Between 1981 and 2016, UMP Editio Musica Budapest published more than 40 works for wind band, mainly by contemporary Hungarian composers like Árpád Balázs, István Bogár, László Dubrovay, Ferenc Farkas, Frigyes Hidas and Kamilló Lendvay. This tradition is now being continued by five new publications, which were published with the support of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary.

Balázs: Kuruc Pictures

Árpád Balázs (*1937) composed the first version of the work between 1994 and 1996 for tárogató and concert band. Since this traditional Hungarian instrument is rarely found in ensembles abroad, a soprano saxophone can serve as an alternative solo instrument. The composer uses melodies from the early 18th century, from the age of Rákóczi’s war of independence.

Balázs: Rhapsody

Árpád Balázs composed the first version of Rhapsody for Hungarian cimbalom and concert band in 2001; in 2021, on the encouragement by a Japanese marimba player he arranged the solo part for marimba, and therefore the opportunities for the work to be played have significantly widened. Rhapsody follows the one-movement structure created by Franz Liszt.

Dubrovay: Buzzing Polka

Buzzing Polka, composed in 1993, is one of the earliest compositions by László Dubrovay (*1943) for concert band, which has become a huge success due to use of special timbres and effects which had been unexploited in the genre earlier. 

Dubrovay: After Mozart

Dubrovay’s work, written in 2006, on the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, is a salute of a 21st-century composer to one of the greatest geniuses in the history of music. The composer builds his original ideas on one of the best-known melodies of The Marriage of Figaro, ‘Non più andrai’.

Dubrovay: Festive Music

This work of festive atmosphere was written in 2000 for symphonic band, then the composer arranged it for symphony orchestra. In this piece, Dubrovay parts with his special, hallmark concert band effects. The performance is rendered even more unique by the outer trumpets on both sides of the space.