist and choirmaster of the basilica, will play festive melodies.

Unique 18th Century Pipe Organs to Be Unveiled at the Archabbey of Pannonhalma
Unique 18th Century Pipe Organs to Be Unveiled at the Archabbey of Pannonhalma

All three instruments are of outstanding value both in terms of instrument history and music.Continue reading

Via kultura.hu, Featured image: Wikipedia


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