Terry Edwards conducts the London Sinfonietta Voices in 37 striking a cappella choral works by noted Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti. Influenced by Bartok and Kodaly, and by Hungarian and Romanian folk music, Ligeti experienced censorship of his work by the Soviets, finally fleeing with his wife to Austria after the crushing of the Hungarian uprising in 1956. Since then his work has found a much wider audience in Germany, Sweden and California. All songs are a cappella and sung in Hungarian, but the extensive liner notes have English translations of all the lyrics. Some of our favorites are the folk tunes "Haj, Ifjusag!" (Heigh, Youth!) which sings lustily of the battle of the sexes, "Hortobagy," which sings of life on the farm, and "Kallai Kettos," (Double Dance from Kallo), which sings of love in Autumn, and the fact that all the singers' relatives and in-laws are still alive and kicking. "Choral Works" is a complex, powerful, poetic choral work by a gifted composer and a wonderful choral group. |
