SKU: HL.50603926

ISBN 9781705159088. UPC: 196288050674.

Zoltán Kodály's unaccompanied mixed choruses first appeared in print in 1943 as a collected volume published by the association Magyar Kórus. This collection contained twenty-five works. In 1951, the volume was released again in the author's edition, being expanded with eight new compositions, but without Elso áldozás (First Communion). Reprint editions of this collection had been distributed by Editio Musica Budapest until 1972, when a “commemorative extended edition” of the mixed choruses was issued, edited by Lajos Bárdos. Until now, reprints of this collection with forty-five compositions have been circulated. Péter Erdei carefully compared the printed edition with the manuscripts of the works preserved at the Kodály Archives. As a result of his work, in 2011 weemended a number of misprints, including those that had been inherited since the earliest print. Seventy-five years after the first release, the time has come for Kodály's collected choral works for mixed voices to appear in a completely new, expanded edition. Our collection contains six compositions that were not included in earlier editions: Jövel, Szentlélek Úristen (Come, Holy Spirit), Miatyánk (The Lord s Prayer), Miserere, Salló Pista, Semmit ne bánkódjál (Do Not Grieve), Újesztendot köszönto (A Christmas Carol). In addition, two versions - both equally authentic - are published of the work known underthe title of Naphimnusz (Canticle of the Sun), due to earlier editions; the new release comes with lyrics in Hebrew and English (Adoration), as well as Dénes Szedo s Hungarian translation (Napének [Hymn of the Sun]). This is the most complete and most authentic edition of Kodály's mixed choruses to date; it is printed in a slightly larger format than previous editions, and it contains new easily-legible music scores and an informative epilogue.

SKU: BT.PMC3367

Each of the five connected movements in this choral cycle contains references to 'Light,' assembled from various sacred Latin texts. I composed Lux Aeterna in response to my mother's final illness and found great personal comfortand solace in setting to music these timeless and wondrous words about Light, a universal symbol of illumination at all levels - spiritual, artistic and intellectual. The work opens and closes with the beginning and ending of theRequiem Mass, with the central three movements drawn respectively from the Te Deum, O Nata Lux and Veni, Sancte Spiritus. The opening Introitus introduces several themes that recur later in the work and includes an extended canonon et lux perpetua. In Te, Domine, Speravi contains, among other musical elements, the cantus firmus Herzliebster Jesu (from the Nuremburg Songbook, 1677) and a lengthy inverted canon on fiat misericordia. O Nata Lux and Veni,Sancte Spiritus are paired songs, the former an a cappella motet at the center of the work and the latter a spirited, jubilant canticle. A quiet setting of the Agnus Dei precedes the final Lux Aeterna, which reprises the openingsection of the Introitus and concludes with a joyful celebratory Alleluia. --Morten Lauridsen.