The Choir and Orchestra of the Mátyás-templom are among the oldest church ensembles in Hungary, having functioned continuously since 1688, following the recapture of Buda. Among its distinguished choirmasters, László Tardy is the twenty-eighth in the line. He has served on the conductor’s podium since 1966 and in 2016 marked fifty years of service. His eminent predecessor, Lajos Bárdos, retired in 1962 due to his illness. He was followed by Sándor Kósa, a talented répétiteur at the Opera House, who was compelled to leave after four years for political reasons. Subsequently, at the suggestion of the parish priest, Abbot János Tóth, a combined “cantor–choirmaster” position was announced for the Matthias Church, partly because only a single post could be funded. The decision was also motivated by pastoral considerations: although the preservation of the church’s long-standing and high-level musical tradition remained a priority, the liturgical reform proposed by the Second Vatican Council, concluded at Christmas 1965, anticipated a more intensive involvement of the faithful. This, in turn, required a full-time church musician who would not merely fulfil musical duties as an adjunct, but would be constantly present in the liturgical life of the church. For the advertised position, the sole applicant was the twenty-five-year-old László Tardy, with the support of Lajos Bárdos. This represented a serious decision on his part from political, professional and personal perspectives alike. In those years, any activity within the Church was regarded with suspicion: intimidation, surveillance and control surrounded all those involved. Anyone who undertook church service during the period of the one-party state could scarcely hope to build a professional career beyond the walls of the church. At the same time, the newly established post entailed considerable constraints. The cantor was required to fulfil musical duties at Masses, provide service for litanies, weddings and funerals, and rehearse regularly with both choir and orchestra. All this demanded constant availability during evening hours and on weekends, while also requiring extensive organisation, great precision and self-discipline – one might even say, personal sacrifice. Owing to the nature of the position, the musical ensemble had to be prepared for the forthcoming Sunday’s Latin-language festive Mass at a concert-level standard, drawing on the diverse musical repertoire of the liturgical season, encompassing a wide range of stylistic idioms. This was feasible only for someone with outstanding musical abilities, capable of planning and conducting carefully structured rehearsals. In addition to these responsibilities, cantorial service also required a good singing voice and solid training as an organist.
The Period of Musical Preparation
László Tardy sang in a church choir from early childhood and studied piano and cello. At the secondary school in Mosonmagyaróvár he was taught by László Halmos (1909–1997), a composer well known for his sacred works. At the Győr Secondary School of Music, where he specialised in composition and completed the programme between 1959 and 1961 in half the usual time, the strongest influence on him was exerted by the choirmaster Miklós Szabó (1931–). He pursued his higher education between 1961 and 1965 at the Liszt Academy of Music, enrolling in the programme for secondary-school singing teachers and choral conductors.
During this period, in the academic year 1961/62, he sang for one year at the Matthias Church under the direction of Lajos Bárdos, and in 1963 he co-founded the Gesualdo Quintet with four fellow musicians. In 1965, the ensemble was awarded a five-week scholarship to attend a course organised by the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, held in Venice.
The career of this outstanding musician was also followed with close attention by Zoltán Kodály. As a mark of special distinction, Kodály intended to entrust him with the two-year teaching of the Hungarian concept of music education at Stanford University in California. When, however, he learned that László Tardy had committed himself to the position of choirmaster at the Matthias Church, he acknowledged and respected the depth of his dedication.
Cantor–Choirmaster Service and Continuing Professional Development
From the moment he assumed the office of choirmaster, Tardy’s primary concern was to master the conducting repertoire established by his predecessors. At the same time, following the formal introduction of the Hungarian-language liturgy, the instruction and rehearsal of newly composed ordinaries translated into the vernacular became an ongoing responsibility. These new ordinaries included Magyar mise (Hungarian Mass) by Zoltán Kodály, Missa Hungarica by Kilián Szigeti, Mercedes-mise (Mercedes Mass) by Alajos Werner, Népmise (Folk Mass) by Lajos Bárdos, as well as Magyar gregorián mise (Hungarian Gregorian Mass) and Missa mundi by László Dobszay.
