A 20 minute DVD of the unveiling
is
still available from Malcolm Rudland at £15 + post and packing.
See below for address
Saturday
2 October 2004 at 1pm
Imre Varga's fourth statue of Béla Bartók will
be unveiled
on the traffic island outside South Kensington Station
between Melton Court and Malvern Court, London SW7
Promoted by the Peter Warlock Society in conjunction with the Hungarian
Cultural Centre
as part of Magyar Magic – Hungary in Focus 2004 a year long
celebration of
Hungarian art and talent, supported by the Hungarian Cultural Ministry
The celebrated Hungarian sculptor, Imre Varga will be coming to London from
27 September to 4 October this year as a guest of the Hungarian Cultural Centre
to see the unveiling of his fourth statue of Béla Bartók. It
will follow his statues of Bartók in Budapest, Brussels, and Paris
where the square has been renamed after the composer. Born in Siófok
in 1923, Varga graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Budapest in 1956
and won the Kossuth Prize in 1973. In 1984 he exhibited at the Venice Biennale.
Notable statues of his are of Prometheus, a Piéta, St Stephen. St Francis,
Ferenc Rákóczi, Lenin, Raoul Wallenberg, Sir Winston Churchill
and Béla Bartók. 300 of his works are now to be found in eight
different countries of the world. England is to be the ninth, but how many
statues of composers will this now make in London?
Béla Bartók (1881–1945), the most significant Hungarian
composer of the last century, was inspired principally by a love for his native
folk music. Choosing exile in America in 1939, he died there five years later.
His music, melodic but characteristically dissonant, includes the opera Duke
Bluebeard’s Castle, the Concerto for Orchestra, three piano concertos,
six string quartets, and a remarkable set of 153 graded piano pieces called
Mikrokosmos.
Peter Warlock (1894–1930), the most significant English songwriter of
the last century, was inspired by the music of Delius, Bartók, and
Elizabethan & Celtic music and culture. His music includes a suite Capriol,
150 songs, several exquisite carols, and 600 Elizabethan transcriptions. As
it was Peter Warlock who was instrumental in bringing Bartók to London
for the first time in 1922, the Peter Warlock Society, in conjunction with
the Hungarian Cultural Centre are arranging this unveiling. They also arranged
with English Heritage for a blue plaque for Bartók at 7 Sydney Place,
London SW7. It was unveiled by David Mellor and Felix Aprahamian in 1997.
Friday
1st October 2004 will start a week of Bartók festivities
On Friday 1st October at 6.30pm, Peter Laki will give a talk on Béla
Bartók at the Hungarian
Cultural Centre, 10 Maiden Lane, London WC2 (booking 020 7240 8448). The unveiling
day's
activities on Saturday 2nd are given overleaf. On 4,5,6 October Bluebeard's
Castle and The
Miraculous Mandarin with the Budapest Opera Company will be performed at the
Sadlers
Wells Theatre (booking 0870 7377737). On 8 October, the Third Piano Concerto
with Hélène
Grimaud, Pierre Boulez and the LSO will be performed at the Barbican (booking
020 7638 8891)
Further details from Malcolm Rudland
31 Hammerfield House
Cale Street
London
SW3 3SG
Tel/Fax 020 7589 9595
Mobile 07761 977155
mrudland2@gmail.com www.peterwarlock.org
or The Hungarian Cultural Centre, Director Ms Katalin Bogyay
10 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NA Tel 020 7240 8448
culture@hungary.org.uk www.magyarmagic.com
Schedule for
Saturday 2 October 2004
12.30pm
Chelsea Police will close Sydney Place and Onslow Gardens from Fulham Road
to Pelham Street
12.35pm
By the traffic island outside South Kensington Station between Melton Court
and
Malvern Court, London SW7, the Guildhall Brass Ensemble conducted by
Malcolm Rudland will play Eric Crees's arrangements of Peter Warlock’s
Cod-pieces and Capriol.
