Ferenc Farkas: Choral Music
Toccata Classics continues its exploration of the music of the Hungarian composer Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000) with this selection from his huge output of choral music, ranging in mood from the folklike simplicity of the Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae and his bright carol settings via the asperity of some late a cappella pieces to the fresh and buoyant Christmas Cantata. This recording is also the first by the new London-based chamber choir Ascolta.
Ascolta; Ascolta Chamber Ensemble; Peter Broadbent, conductor;
Listen To This Recording:
- Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae: I Kyrie
- Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae: II Gloria
- Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae: III Sanctus
- Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae: IV Benedictus
- Missa Secunda in honorem Sanctae Margaritae: V Agnus Dei
- Epigramma de suo libro
- Hymnus ad Sanctum Emericum
- Rubaiyat
- Enek Szent Erzsebetrol
- Emmaus: Cantata after St Luke
- Ave Maris Stella
- Je Suis l’Archange de Dieu
- Dans Cette Etable
- Quitter Pasteurs
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
- Christmas Cantata: I Prelude (organ) and chorus a cappella
- Christmas Cantata: II Narration and men’s chorus with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: III Narration and women’s chorus with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: IV Narration and men’s chorus with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: V Ritornello (organ) and chorus a cappella
- Christmas Cantata: VI Narration and solo trio with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: VII Narration and women’s chorus with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: VIII Narration and solo trio with ensemble
- Christmas Cantata: IX Narration, ritornello (organ) and chorus a cappella
- Christmas Cantata: X Narration, men’s chorus with ensemble and pastorale
- Christmas Cantata: XI Finale
MusicWeb International :
‘Farkas has the gift of knowing precisely when to simplify and when to amplify the texts. […]
Peter Broadbent, no stranger to Hungarian music, directs [Ascolta] with imagination and control. Those who have followed the Farkas trail thus far will want to expand their horizons with this disc.’
—Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Philip Greenfield :
‘Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000) was a beloved professor at the Budapest Academy of Music and a composer whose music had eluded me up to now. I am glad to make his acquaintance because he wrote classy, charming fare that doesn’t have to work overtime to make its points. Several of these works are accorded their first-ever recordings by Maestro Broadbent’s Ascolta Ensembles, and we are the better for their efforts. Farkas’s 12-minute Mass is an affectionate, straightforward take on the liturgy. (I’d love to sing it someday.) The carols and ‘Ave Maris Stella’ are the true charmers of the set. … This release is part of Toccata’s Discovery Club—a set of recordings devoted to exploring music ignored by the microphone until now. The label has done us a mitzvah here, and I think you’ll appreciate it.’
—Philip Greenfield, American Record Guide, January 2016
Gerald Fenech :
‘This very stimulating selection from Farkas’ immense output of choral music covers works written over a period of just over fifty years … His renaissance at the end of the twentieth century, and the last two decades in particular, was one of pleasing harmonies and an unusual sensuous sound, as opposed to a former language of discord and alienation. This is off-the-beaten-track music which deserves to be explored and enjoyed, and performances have a solemn dignity that draws the listener into an aura of inner solace, despite some thickly written passages that demand maximum concentration. This is an enterprising issue, superbly recorded and annotated, that should prove invaluable to the knowledge and appreciation of thecomposer’s music.’
—Gerald Fenech, Music and Vision, March 2016