Pensieri notturni

After finishing the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, where, from 1929 till 1931, I took part in Ottorino Respighi’s master course. These two years had a decisive influence on my musical career. The love of the Latin and Mediterranean cultures to which I was exposed there has remained constant ever since. The artistic culture of the ancient Romans and the Renaissance had an especially great effect on me.

During a subsequent visit to Florence, I once again had the chance to visit the Medici Chapel and the New Sacristy, and admired Michelangelo’s two statues “Night and Day”. Upon returning to Budapest, I started reading the sonnets of this ingenious renaissance master. My new choral work inspired by three of these : La Notte - Di morte certo - Madrigale alla Notte. — Ferenc Farkas