Concert Programmes on Offer for 2027

Mónika Kecskés and fellow artists

For 2027 we have put together several concert programmes, each with a distinct character of its own. The offer includes Baroque chamber music for small forces, an international period-instrument ensemble, a vocal and instrumental project connected to Saint Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Sun, an organ duo and several different solo organ recitals.

Most of the programmes run 50–60 minutes and can also be given as a concert without an interval. The forces and – where the programme allows – the length can be adapted to the venue and to the organiser’s ideas.

The programmes are suitable for concert series, festivals, and both church and secular venues. A detailed artistic concept, performers’ biographies, photos, audio and video recordings and a budget are available on request.

Programmes

1 European Baroque Dialogues

Bálint Kovács – recorder · Mónika Kecskés – harpsichord

German Baroque music of the 17th and 18th centuries holds a special place in European music history. Its distinctive quality lies in the fact that it does not follow a single national character, but absorbs elements of contemporary French elegance and Italian virtuosity, creating a musical language of its own. This colourful, deliberate blending of styles is known as the “Gemischter Stil” – the mixed style.

The programme presents two extreme states of mind and the axis that runs between them. Its starting point is the seriousness and inner tension that can be experienced through Bach’s complex, dense contrapuntal thinking, in which the voices do not merely accompany one another but intertwine in a dialogue of equals to form something new. This concentrated, almost inimitable complexity and depth is one of the summits of the German Baroque. At the other end of the emotional spectrum, the carefree lightness of Telemann’s Recorder Sonata in C major shines through, showing a freer, more singing side of the recorder. The different shades along this axis are traced by the remaining pieces of the programme – works by Wassenaer and Sieber.

Programme

  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata in B minor, BWV 1030
  • Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer: Sonata Terza in G minor
  • Georg Philipp Telemann: Sonata in C major, TWV 51:C5
  • Ignazio Sieber: Sonata No. 8 in G minor
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034

2 Canticle of the Sun – 800 Years of Praise

Choir of 15 singers · organ · violin · recorder · harpsichord

Artistic director and conductor: Mónika Kecskés

Programme

  • Barnabás Szabó: Laudato si’ – for organ and choir
  • Adriano Alderighi: Cantico delle Creature
  • Pieter de Vos: Laudato si’ – for soprano and chamber ensemble
  • Petr Eben: Cantico delle creature
  • Barnabás Zoltán Horváth: Three Sacred Songs in Praise of Saint Francis of Assisi
  • Jan van Landeghem: Canticle of the Sun

3/A From Paris to Berlin – European Baroque Chamber Music

International line-up: Marcello Masi – Baroque flute · Yukiko Kadokura – Baroque violin · Hiroki Nagase – Baroque cello · Mónika Kecskés – harpsichord

Hungarian line-up: Vera Balogh – Baroque flute · Zsombor Németh – Baroque violin · Nóra Kallai – Baroque cello · Mónika Kecskés – harpsichord

Programme

  • Jean-Joseph de Mondonville: Sonata for Baroque violin and obbligato harpsichord
  • Joseph Bodin de Boismortier: Sonata, Op. 91 – for Baroque flute and harpsichord
  • Georg Philipp Telemann: Paris Quartet
  • Simon Simon: Concerto in G major “La La Font”
  • Christoph Schaffrath: Sonata à 2 in C major, CSWV F:1
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Trio Sonata from the Musical Offering, BWV 1079

3/B Johann Sebastian Bach: The Musical Offering, BWV 1079

The same international or Hungarian quartet as in programme 3/A

Programme

  • Ricercar a 3
  • Canon perpetuus super Thema Regium
  • Canones diversi super Thema Regium
  • Fuga canonica in Epidiapente
  • Ricercar a 6
  • Canon a 2 – “Quaerendo invenietis”
  • Sonata sopr’il Soggetto Reale – Largo, Allegro, Andante, Allegro
  • Canon perpetuus