12.55pm
The Mayoral car will arrive with the Deputy Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea,
Councillor Dr Iain Hanham and the Deputy Mayoress, Councillor The Lady Hanham
12.58pm
The Hungarian Ambassador’s motorcade will arrive with the official guests
of honour
1pm
The proceedings will be opened by Katalin Bogyay, Director of the Hungarian
Cultural Centre
1.10pm
Dr István Hiller, the Hungarian Minister of Culture and a representative
of the British Government's Ministry of Culture will unveil the statue to
Béla Bartók
1.15pm
Sir Charles Mackerras will conduct Bartók’s Sixth Dance in Bulgarian
Rhythm
from Book Six of Mikrokosmos with the Guildhall Brass Ensemble
1.19pm
The Rt. Hon. David Mellor QC will speak of his connections with Béla
Bartók
1.24pm
The Brompton Oratory Junior Choir directed by Ian Coleman will sing three
part-songs by Bartók
1.28pm
Malcolm Rudland will outline the story behind this unveiling
1.30pm
Peter Laki will sing a Bartók song
1.32pm
The Hungarian Ambassador, Mr Béla Szombati will then invite all to
a reception with
Hungarian wine and food at the Royal Brompton Hospital, and to arrive there
by following
our very own Pied Piper of Chelsea, Daniel P Gillingwater (tenor) who will
lead the procession,
singing Warlock’s The cricketers of Hambledon accompanied by the Guildhall
Brass Ensemble
3.15pm
Opposite the hospital, in St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, a Warlock and Bartók
Concert, devised and
conducted by Malcolm Rudland will feature the Elysian Quartet with David Mellor
(viola) and
the Guildhall Brass Ensemble, with Bartók’s First String Quartet
and Six Dances in Bulgarian
Rhythm from Book Six of Mikrokosmos arranged for brass, and Warlock’s
brass Capriol, and
The Curlew for tenor, flute, cor anglais and string quartet, sung in Hungarian
by Peter Laki (tenor)
Suggested donation £5 each
From 5.30pm to 8pm
A Hungarian supper will be served at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
Cost c.£4 including wine
Booking for and more details of all these events from
Malcolm Rudland, 32a Chipperfield House, Cale Street, London SW3 3SA
Tel 020 7589 9595, e-mail : mrudland2@gmail.com
[Click here for PDF version]
A Statue of Béla Bartók for London
Issued by The Peter Warlock Society
31 Hammerfield House
Cale Street
London
SW3 3SG
Tel/Fax 020 7589 9595
Mobile 07761 977155 mrudland@talk2l.com
Treasurer John Mitchell, Woodstock, Pett Bottom, Canterbury CT4 5PB, Tel 01227
832871, John.MitcheII12@btinternet.com
The Peter Warlock Society announce an appeal for £25,000
The internationally renowned Hungarian sculptor, Imre Varga, has completed a Bartók statue for London, and planning permission has been granted for his chosen site in South Kensington. Seven-foot statues of Bartók by Imre Varga are already in public places in Budapest and Paris.
As Peter Warlock was instrumental in bringing Bartók to London for the first time, our Society (Registered charity No. 257041) is honouring Bartók's memory and appealing for £25,000 to cover transport and erection of the statue. Cheques payable to the Society, marked Bartók, will be gratefully received and acknowledged. Gift Aid forms are available for those paying tax, so we can reclaim this, and all significant donors will receive a credit on the plinth of the statue.
Bela Bartók (1881-1945), the most significant Hungarian composer of the last century, was inspired principally by a love for his native folk music. Forced into American exile after the Nazis invaded Hungary, he died five years later. His music, melodic but characteristically dissonant, includes the opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle, the Concerto for Orchestra, three piano concertos, six string quartets, and a remarkable set of graded piano pieces called Mikrokosmos.
Peter Warlock (1894-1930), the most significant English songwriter of the last century, was inspired by the music of Delius, Bartók, and Elizabethan & Celtic music and culture. His music includes a suite Capriol, 150 songs, several exquisite carols, and 600 Elizabethan transcriptions. In 1921, Warlock visited Bartók in Budapest and helped plan Bartók's London début in 1922.
In March 1997, it was therefore the Peter Warlock Society, in conjunction with English Heritage, who arranged for a blue plaque for Bela Bartók in London SW7, near South Kensington station, at 7 Sydney Place, the home of Sir Duncan and Lady Wilson, who hosted all Bartók's visits to Britain from 1922 to 1937. Accompanied by concerts, lectures and a 64-page souvenir brochure, it was unveiled by Felix Aprahamian, who had interviewed Bartók at 7 Sydney Place in 1938, and David Mellor, who in 1988, had accompanied Felix Aprahamian to Southampton for the arrival of the QE2, which then contained the remains of Bartók on their way back to Hungary from the USA. Bartók's two sons were also in attendance, and there was a concert at Southampton University with György Pauk, Peter Frankl and the Lindsay String Quartet.
In March 1998, the Royal Society of British Sculptors and the British Hungarian Fellowship invited the distinguished Hungarian sculptor, Imre Varga to talk about his own life and work, with a proposal for a Bartók statue in London. Varga visited several proposed sites and chose the southwest corner of the traffic island by South Kensington station, adjacent to Melton Court and 12 Old Brompton Road, London SW7. Without either contract or planning permission he returned to Budapest and completed a third statue of Bartók within months.
In December 2000, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Planning Department gave a five-year license for Varga's statue of Bartók to be erected on this site. Michael Portillo, the local MP has said 'I do hope that funds can be found for Bartók's links with my constituency to be immortalised in this permanent reminder of such a great figure in international music."
For a photo of the statue, and/or further information on Bartók, Warlock or Varga please contact Malcolm Rudland Tel/Fax 020 7589 9595 e-mail- mrudland@talk2l.com