The choral works of LAJOS BÁRDOS (1899–1986) belong to the most valuable part of 20th century Hungarian music history. A former student of Zoltán Kodály - composer, musicologist and teacher - he was one of the founders of the Hungarian choral movement and one of its leading representatives until his death. His oeuvre as a composer consists almost exclusively of choral works [See more about his life and work here]

His works, which are models of choral writing, deal sensitively with Hungarian prosody and radiate an inner harmony and vigour. There are hardly any Hungarians who did not sing several choral works by Bárdos during their school years, as his folk song arrangements, religious and secular works are still a constant part of the repertoire of music education, school camps, and church and secular concerts. Outside Hungary, it is his Latin-language church choirs that are best known, because singing in Hungarian is a difficult language for most choirs.

Our five new publications (Starflower; High Grows the Rue; Distant Dream; Wonder of Wonders; Five Choral pieces for Equal Voices) contain English versions of Lajos Bárdos' most popular works, in a faithful but singable translation by Gail Needleman. We are sure that the beauty and rich atmosphere of these works will fascinate foreign performers in the same way as it has fascinated Hungarian choirs and their conductors for almost a century.