description Cantata Profana (Bartók) Overview
Cantata Profana is a secular cantata composed by Béla Bartók in 1930 for tenor and baritone soloists, double mixed chorus, and orchestra. Its Hungarian text, adapted by Bartók from Romanian colinde, tells of nine brothers who are transformed into stags and can no longer return to their former home. The work combines folk-derived material with dense choral writing and is intended for large concert forces.
help Cantata Profana (Bartók) FAQ
What happens to the nine brothers in Bartók's Cantata Profana?
The brothers enter the forest, cross a magical bridge, and are transformed into stags. When their father finds them, the eldest explains that their antlers can no longer pass through the doorway of their former home.
What language is Cantata Profana sung in?
Bartók composed the surviving work to a Hungarian text that he adapted from Romanian winter songs known as colinde. Performances may provide translations, but the score's vocal text is Hungarian.
What forces are needed to perform Cantata Profana?
The 1930 score calls for tenor and baritone soloists, two mixed choirs, and orchestra. The tenor sings the role of the eldest stag, while the baritone represents the father.
Was Cantata Profana intended to be part of a larger work?
Bartók conceived it as the first part of a projected group sometimes described as a trilogy based on folk narratives. The other planned cantatas were not completed, leaving Cantata Profana as the independent work performed today.
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