He first conducted Mass in G major by Franz Schubert at the head of the ensemble on 2 August 1966. Earlier, however, he had already appeared as a substitute conductor at the request of Sándor Kósa, leading the Agnus Dei movement of Theresienmesse by Joseph Haydn on 4 April 1965.
Although he himself had previously been a member of the ensemble for a time, it was not easy for the young choirmaster to secure immediate acceptance from the musicians, following such predecessors as the compelling and strongly charismatic Lajos Bárdos. Moreover, part of the choir had been recruited by Sándor Kósa himself, whose conducting was likewise highly captivating. László Tardy, for his part, had not received formal training in orchestral conducting.
Fulfilling the duties of his post required from the newly graduated choral conductor a level of knowledge and preparedness that meant his years of study had to continue. He refined his organ playing under József Kárpáti and Ferenc Gergely, while his vocal technique was developed over a period of nine years with Ilonka Farkas. He sought to acquire his liturgical knowledge from the Benedectine monks Szilveszter Sólymos, and the tradition of congregational church song from Teodóz Jáki, who taught at the cantor training institute. He formally commenced his theological and liturgical studies in 1967 at the Római Katolikus Hittudományi Akadémia (Roman Catholic Theological Academy), attending the full-time programme, and completed them in 1973 with a baccalaureate degree. His wide-ranging professional preparation, strong leadership qualities, calm personality – combining in exemplary fashion the spirit of service with that of leadership – and, not least, his deep faith soon earned him a particular respect within the ensemble. This internal esteem, in turn, enhanced the standing of the Choir and Orchestra itself in the wider public sphere. As a choirmaster, he first felt fully accepted when he rehearsed Zoltán Kodály’s Missa brevis as a new work – a case in which comparison with the past was no longer possible.
In 1968 he founded the SOTE Chamber Orchestra. With this ensemble, composed largely of medical doctors, he was able to develop a secular repertoire according to his own artistic inclinations, drawing on instrumental works by Tomaso Albinoni, Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, Caldara, Charpentier, Cherubini, Corelli, Haydn, Händel, Mozart, Monteverdi, Pergolesi, Purcell, Rameau, Rossini, Saint-Saëns, Sugár, Vivaldi and others.
In 1969 he married Magda Tarkó, with whom he raised three children, two of whom pursued musical careers. His wife, who had previously been a member of the Gesualdo Quintet, undertook choral conducting studies and became not only his spouse but also a professional partner and an indispensable collaborator in his work. She supported the ensemble in multiple capacities – as a vocal coach, as assistant choirmaster, and above all as the soprano soloist of the group, whose stylistic expertise and cultivated vocal technique contributed significantly to the ensemble’s artistic achievements.
Liturgical Music at the Matthias Church after the Council
From the perspective of church music, László Tardy assumed the choirmaster’s baton at an unusually dynamic moment. The reforms initiated by the Church – including the introduction of the versus populum altar, the use of the vernacular in the texts of the Mass, the more active participation of the faithful in the liturgy, and the gradual expansion of Gregorian chant – brought profound change and fresh impetus to musical life within the church as well. With the establishment of vernacular Masses, Hungarian-language monophonic Ordinaries were created in rapid succession, alongside polyphonic a cappella settings and even orchestral Masses. At the same time, encouraged by the Council, interest was renewed in the Church’s “official” music, Gregorian chant, prompting musicologists to explore its Hungarian centres and sources, as well as its specific performance practices and notational traditions, and to integrate these into living practice. Instead of issuing further expanded editions of the Hozsanna! (lit. Hosanna!) hymnbook, preparatory work began around 1970 on a new collection of congregational songs designed to meet post-conciliar needs. This project was eventually published in 1985 under the title Éneklő Egyház (lit. Singing Church), and László Tardy was already able to take part in its preparatory work.
