A Pure DSD 256 Stereo One Microphone Recording

It is one thing to return to the country of one’s childhood and feel so much at home. It’s another to be able to record there the music which, over the years, has become a symbol of a lost and cherished childhood.

In 2023 I undertook a return trip to Hungary with my daughter; I wanted her to see the land of her mother’s early childhood, as well as that of her forebears. It was a deeply moving experience as I re-discovered my roots, my strong connection with this land and its traditions and culture. In late 1957 my parents and I emigrated to Australia. This was a move to which I could not reconcile myself for a long time: those first years of life immersed in Hungarian culture and music in particular were so rich, so sustaining, and I had lost these.

Steeped in Hungarian folksong and classical music as I had been, it was hard to get my bearings in a new/old land. Eventually, I became a pianist with a career that began in my teenage years at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music during which time I already performed as soloist, chamber musician and concerto soloist with orchestras. With scholarships, I ended up for many years in the UK, at first studying at the Royal College of Music and then going on to study with Louis Kentner, Albert Ferber and others in the UK, Austria and Switzerland. My performing career involved many appearances at festivals, music societies, solo and chamber recitals on the South Bank, the Wigmore Hall and other venues. In the 1980’s I recorded extensively as a soloist for the BBC. Returning to Australia in the late 80’s, these activities continued with concerts and recordings for the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and teaching, adjudicating, accompanying and coaching young musicians.

‘For Children’ is a product of Bartók’s extensive early collecting of folk songs and the new direction to which they led him musically, whereas Mikrokosmos displays the extraordinary assimilation of folk song elements within his mature musical vocabulary. ‘For Children’ (composed originally in 1908/9) consists of the songs more or less in their original form but with the most imaginative and sympathetic harmonisation possible.

The composition of ‘Mikrokosmos’, on the other hand, was a much later venture for Bartók (1927 to 1939). Originally commenced as a piano ‘tutor’ (books 1 and 2) for his son, Péter, it eventually grew into an exhaustive lexicon of diverse technical and musical elements with some truly inspired material, providing a comprehensive training for students of the piano and musicians generally. The culmination was Volume 6, in which his inventiveness took a decidedly virtuoso turn; indeed, the last 6 pieces – Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm – were dedicated to the English concert pianist, Harriet Cohen.

To be able to record these in Hungary with Hunnia Records is the fulfilment of a dream and I do hope it will be of interest to listeners to hear how a Hungarian can still remain a Hungarian in spite of years living elsewhere.

Julie Adam, Piano