4/A One Organ – Four Hands

László Deák – organ · Mónika Kecskés – organ

Duration: 60 minutes at most

Programme

  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Adagio “Flötenuhr”, WoO 33/1
  • Adolph Friedrich Hesse: Fantasia in D minor, Op. 87
  • Jean Langlais: Double Fantaisie
  • Naji Hakim: Die Apostel – selected movements for organ four hands
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a – selected movements for organ four hands

4/B Rhapsody – Organ and Piano

László Deák – organ, piano · Mónika Kecskés – organ, piano

Duration: 60 minutes at most

Programme

  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Adagio “Flötenuhr”, WoO 33/1
  • Jean Langlais: Double Fantaisie
  • Naji Hakim: Rhapsody for Organ Duo
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite – selected movements
  • George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – for piano and organ

5/A From Classicism to the Present Day – Solo Organ Recital

Mónika Kecskés – organ

Programme

  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Adagio für die Flötenuhr, WoO 33/1
  • Flor Peeters: Aria, Op. 51
  • Flor Peeters: Toccata, Fugue et Hymne sur “Ave maris stella”, Op. 28
  • Márton Levente Horváth: Sopron Versets – a selection
  • Franz Liszt: Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam”, S. 259

5/B C. P. E. Bach – Haydn – Mozart – Beethoven

Mónika Kecskés – organ

Duration: approx. 55–60 minutes

Programme

  • Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Organ Sonata in G minor, Wq 70/6 (H 87)
  • Joseph Haydn: Flötenuhrstücke – a selection
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Andante in F major, K. 616
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio and Allegro in F minor, K. 594
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasia in F minor, K. 608
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Flötenuhrstücke, WoO 33 – a selection

5/C Vater unser – Johann Ulrich Steigleder

Mónika Kecskés – organ

Duration: approx. 50–60 minutes

Programme

  • Johann Ulrich Steigleder: Tabulatur Buch Darinnen Daß Vatter unser auff 2, 3 und 4 Stimmen componiert und viertzig mal variirt worden (1627)
  • Vater unser im Himmelreich – selected variations from the forty settings

5/D Hungarian Organ Music – from Liszt to the Present Day

Mónika Kecskés – organ

Duration: approx. 50–60 minutes

The recital traces more than a century and a half of Hungarian organ music, from the Romantic organ art of Franz Liszt through the 20th-century Hungarian organ school to the music of our own time. The programme shows both the European connections and the distinctive traditions of Hungarian organ music.

Programme

  • Franz Liszt: Prelude and Fugue on the B–A–C–H motif
  • Dezső Antalffy-Zsiross: Three Songs, Op. 10 – a selection
  • Zoltán Gárdonyi: a selected organ work
  • Márton Levente Horváth: Sopron Versets – a selection
  • A contemporary Hungarian organ work – chosen to suit the venue and the character of the concert series

6 Dreams and Encounters – Guitar and Harpsichord

András Csáki – guitar · Mónika Kecskés – harpsichord

A special chamber music programme built on the meeting of two plucked instruments rarely heard together: the classical guitar and the harpsichord. Contemporary and 20th-century compositions alternate with solo pieces by the two performers.

Programme

  • Barnabás Zoltán Horváth: Scarlatti’s Dream – for guitar and harpsichord
  • Béla Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances – on harpsichord (Mónika Kecskés)
  • Keiko Fujiie: Mitsudomoe – for guitar and harpsichord
  • Guitar solo – András Csáki
  • Manuel María Ponce: Sonata for Guitar and HarpsichordI. Allegro moderato · II. Andantino · III. Allegro non troppo e piacevole

The concert’s dramaturgy is built on the alternation of duo and solo pieces, and closes with Manuel María Ponce’s complete Sonata for Guitar and Harpsichord.

Contact / further material

On request we can send a detailed artistic concept, performers’ biographies, photos, audio and video recordings and a budget for any of the programmes.

Get in touch