By contrast, the guitar-based music of the beat era represented a radically different phenomenon, whose eventual intrusion into the church was to be expected. The first wave of this loud, amplified music not only shocked parts of the clergy and the faithful, but also attracted the attention of the party-state, which was in any case far from indifferent, given that it involved young people and a musical style imported from the West.
That church music should serve the liturgy as fully as possible – this principle articulated László Tardy’s choirmasterly ars poetica. Throughout his tenure, he consistently succeeded in preserving the dignity and musical richness of the festive High Mass. He was able to maintain a balance between traditional elements and those required by liturgical reform, while never losing sight of the connection to the specific liturgical content of each feast. Accordingly, the musical material of a festive Mass continues to consist of congregational hymnody (the entrance hymn, the offertory and communion hymns), the Hungarian-language responsorial psalm and Alleluia, suitably proportioned Ordinaries from earlier or contemporary Mass settings, and, at the conclusion of the Mass, the Hungarian church hymn Boldogasszony anyánk (lit. Our Blessed Virgin Mary) and the national anthem, Himnusz. As Proper items, works of classical polyphony (for the offertory and the recessional) likewise form an integral part of the musical programme of each festive celebration.
The Repertoire of the Choir and Orchestra
From the outset, László Tardy regarded it as one of his core responsibilities to rehearse and introduce works by both earlier and contemporary Hungarian composers of church music. During this period, the repertoire of the Choir and Orchestra was further expanded by new compositions written in the spirit of the Council. Several of these works were composed specifically for the ensemble of the church, and in some cases expressly at the request of the choirmaster himself; accordingly, their premières are likewise associated with the name of László Tardy. In order of the composers’ dates of birth, the following premières may be noted: Magyar mise (lit. Hungarian Mass) for mixed choir and percussion by Ferenc Ottó (1904–1976); Szent Margit mise (lit. St Margaret Mass) and Missa Hungarica for mixed choir by Ferenc Farkas (1905–2000); Missa – in Hungarian, for large orchestra, soprano solo and choir – by Ottó Vincze (1906–1984); Septem offertoria paschalia (lit. Seven Easter Offertories) by Rudolf Maros (1917–1982); Szent Erzsébet mise (lit. St Elizabeth Mass) and a Hungarian-language Stabat Mater by Erzsébet Szőnyi (1924–); Magyar mise (lit. Hungarian Mass), Pünkösdi kantáta (lit. Pentecost Cantata) and motets by Kálmán Dobos (1931–2013); Szent Korona mise (lit. Holy Crown Mass) by Tamás Daróci Bárdos (1931–); Imádunk és magasztalunk téged (lit. We Adore and Glorify You), a Hungarian Mass by József Sári (1935–); Szent István mise (lit. St Stephen Mass) by László Sáry (1940–); and Missa Lumen Christi and other Mass settings by Géza Büky (1940–2007). On 2 September 1986, Budavári ünnepi mise (Missa Festiva Budensis) by István Koloss (1932–2010) was performed for the first time at the Matthias Church. The work had been commissioned by Canon János Fábián, parish priest of the church, to mark the three-hundredth anniversary of the recapture of Buda from Ottoman rule. Alongside these new works, László Tardy continued to maintain in the repertoire the Mass settings and other sacred compositions previously introduced by his predecessors László Halmos, Artúr Harmat, Mátyás Seiber and Pál Járdányi. He also revived church music works associated with the movement that had formed around the journal Magyar Kórus, which was discontinued in 1950.
On festive occasions, the classical orchestral Masses introduced into the repertoire by Tardy’s predecessors continued to be performed, including Coronation Mass by Mozart; the Missa cellensis, Theresienmesse, Nelson Mass and Harmoniemesse by Haydn; the Mass in G major and Mass in B-flat major by Schubert; as well as the orchestral Masses of the Bárdos era. At the same time, this corpus was further expanded by additional works, among them Missa in B "Sancti Josephi", Missa Dolorosa and Stabat Mater by Antonio Caldara; the Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo by Haydn; and Kleine Orgelmesse and Missa solemnis in C major by Mozart.
