It was the festival of music
It might seem like a cliché but it is true, the fans of music could experience in these ten festival days, a condensed succession of imperishable sensations which will remain in the memory of the concert guests for a very long time.
Evening by evening, I was repeatedly fascinated by the magic of classical music, the engaging atmosphere of the splendid musical achievements and the exceptional artistic events which took place in the Cultural Palace. We all rightly believe --the audience, the performers and the organizers --that the concert series XVII ended yesterday, Marosvásárhely Days of Music is among the most successful festivals so far. Although the excellent home-grown and foreign guest soloists and ensembles were major contributions to this success, the local Philharmonics and other musical forces of the town definitely carried the conclusive role. They, with their fastidious programmes, artistic maturity and talent contributed significantly to the enhancement of the national reputation of this traditional and beautiful festival. The substantial and attractive repertoire of this year's Days of Music, the variety of presented genres and the well-balanced proportion both regarding pieces from the musical literature -home and universal- and the representatives of classical and contemporary symphonic music -- these factors resulted in the attraction of a permanent interest among listeners. Any type of listeners could find preferences among the spectacles and concerts but we might not be mistaken even if we assume that the fans of music would have enjoyed every single concert. That is why they were in the concert halls in such a quantity almost every time and applauded for such long minutes --joyfully demanding an encore from the soloist and the orchestra. Naturally, we were sorry for the cancelled Madrigal Choir which promised the most memorable experience, but the general impression was still complete, satisfying all expectations and we do hope that the XVII. Marosvásárhely Days of Music gained new apostles for the colorful, soul-refreshing world of music. We are looking forward to a worthy continuation which would, surpassing even the high level of this year's events, further activate and stimulate our country town's increasingly high-standard and attractive musical life.
I am indissolubly bonded with this place
The chamber orchestra of the Marosvásárhely Philharmonics, led by George Dudea, included the Cluj-Napoca origin Ede Terényi's Baroque Rhapsody as well in their successful Monday evening concert. The town's audience extended a warm welcome to the guest composer during the Days of Music.
--I was also delighted to come back to Marosvásárhely, the town where I was born, grew up and received my first musical experiences. Delight is always accompanied by a little timidity when I revisit the Cultural Palace, even now that I am 53, because for me it clearly represents the home of the wonderful, immensely rich universe of music, the palace of music, where a mass of memories of my premier nights, ideas, dreams and moods come rushing back to me, all that bonds me indissolubly with this place. I began here and this departure defines my whole musical career and life.
This might be a reason why the music fans of Marosvásárhely follow this career with such special attention and greet with satisfaction every new collaboration of Ede Terényi with local musicians.
--The chamber orchestra of Marosvásárhely has performed many of my pieces and this cooperation has always been a joy for me. I am really looking forward to meeting this wonderful ensemble again, who have been capable of renewing themselves during the last half decade and thus confirming the musical common opinion about the high level of music-making that has always been associated with them.
This encounter has also turned out to be memorable for the composer, artists and the audience alike. I ask him to give a short description of his piece for the readers....
--The title of my latest piece is Baroque Rhapsody, which I think in itself describes the musical approach and structural development. Its elements of mood and orchestral execution resemble the Baroque style while the folk melodies and whole atmosphere, which evokes the home landscape, follow from the meaning of rhapsody. With the eight baroque-modern concertos, of which this piece is the fourth, I wanted to create a XVIII century native Baroque music. Art works always primarily for the present and future. We are obliged to make up for the music of the past centuries too (within the limits of our capacity and modern attitudes), to compensate for what composers here could have written. Great talents have always existed but the possibilities have not always enabled our music to synchronise with the Western-European genre. This synchronisation could only happen now. That is why the major retrospective yet very modern works of the late 70s and 80s occured, such as the Vitézi énekek and Doru Popovici Codex Caioni by Boldizsár Csíky and the Passacaglia Kájoni témára by Csaba Szabó. These pieces were presented all over the country in the remarkable artistic performances by the chamber orchestra of Marosvásárhely.
--I conclude from what you are saying that you are still content with the performance of our musicians.
--My Baroque Rhapsody is in fact a Baroque style concerto for cello, string orchestra, harp, cembalon and percussion. Therefore the cellist Péter Szabó had an exceptionally major role in the performance. Actually, I wrote this piece for him because I respect him as a young artist with a great performance career. He expressed my piece not only with excellent technique but also with an artistic transfiguration that is typical of only the truly great artists. This might give an idea of how much I appreciate the achievement of the soloist as well as the orchestra.
Translation by Susan Kapás
Vörös Zászló
May 1987
/Marosvásárhely/ Days of Music
