GYÖRGY ORBÁN

It was in 1979, 44 years ago, when we met for the first time, at a concert of his Five Canons To Poems By Attila József. He was wearing a blue corduroy suit. I remember this and the piece.

I have been collecting and “stealing” his sheet music ever since. Later, when he became the editor of Zeneműkiadó (Editio Musica Budapest), we met more often, ate, drank, listened to music (Mahler, Shostakovich), maybe even talked, although these occasions became more like monologues: he talked, we listened. There was much to hear. With a nudge from György Selmeczi, we even wrote a joint work, disguising ourselves as avant-garde. It was a wonderful time, when we showed each other the pieces we were working on. His notes were incredibly precise and relevant, but the key moment was when he played, say, the Passion or the Rorate. And then the times of joint creative houses, which resulted in Kisoroszi, where all four of us [György Orbán, János Vajda, György Selmeczi, Miklós Csemiczky – ed.] can still be together to this day.

Of course, the most important are the works. I think many prominent people on the Hungarian music scene are not aware of the huge oeuvre that has been created here over in recent past decades.

He is considered an internationally renowned and successful choral composer, but his major chamber music works, oratorios, masses, songs and orchestral works are not widely known. Müpa Budapest’s project will hopefully change that.

I believe that if, say, in 50 or 100 years, classical music is still alive, if we have descendants who listen to “sad music” and who may also be curious about what their predecessors did – that is, what we did – they will get the best, most beautiful, truest answers about this era from the works of György Orbán.

János Vajda

CONCERTS BY THE COMPOSER OF THE SEASON:

Friday, 20 October 2023 / 7 pm

Sunday, 22 October 2023 / 7 pm

LISZT FEST

FELEDI PROJECT: ORBÁN / SZENTPÁLI – premiere

Wednesday, 1 November 2023 / 7.30 pm

ALL SAINTS’ DAY

Two Requiems

Orbán & Mozart