Norbert Bodnár

“At the beginning of his professional art career Bognár has focused on composing of popular music (many of his songs have won awards at the Golden Treasure festival of Košice). Currently he composes scenic music for the radio, television, and theatres not only in Slovak but also abroad (Poland, Bulgaria, etc.). In classical music, which is the core of his work, Bodnár's manuscript is characterized by confrontation between different expressive lines next to each other, for example, a neoclassical and neoromantic style. His means of expression also connects divergent elements that rank in quick succession with his typical humor, such as jazz procedures next to aleatoric passages. In the last creative period Bodnár focuses on large forms – Symphony No. 1, opera Netreba toľko slov / No Need For Many Words, Symphony No. 2 (Dance-symphony) and opera Tartuffle. The evolutionary approach to the musical material is applied also in compositions for solo instruments – clarinet (Funny Breakfast), organ (Music For Organ), piano (Variations on a Theme of Beethoven) etc.“

(BUKOVINSKÁ-HOLANOVÁ, Júlia: Norbert Bodnár. In: 100 slovenských skladateľov. Ed. Marián Jurík, Peter Zagar. Bratislava : Národné hudobné centrum, 1998, p. 50.)