Folksong Suite No. 1

Frigyes Hidas was the most prolific Hungarian composer for wind ensembles and his works are the most often performed. His extremely popular folk song suites are the finest examples of Hidas's mature style.Few composers are capable of tackling folk song arrangement in a worthy manner. Bartók himself had the following to say about the challenges with which this genre confronted the 20th-century composer: 'Knowing how to deal with folk melodies is one of the most difficult tasks. I venture to claim that it is as difficult as, if not more dif- ficult than, writing a large-scale original work This much is certain: for folk song arrangement the appropriate inspiration is just asessential as for the writing of any other kind of work.'The first suite works up nine folk songs of differing character and atmosphere. To perform them a brilliant technique is required, and an ability to shape the music freely.

Instrumentation: picc, 4 fl1, 4 fl2, ob1, ob2, cor i, cl Eb, 4 cl1 Bb, 4 cl2 Bb, 4 cl3 Bb, 2 cl b Bb, fg1, fg2, 2 sax a1 Eb, 2 sax a2 Eb, 2 sax t Bb, sax bar Eb - 3 crnt1 Bb, 3 crnt2 Bb, tr1 Bb, tr2 Bb, tr3 Bb, cor1, cor2, cor3, cor4, 2 trb1, 2 trb2, 2 trb3, 2 euf, 2 tb1, 2 tb2, string bass - timp, perc (w bl, tamb mil, ptto sosp, gr c) (Hungaroton HCD 31612)