Rosarium

« Rosarium » (1976), for voice and piano or organ, is a song cycle comprising five pieces dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The first song, « Salve Regina », is based on a rigorous twelve-tone structure. Written in 1933 for a film score, « Ave Maria » is an impressionistic musical image : a broad and richly structured melody emerges from the undulations of the accompaniment. Next comes a faster movement, « Laudes Mariae Virginis », which sets Saint Casimir’s hymn to Mary to music. The fourth song, « Stabat Mater », is a composition of extreme sensitivity and a poignant, sorrowful tone. Finally, the concluding piece, « Assumpta est », is a virtuosic, concerto-like work in a neo-Baroque style.

In 1982, Ferenc Farkas arranged three movements from « Rosarium » - Salve Regina, Ave Maria, and Laudes Mariae Virginis - for flute, cello, and guitar. — Ferenc Bónis