Az öröm illan

When I was still a student, I read the poem “Az öröm illan” (The scent of joy) published in 1917 in the first edition of a collection of poems by Arpád Tóth entitled “Lomha gályàn”. Years later, I still remembered its opening lines:

The scent of Joy beckons him, Her beautiful eyes still flash back…

In 1962, this memory prompted me to pick up Toth’s collection of poems, and as I looked through it, I was captivated by the lines from “Tavaszi Holdtölte” (Spring Moonlight):

The blonde rays glide dancing, The air is flooded with the gold of the hollow moon…

Then I decided to include in the composition a third song “Ez a nap is” (This day too), these three beautiful poems thus forming a cycle of lieder.

This day too, like the rest, past. It’s over. This evening too, like the rest, came. Peace… — Ferenc Farkas