The range of Gregorian Masses more closely aligned with the spirit of the liturgy was likewise enriched. Alongside De Angelis and De Beata, and the seventeenth Gregorian Mass (for Advent and Lent), the repertoire was expanded to include the first (Lux et origo), the fourth (Cunctipotens genitor Deus), Missa mundi, as well as the Gregorian Requiem. The repertory of the Introit and Communion chants was also broadened by the inclusion of the appropriate chants from the Graduale Romanum (and on occasion from the Graduale Simplex).
The expansion of the repertoire of polyphonic Masses was marked, alongside Missa brevis by Palestrina and Dorian Mass by Lasso, by the subsequent inclusion of Palestrina’s Missa Aeterna Christi Munera and Lauda Sion Salvatorem, Lasso’s Missa octavi toni, and Missa secunda by Hassler. The repertoire was further enriched by Missa choralis and the Mass in B-flat major by Franz Liszt (in the arrangement by Janáček based on the Orgelmesse), as well as Missa brevis by Zoltán Kodály.
From the mid-1980s onwards, church music works long unjustly neglected by posterity also came to be performed. These included the Mass in G major by Bernát Menner; the Mass in D minor by József Seyler; the Mass in E minor, Missa Tyrnaviensis, Karácsonyi Mise (lit. Christmas Mass), Te Deum and Requiem in G minor by Mór Vavrinecz; the Mass in C major by Miklós Mojzes; as well as the Missa composed in 1942 by László Gyopár, a pupil of Kodály who perished in forced labour service. In addition, the large-scale Missa in dedicatione Ecclesiae, also known as the Szeged Mass by Ernő Dohnányi – composed for double choir, soloists and large orchestra – was revived. The work was performed in Szeged in October 1980 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the consecration of Szeged Cathedral, and was later also presented in the Castle District.
At Easter 1968, following several months of preparation, Imre Szilas’s Húsvéti mise (lit. Easter Mass), composed at the age of sixteen to Hungarian vernacular hymn texts and later referred to as the “Mass Teenager”, was performed here for the first time in the capital; this was followed, at Christmas of the same year, by his Karácsonyi mise (lit. Christmas Mass). For the performance of these so-called “beat Masses”, a separate youth choir was formed, composed of young singers, which for a time functioned alongside the main choir. In addition to Szilas’s organ playing, the musical accompaniment was provided by the Gemini Együttes. The Easter Mass, regarded as a genuine curiosity at the time, was first recorded by Austrian television and subsequently by Hungarian Television. This unusual undertaking attracted considerable attention from the state security authorities (it should be recalled that this was also the year of the Prague Spring). The youth choir was likewise responsible for the first Hungarian performance of the Congolese Missa Luba. László Tardy transcribed the music from a sound recording and also prepared the choir for its performance. For the occasion, African students studying in the capital lent the African drums they had brought with them, while the high-lying tenor solo was sung by the young József Réti. In later years, part of the youth choir, having become familiar with the classical repertoire, was absorbed into the main choir. From the 1970s onwards, it also proved possible to involve adolescents in liturgical singing: under the choirmaster’s guidance, they sang the chants of the Palm Sunday procession, the Gregorian Passion, the Advent wreath-lighting chants, and by now also the responsorial chants between the readings at student Masses.
The Choir and Orchestra of the Matthias Church
The Choir and Orchestra of Matthias Church is fundamentally an amateur ensemble. Its choir numbers approximately forty to sixty singers and performs in the church on an average of seventy to eighty occasions each year. If rehearsals and engagements outside the church are also taken into account, this amounts to roughly 150–170 gatherings annually, whether for performances or rehearsals. The orchestra has a core complement of twenty to twenty-four string players, supplemented by approximately five to six wind players, whose number may increase or decrease depending on the instrumentation required by the works performed. Over the course of the many hours spent together – including not only musical work but also shared spiritual retreats – the ensemble has gradually evolved into a kind of spiritual community as well.
