King St Stephan High School Symphony Orchestra – 25th Jubilee Concert

The Jubilee Symphony Orchestra of St Stephen Grammar School was founded by former enthusiastic members of the ‘Stephen’ orchestra on World Music Day, 1 October 1995. On the occasion of their quarter centenary, they appear in public with a programme made up of masterpieces from Hungarian music. ▪ Ferenc Erkel’s Festival Overture was composed for the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre inaugurated in 1837. The initial fanfare theme, melodic moments of the Summons and Hymn do evoke a festive atmosphere. ▪ Ferenc Liszt’s Piano Concerto in E-flat major composed as one piece but containing four parts each with a different character is played by Sebestyén Pellet, a gifted young student of the Liszt Academy. ▪ Bartók wrote Rhapsody No. 1 in a structure inherited from the Lisztian Hungarian rhapsodies. It features a solo by Gábor Bocsák, orchestra concertmaster. ▪ The five-movement Hungarian Sketches was born out of the orchestration of the composer’s own works for piano. ▪ The orchestra revive old relationships in their performance of Kodály’s Psalmus Hungaricus, on the one hand in the person of tenor András Molnár, and on the other hand as regards the participating choirs. Bence Juhász, conductor-choirmaster, who is nearly the ‘same age’ as the orchestra, conducts this recital. He is currently attending the Doctoral School of the Liszt Academy.