Ferenc Farkas Ein Krippenspiel aus Köröshegy

“I wrote this Christmas cantata from Köröshegy at the request of the Council of the Komitat Somogy. When I visited the still unrenovated little church at Köröshegy about ten years ago I had no idea that this beautiful Gothic building would one day be the scene of the world première of one of my works. - The cantata is founded on four pillars: four organ soli which could be described as “ritornelli”, followed by four a cappella choruses with the same melody but different harmonizations. These are settings of the four verses of In Epiphaniam by Janus Pannonius, the most renowned Hungarian poet and humanist of the Renaissance. Between these pillars I have introduced movements for choir or for soloists based on Hungarian folk tunes and Christmas songs from Transylvania and the Komitat Somogy: songs of the shepherds, angels and wise men, and, after a pastorale for organ, a large scale mixed-voice chorus intoning Ez karácsony éjszakáján [Holy Night]. A narrator introduces the individual numbers with passages from the Christmas story. An organ postlude concludes the work.” (Ferenc Farkas) This work may be performed in German, English, French or Hungarian language.