The church has had a permanent resident organist only since 1976, in the person of Bertalan Hock, concert organist and teacher. Prior to this, organists served on a rotating basis, among them dr. Péter Göblyös, László Sáry, and József Ács; frequent guest performers also included István Lantos and Melinda Kistétényi. For the performance of oratorio Masses, outstanding vocal soloists were invariably available at the choirmaster’s invitation. Among them were the unforgettable singer and pedagogue Ilonka Farkas and the opera singer Zsuzsa Barlay; László Horváth, a member of the Szeged Opera; Éva Marton, who learned the Mass repertoire here before becoming one of the world’s leading sopranos; and the outstanding mezzo-soprano Lívia Buday. Soprano solo parts were frequently sung by Anikó Rohonyi, Etelka Csavlek, Tünde Szabóky and Beáta Szepessy; alto solos by Éva Farkas and Margit Ercse; tenor solos by György Korondy; and bass solos by György Bordás and Péter Jánossy, soloists of the Opera House. Further regular contributors to festive Masses included Katalin Szőkefalvy Nagy, Boldizsár Keönch and István Basky. Among the more recent soloists are Magda Tarkó, Cecília Széll, Csilla Keszthelyi, Éva Dunai, Ilona Török, Mercedes Heim, Anna Bogdány, László Honninger, Márton Komáromi, János Páni, János Tóth, Sándor Blazsó and László Jekl. Several of these soloists are also members of the choir itself.
Over the decades, the orchestra has been served by a succession of distinguished concertmasters. Until the late 1960s, this role was fulfilled by Kálmán Lindenmayer and Jenő Jedovszky (half-brother of János Ferencsik). They were followed by the violinist András Kovács, a member of the Opera Orchestra, who served for nearly twenty years. Subsequently, János Pallagi, professor at the Liszt Academy and outstanding concertmaster of the Hungarian National Philharmonic, took on the position, working together with Ferenc Balogh, former concertmaster of the Cluj Opera. At present, the ensemble’s concertmaster is Eszter Schilling, formerly a member of the Hungarian National Philharmonic. On the conductor’s podium, the following guest conductors appeared most frequently during the 1970s and 1980s: dr. Miklós Horler, an internationally renowned architect who studied conducting with János Ferencsik and served for many years as choirmaster of the parish church at Haller Square; Miklós Takács (1932–2015), conductor of the Montreal Philharmonic; and Alan Tongue, an English conductor from Cambridge and former principal conductor of the Northern Irish Symphony Orchestra.
The life of the ensemble also includes its own commemorative traditions. On the evening of the last Sunday of September each year, the Choir and Orchestra performs a concert-style Requiem in memory of those members or soloists who have died during the year, most frequently Mozart’s masterpiece. On one of the festive Sunday Masses in early December, the ensemble likewise commemorates Lajos Bárdos, who led the ensemble for two decades, through the performance of his works.
Media Appearances and Recordings
After 1969, at the encouragement of the church’s new parish priest, János Fábián, the Choir and Orchestra of the Matthias Church frequently undertook the preparation of musical material for religious half-hour broadcasts aired by Magyar Rádió. The first live broadcast of a Mass from the church also took place on 16 December 1982, at a time when the musical world was commemorating the centenary of the birth of Zoltán Kodály.
Numerous radio recordings were made with the ensemble both in Hungary and abroad. A 33⅓ rpm long-playing record (LP) was released by Hungaroton (Nagyboldogasszony ünnepének liturgikus zenéje [lit. Liturgical Music for the Feast of the Assumption], 1988), followed by five CD recordings produced with the participation of the church’s cultural centre, Incoronata, founded by parish priest Miklós Blanckenstein. These CDs include several previously unknown or rarely performed works by Hungarian composers, among them Requiem by Mór Vavrinecz; Magyar mise (lit. Hungarian Mass) by Ottó Vincze; Hungarian Coronation Mass by Franz Liszt; and Missa in dedicatione Ecclesiae by Ernő Dohnányi, as well as other twentieth-century Hungarian works of church music by Ferenc Farkas, István Koloss, Kálmán Dobos, Géza Büky and Rudolf Maros. In addition to his work with the Mátyás Church ensemble, Tardy László also participated as choirmaster in recordings made by other ensembles.
