"I would sing about love so boldly…"
Madrigals on Petrarca’s poems from the 16th and 20th centuries

There is nothing that proves the 14th century poet’s greatness better than the fact that composers throughout every period have been inspired by his complex yet beautifully worded poems. The programme invites the audience to plunge into the world of so-called petrarchism, an era when composing music on Petrarca’s poems was regarded as a criterion to the profession of the composer. In our programme we have chosen a number of special works, among them a grimly bold madrigal from Marenzio, a tightly woven work composed by Adrian Willaert who was greatly admired in his time, or the madrigals of Rore and our much beloved François Roussel composed on the same Petrarca text. We have paired Philippe de Monte’s passionate composition with Ferenc Farkas’s masterpiece composed on the same poem and not void of autobiographical traits. Other interesting works in our programme include Lajos Vass’s (deceased in 1992) monumental madrigal, and Wilhelm Killmayer’s two jaunty miniatures. Back to the a concerts main page
Detailed programme and programme notes (in Hungarian)
Premiere:
17. June 2010., Erzsébetváros Community Center

Other performance:
19. June 2010., Library of ELTE University Budapest (Múzeumok Éjszakája keretében)