The Hungarian Bassoon

JENŐ TAKÁCS (1902-2005): Sonata Missoulana, Op. 66, FERENC FARKAS (1905-2000): Sonate romantique, KAMILLÓ LENDVAY (b.1928): 3 Movements, EMIL PETROVICS (1930-2011): Passacaglia in Blues, JÓZSEF SÁRI (b.1935): Meditazione, LÁSZLÓ DUBROVAY (b.1943): 5 pezzi, GYÖRGY ORBÁN (b.1947): Bassoon Sonata.

Description: For fans of the bassoon: approachable music (only one piece, less than six minutes, is twelve-tone, and the specter of Darmstadt is otherwise quite absent) from Hungarian composers respected in their country but, with the exception of Farkas, little-known abroad. Orbán’s 15-minute sonata from 1987 is the longest work here and pretty conservative; Lendvay’s slow middle movement evokes Bartók’s “night music” and Takács and Farkas fall somewhere between neo-romantic and neo-classical. Bence Bogányi (bassoon), Oliver Triendl (piano).