The Church’s Character as a “National Sanctuary”
In the former Coronation Church, several royal coronations took place, and in more recent times an altar has been dedicated to the relics of Charles IV (Blessed Charles IV of Habsburg). Until the Treaty of Trianon, Matthias Church served as the venue for state ceremonial occasions and the festive Masses of the royal household; after the Second World War, it became one of the stations of the Holy Right Procession and the site of its solemn Mass. Commemorative Masses associated with this role of the Church of Our Blessed Virgin Mary as a “national sanctuary” continue to be celebrated on a regular basis. The Feast of the Assumption (15 August, the church’s patronal feast) is closely linked both to the concept of Regnum Marianum (“Mary’s Realm”) and to Saint Stephen’s offering of the country to the Virgin Mary, as is 20 August, the feast of King Saint Stephen, when pilgrimage groups visit the church. On both occasions, a solemn festive Mass with full orchestra is celebrated.
It was Zoltán Kodály’s final wish that a Gregorian Mass should be celebrated annually for the repose of his soul; since 1968, the venue for this has been the Matthias Church. The preparation of the Gregorian Mass was formerly led by Alfonz Nádasi OSB (Order of Saint Benedict), and later by György Béres OFM (Order of Friars Minor). The Mass is usually attended by seminarians of the Central Seminary, and on occasion also by students from provincial seminaries. In more recent years, at the suggestion of Tardy László, the liturgy has been followed by a short Kodály concert.
Each year, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta commemorates its deceased members here and renews its vows; on this occasion, an orchestral Requiem is performed.
On 2 September, commemorations are held marking the recapture of Buda from Ottoman rule; following the Mass, a wreath is laid at the nearby statue of Pope Innocent XI.
Votive Masses are also customarily celebrated in the church at times of significant public or political (including diplomatic) events – such as elections – as well as during natural disasters (floods or drought), and the ensemble takes an active role in these services as well.
As the bearer of the spiritual legacy of the former Coronation Church, the Choir and Orchestra of Matthias Church also embodies – beyond the church walls – the symbolism of the church as a “national sanctuary”. This is evidenced by the numerous invitations it has received, and continues to receive, to enhance the solemnity of church consecrations and major anniversaries (such as the Year of Saint Elizabeth) in towns and villages throughout Hungary, lending musical expression to the sense of national unity. The same applies to Hungarian communities living beyond the country’s borders, where the ensemble regularly participates in the celebration of ecclesiastical and national commemorations. In recent years, the ensemble has also formed the core of the closing concert of the Esztergom Liszt Week, launched a few years ago, at which one of Franz Liszt’s monumental works of sacred music is performed under the direction of Tardy László. For decades, the choir has been a regular participant in joint performances of Catholic church choirs both in Budapest and in provincial centres, and it also contributes regularly to the closing ceremony of the Buda Book Days. Under the baton of Tardy László, the choir of the Mátyás Church sang at the papal Masses celebrated in Budapest in 1991 and in Győr in 1996.
