Choirs in Szeged mark World Music Day with Bartók tribute

NewsCulture

Oct 2

More than 300 singers from Szeged choirs marked World Music Day on Wednesday with a flash mob–style performance on the steps of the Móra Ferenc Museum, honoring Hungarian composer Béla Bartók on the 80th anniversary of his death.

The massed choir, directed by conductor Tamás Lázár of the Szeged City Choir Association, performed a medley of folk songs that Bartók collected and arranged. Ten choirs from local elementary and secondary schools joined the initiative, which was designed to highlight the composer’s role in preserving Hungary’s musical traditions.

“Here in Szeged, we carry forward the legacy of Bartók and Menuhin. We preserve our culture and keep music alive,” city councilor József Kozma told the crowd, recalling violinist Yehudi Menuhin’s request that World Music Day also be a time for reflection. Participants observed a minute of silence before the singing began.

World Music Day was established in 1975 at Menuhin’s initiative and declared by UNESCO as a celebration of the universal language of music. Since then, it has been observed annually on Oct. 1.

Bartók, one of the most influential composers of the 20th century, died in exile in New York on Sept. 26, 1945. Lázár said the timing of World Music Day, falling just days after the anniversary of Bartók’s death, made the tribute especially fitting.

The Szeged City Choir Association said the aim of the performance was not only to commemorate Bartók but also to bring together the city’s choirs in a joint celebration of music.