For choirs
In the works that I feel the most profound in music history human voices are present. Whether it is a large-scale oratorio like Bach’s St Matthew Passion or a short a cappella work like Tavener’s The Lamb, vocal works stir something very ancient in the human soul.
I always consider it a highlight to write for choir. Whether I’m polishing a short and simple choral piece or working on a complex oratorio, I always feel that I’m addressing something meaningful, something that touches on the very foundations of our existence.
From amateur choirs to the most prestigious professional ensembles, I have worked with many choirs. I particularly enjoy writing pieces that fit into a predetermined dramaturgy.
If you would like to buy the score of one of my choral works, please contact me.
„During the 2023-24 season Balázs Kecskés D. was Composer-Not-in-Residence for the San Francisco Choral Artists, a 20-voice chamber choir, that I direct. We were pleased and honored to be among the first ensembles to introduce this talented composer to audiences in the U.S. We performed four very different works of his, all of which were favorites of singers and audience alike. We very much enjoyed our collaboration: he was immediately responsive (in flawless English) to any questions we had, was helpful in promoting our concerts, and was a joy to work with. The singers and I are sorry that the residency period is over, and hope to have the opportunity to perform more of his works in the future.”
Magen Solomon, Conductor, Artistic Director, San Francisco Choral Artists
Works
Easy
Near
SATB
5′
Who can’t recall a life situation when they greatly needed someone to lift them up and comfort them?
“When I am powerless, then I am strong”, says the Apostle Paul, the great paradox of Christianity. Among the musical settings of biblical texts, I was most inspired by the works of two baroque composers, Schein and Schütz.
Reménykedve várjuk (We wait for the Lord with hope)
SATB
6′
Less is sometimes more, as the saying goes. In these three motets I have tried to achieve musical effects with as few elements as possible. The texts of each movement focus on a word from a parable of Jesus.
Áldom az Urat (I will bless the Lord)
SAB
3’30”
The work was written in 2020, at the beginning of the Covid period, at a time when the world was in a state of despair and hopelessness. Can we give thanks despite everything? Can we find hope in difficult circumstances? These are the questions that preoccupied me while writing this work.
Moderately difficult:
Miserere
SATB
6′
The psalm passages in the piece are polyphonically unfolding sonic frescoes, contrasted with the quiet but solid blocks of the miserere passages.
Éjszaka (Night)
SATB
4’30”
Poems influence the recipient not only through their content, but also through the music and rhythm of their text. Miklós Radnóti’s poem Éjszaka (Night) has a particularly capturing meter. My choral work for the San Francisco Choral Artists follows the subtle movements and ripples of the poem.
Difficult
Alleluja
SATB
7′
The composition’s text is based on the word, “Alleluja” and selected verses from the Psalms. The “Alleluja” sections give the opportunity of using the vowels as means of creating harmonic and timbral process, while the sections using Psalm verses are more dramatic standing in a certain kind of contrast with the more static and contemplative parts of the piece.
Thou
SATB
4′
English and Hungarian fragments of phrases from the Song of Songs, blurred outlines, floating harmonies. I wrote my choral work Thou for the San Francisco Choral Artists.
Trois romances
SATB, pno
12′
The French poet, Paul Verlaine considered poetry as an art of music in itself: lyrics, the sound of which is even more important than their meaning. This gave the basic inspiration for my composition titled Trois romances (Three romances).
Oratorio
Komm
chamber choir (SATB)/four solo voices, string quartet
25′
The faint sense of tonality at the beginning of the piece takes the listener into a sphere of a slipping, dissolving world giving one the opportunity to ask questions that arise when being torn between two worlds. Whether the preceding ideas, feelings, concepts, artworks have become irrelevant? Have they lost their power? I invite the listener to reflect on these questions.
kis rekviem (little requiem)
male choir, string orchestra
18′
The male choir is accompanied by a string orchestra, whose dark, rich sound reflects both the tradition of the requiem and the content of the texts by Pilinszky and Petőfi.