The Ensemble’s International Recognition
In the period following the Second World War, it was under the leadership of Tardy László that opportunities first arose for the ensemble to travel abroad and give concerts outside Hungary. Between 1980 and 2016, the Choir and Orchestra of Matthias Chruch appeared in churches and concert venues in the following countries and locations (among others): in Germany (Plau am See, Berlin, Cologne, Regensburg); in Italy (Segni, Subiaco, Rome, Loreto); in the Vatican (St Peter’s Basilica, the Paul VI Audience Hall); in Austria (Sonntagberg, Altenburg, Mariazell, Graz, Vienna, Purkersdorf, Heiligenkreutz, Frauenkirchen); in Slovakia (Bratislava); in Ukraine (Uzhhorod/Ungvár, Mukachevo/Munkács); in Poland (Kraków); in Serbia (Subotica); in France (Lourdes); and in Romania (Șumuleu Ciuc/Csíksomlyó, Târgu Mureș/Marosvásárhely, Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár, Brașov/Brassó, Sfântu Gheorghe/Sepsiszentgyörgy, Oradea/Nagyvárad, Târgu Secuiesc/Kézdivásárhely).
Among these occasions, a particularly memorable one was the jubilee concert series of Cologne Cathedral in 1980, at which the Choir and Orchestra of Matthias Church had the honour of representing Hungary alongside the Coro della Cappella Sistina, the Westminster Cathedral Choir School, the Regensburger Domspatzen and the Escolania de Montserrat. Even more significant, however, was the Vatican visit in 1988, during which the choir sang a solemn Vespers service in St Peter’s Basilica, and greeted Pope John Paul II with song at the audience held in the Paul VI Audience Hall.
Tardy László’s Pedagogical Activity
Pedagogical work accompanied Tardy László throughout his entire career. Having begun his teaching activity while still a student at the Győr Conservatory, he later continued it in secondary schools: in the academic year 1964/65 he taught at the Szilágyi Erzsébet Secondary Grammar School in Budapest; in 1969 at the Franciscan Secondary Grammar School of Szentendre; between 1975 and 1978 at the Patrona Hungariae Secondary Grammar School; and between 1997 and 1999 at the Egyetemi Katolikus Gimnázium (University-affiliated Catholic Secondary School), all as a teacher of singing. From 1967 to 1983 he taught on the summer cantor-training courses; from 1972 to 1990 he served as musical director of the catechetical further-training programmes in Eger and Győr organised by the OHB (National Catechetical Committee). Between 1972 and 2002 he was a teacher at the cantor and choirmaster training courses of the OMCE (Societas „Sanctae Ceciliae” in Hungaria), serving from 1978 onwards as acting director. From 1990 to 2009 he taught at the Központi Papnevelő Intézet (KPI - Seminarium Centrale). Finally, between 2002 and 2015, he was a teacher and acting director of the Cantor and Choirmaster Training Programme of the Magyar Liturgikus és Egyházzenei Intézet (MALEZI - Hungarian Institute for Liturgy and Church Music).
The Choirmaster’s Contribution to Church Music and His National and International Professional Presence
From the outset, Tardy László took part in the musical work associated with the liturgical reform following the Second Vatican Council, including the preparation of the Kis magyar uzuális (Hungarian translation of the Graduale Simplex), the Temetési szertartáskönyv (lit. Funeral Service Book), and the hymnbook Éneklő Egyház (lit. Singing Church). The principal aim of these endeavours was to integrate the vernacular liturgy into the practice of church music. His valuable theoretical and practical expertise was regularly sought by Lajos Bárdos, Kilián Szigeti, Alajos Werner and Benjamin Rajeczky. As a musical expert, he also contributed to the preparation of the Misekönyv (Roman Missal), the Olvasmányok könyve (Lectionary), and the Zsolozsmáskönyv (Liturgy of the Hours).
Tardy László has likewise been a regular contributor to church music conferences. His bibliography, traceable from 1979 to the present and consisting largely of writings related to church music, comprises more than one hundred items. The majority of these were published in the journals Teológia, Vigília, Musica Sacra, Magyar Kórus and Magyar Egyházzene, as well as in Várunk, the community periodical of the Matthias Church parish founded in 2000.
