Hudobný život 7-8/2023

Disclaimer: Please note that Hudobný život, the magazine mentioned in this text, is written in the Slovak language.

For non-Slovak readers who would like to read the printed or electronic version of the magazine, we recommend seeking out translation services or resources to help with understanding the content. One option may be to use online translation tools such as Google Translate or Microsoft Translator, although we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these services.

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Topic: Early Music - From the Source to the Future, Days of Early Music: 25th Edition of the Festival Celebrates 50 Years of Early Music Movement in Our Country, Interview: Belgian Alamire Foundation - A Visionary Approach to Preserving Musical Heritage and Spreading Its Music Fascinating, Chalumeau: Discovering the Baroque Instrument, Testimonies of the Era: Legendary Sound Master Peter Janík on the Beginnings of Electroacoustic Music in Slovakia, Personality: Ernő Dohnányi, Analysis: Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7, Concert Reviews, Festivals, Opera Performances, CDs, and Books.

When on June 2nd, the Cappella Pratensis ensemble opened the Days of Early Music festival, many felt the familiar shivers. Not only from the vocally pure performance like a mountain stream, or the interpretations approaching an imaginary perfection. Above the beauty of the singing, there floated the information that the music of Jean Mouton had been found just a few meters from the concert venue in a 16th-century collection, and perhaps it sounded in the same place at the time of the concert, in St. Martin's Cathedral. Music of contemporary world authors at the "periphery." Or in one of the centers?

The Belgian Alamire Foundation has been collecting and disseminating information about Franco-Flemish composers for over 30 years. If you are worried that the music of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance is too specialized, too distant a topic, two representatives of the foundation, who visited Bratislava in June at the invitation of the Music Center, will convince you otherwise after reading a few lines of the interview. They will show you that researching early music is a modern adventure - from the use of sophisticated technologies through a contextual understanding of musical history to innovation that is reflected in an open, ever-changing perspective on historically informed interpretation. Returning to the source, looking into the past is always a way of looking forward… An important message of the interview is the awareness that the ability to interpret the subject and results of scientific work understandably is a necessity for its success and meaning. "In the next five years, we are investing our efforts in research in Central Europe, as there are many amazing manuscripts and numerous institutions here... I believe we will succeed in building bridges," says Bart Demuyt, the Foundation's General Director, and it seems that the construction of one of the bridges has already begun.

Early music in Slovakia celebrates: Musica Aeterna turns 50, and the Days of Early Music have completed their 25th edition. That's why we are publishing several texts on the topic in this summer issue, and it won't be the last time this year.

And there's more: festivals at home and abroad, a portrait of Ernő Dohnányi, an analysis of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, or the captivating narrative of the legendary sound master. Enjoy the rest of the summer, along with the Musical Life...