Psamlmus Hungaricus

Psalmus Hungaricus –  

 

Music by Zoltan Kadaly

Free translation of Psalm 55 

Conductor: Janos Sandor

Tenor Soloist: Ken Lavigne

University of Victoria Chorus and Orchestra

Recorded live at the Farquhar Concert Hall at the University of Victoria March ’98?

This version is has been edited to highlight the tenor solos. I have tried to find an accurate translation of the hungarian text so there could be some sub titles to go along with the photo montage…it is a work in progress. I know that right now it is a little weird visually… I was struggling to find something that might reflect what was going on in the text ah well… I was 24 at the time and I was very very nervous to be up in front of this huge orchestra I thought that it might be neat to hear something from the archives.

A November 1923, concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the merging of the towns of Buda, Pest, and Óbuda unveiled one interesting and two exceptional works. The interesting item was the Festival Overture by Dohnányi, who conducted the concert; the masterpieces were Bartók‘s Dance Suite and Kodály‘s Psalmus Hungaricus. Kodály‘s work draws from a sacred text for a secular occasion; it’s largely homophonic, eschewing the heavily polyphonic models of religious music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. And although Kodály never quotes Hungarian folk songs here, he does incorporate many modal turns of phrase that make the work’s national origin unquestionable.

 

Rather than writing a celebratory work, Kodály chose to examine Hungary’s immediate, tragic past and distasteful present. The music reflects the nation’s difficult years during and after World War I, and the text makes the connection clear, if in a subtle way; it’s a free Hungarian translation of Psalm 55, “Give ear to my prayer, o God,” in which sixteenth century poet, preacher, and translator Mihály Vég draws a parallel between the sorrows of King David and the suffering of the Hungarians under Turkish occupation. Thus, the Psalmus Hungaricus neatly encapsulates two and a half millennia of political distress.

A short orchestral prelude setting the Hungarian tone leads to a brief, subdued choral narrative. The solo tenor soon takes over, passionately singing “Oh, that I had wings like a dove.” The chorus offers the tenor a brief respite from this aria of operatic proportions, but he returns with more declamatory material; upon naming the sinners who plot the downfall of innocents, he is joined by a wordlessly lamenting female chorus, their cries and the tenor’s material swelling to the climactic choral assertion that “God shall hear, and afflict them.” This subsides and the tenor returns with a dramatic monologue that carries the movement almost to its end, when the chorus joins in again with a strenuous outburst. The second movement begins without pause, but in a more reflective mode, with a shimmering undercurrent of harp and pizzicato strings and extended solos for various instruments, particularly clarinet and violin. The tenor returns with a long, flowing nocturnal treatment of “But reassure my heart,” which balances tenderness and ardor just as a love aria would. The chorus then takes command in the final movement, which is intermittently militaristic; it’s also defiant, even in its quieter interludes. The work ends, however, with a hushed prayer. ~ All Music Guide 

 

Listen to my prayer, O God,

do not ignore my plea;

 

 

 2 hear me and answer me.
       My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

 3 at the voice of the enemy,
       at the stares of the wicked;
       for they bring down suffering upon me
       and revile me in their anger.

 4 My heart is in anguish within me;
       the terrors of death assail me.

 5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
       horror has overwhelmed me.

 

 6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
       I would fly away and be at rest-

 7 I would flee far away
       and stay in the desert;
       Selah

 8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
       far from the tempest and storm.”

9 Confuse the wicked, O Lord, confound their speech, 

       for I see violence and strife in the city.

 10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
       malice and abuse are within it.

 11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
       threats and lies never leave its streets.

 12 If an enemy were insulting me,
       I could endure it;
       if a foe were raising himself against me,
       I could hide from him.

 

chorus

 

 13 But it is you, a man like myself,
       my companion, my close friend,

 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
       as we walked with the throng at the house of God.

 15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
       let them go down alive to the grave,
       for evil finds lodging among them.

 16 But I call to God,
       and the LORD saves me.

 17 Evening, morning and noon
       I cry out in distress,
       and he hears my voice.

 18 He ransoms me unharmed
       from the battle waged against me,
       even though many oppose me.

 19 God, who is enthroned forever,
       will hear them and afflict them—
       Selah
       men who never change their ways
       and have no fear of God.

 20 My companion attacks his friends;
       he violates his covenant.

 21 His speech is smooth as butter,
       yet war is in his heart;
       his words are more soothing than oil,
       yet they are drawn swords.

 22 Cast your cares on the LORD
       and he will sustain you;
       he will never let the righteous fall.

 23 But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
       into the pit of corruption;
       bloodthirsty and deceitful men
       will not live out half their days.
       But as for me, I trust in you.