The choirmaster of Matthias Church is affiliated with several national and international organisations. He is a member of the Magyar Egyházzenei Társaság (Hungarian Church Music Society), the Bárdos Society and the Liszt Society; serves on the governing board of KÓTA (Association of Hungarian Choirs, Orchestras and Folk Music Ensembles ) and of the Gregorian Society; and is co-president of the OMCE. He is also a member of the Consociatio Internationalis Musicae Sacrae (CIMS), and serves on the executive board of the Conférence Européenne des Associations de Musique d'Église (CEDAME). Between 1991 and 1995, he was also a member of the Music Subcommittee of the Kossuth Prize Committee.
Tardy László, who acquired proficiency in English, German and Italian during his studies, and developed a thorough command of Latin through his liturgical studies and professional activity, proved well suited to serve as an official delegate of the Hungarian Church. At the invitation of Pope John Paul II, he participated in the Episcopal Synod held in Rome in 1987 under the title The Vocation and Mission of the Laity in the Church and in the World, where he was the sole Hungarian among the fifty lay observers. On this occasion, he was presented to the Pope and met such prominent figures as Joseph Ratzinger, Jean Vanier, Chiara Lubich, and Stanisław Dziwisz.
Tardy László’s place in Hungarian musical life, public life and the Church
Tardy László’s exceptional musical talent, together with his thorough liturgical and theological training and remarkable capacity for work, made him particularly well suited to fulfil the complex musical responsibilities of the Matthias Church – a task he has carried out for fifty years. As a result of his activity, the choir, composed essentially of amateur singers, has acquired a broader, more diverse and more evenly balanced repertoire than ever before, ranging from ancient Gregorian chant to contemporary music.
Following the Hungarian political transition, his work as choirmaster and church musician was recognised with several state honours: in 1994 he was awarded the Liszt Prize; in 2011 he received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary; and in 2016 he was granted the title of Merited Artist of Hungary.
In 2013, the Hungarian Academy of Arts elected him a full member of its Music Section.
In recognition of his broader contribution to society, he is also the recipient of the Bárdos Medal, the Harmat Medal, the Kodály Medal, the Liszt Medal, and the Budavár Commemorative Medal.
In 1997, he was awarded the Pro Ecclesia Hungariae Commemorative Medal by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference; in 2002, he received the Grand Medal of the Saint Adalbert Award (together with his wife, Magda Tarkó); in 2009, the Officer’s Cross of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. On the occasion of his 70th birthday, Pope Benedict XVI conferred upon Tardy László the rank of Commander of the Order of St Gregory the Great.
The choirmaster of Matthias Church and his musical ensemble also received joint recognition: on 2 September 2006, they were awarded the Budavár Commemorative Medal by the Municipality of Budapest’s 1st District, and in December 2006 they became recipients of the Hungarian Heritage Award.
Tardy László, cantor–choirmaster, is a highly accomplished and inspired mediator of sacred music and, more specifically, liturgical music, endowed with broad professional preparation and an exceptionally wide repertoire. Beyond the purely musical qualities of his performances, his artistic achievement within the realm of church music is distinguished by interpretations rooted in faith and marked by a profound sensitivity to both the liturgical action and the sacred space in which it unfolds, rendering his work exceptional within its field.
Through his pedagogical activity in the training of choirmasters, he has educated generations of musicians; within the liturgical music of the Hungarian Church his expertise has become indispensable. At the same time, he is also the creator of a substantial and noteworthy body of music-related writings.
As a result of his work, the conciliar spirit represented and realised by Tardy László in his capacity as choirmaster of the Choir and Orchestra of the Coronation Basilica has by now become a point of reference for the majority of church choirmasters. This approach – grounded in a thorough knowledge of both the universal and Hungarian traditions of church music, as well as of contemporary Hungarian sacred composition, and committed to the conscious cultivation of both – finds tangible expression in the musical structure of the liturgy he shapes. Without his inspiring attitude, recent Hungarian sacred art music would be markedly more one-sided and considerably poorer. His half-century of service as cantor–choirmaster stands as an exemplary model of how liturgical music performed in Hungary’s national sanctuary can simultaneously function as a communal and distinctly Hungarian service rooted in faith, and as a worthy act of praise to God.
[2016]