Márton Levente Horváth is a Hungarian organist, educator, and composer. He won our favour and attention through his motet “O salutaris hostia,” which captivates both listeners and singers with its compelling atmosphere. Our interest grew as we continued to follow his work. We obtained scores for several of his other compositions, which confirmed that he truly understands both sacred music and choral singing.
During the COVID-19 period, in January 2021, we commissioned a mass composition from him. The initial requirement was for a short, preferably simple mass for choir and organ, specifically intended for the Christmas season.
The composer delivered the work to us at the end of 2021. We quickly realized that it was undoubtedly a unique piece. However, it was not simple for us. The choir’s condition at the time, particularly affected by the demanding COVID period, and our busy “regular operations,” did not allow us to begin studying it immediately.
In January 2023, I met Márton in person, and we bonded further during his three-day stay in Košice. He mentioned then that he might make a few changes to the mass. Consequently, when we finally committed fully to studying the work in the spring of 2024, we were working with his revised version.
After a longer period, we managed to arrange a collaboration once again with the Czech conductor Jan Mikušek, whose contribution to the preparation and staging of this work was fundamental.
The request for a Christmas dedication led the composer to use the motif of a Slovak lullaby, which Béla Bartók captured in his work “Falun (Village Scenes)”. This brought another Slovak-Hungarian connection into our mass (Bartók – Ukoliebavka). Despite this beautiful idea, and given that for most of us, the theme of Christmas in music is often understood differently, and to avoid limiting the use of this composition to a single short period of the liturgical year, I took the liberty of asking the composer to change the original title “Missa de Natitvitate Cassoviensis” to “Missa Cassoviensis” (The Košice Mass).
The premiere took place as part of a concert titled “Tempus gratiae” during the ARS NOVA Festival of the State Philharmonic Košice on Sunday, November 10, 2024, where we also celebrated the 20th anniversary of our ensemble’s founding. Márton Levente Horváth accepted our invitation and performed with us at this premiere as the organist, under the direction of the excellent Jan Mikušek.
We decided to have the recording of this mass and the motet “Locus iste” from that concert professionally cleaned of unwanted noise. As of November 18, 2025, it is available on popular streaming platforms as an EP titled “Missa Cassoviensis.”
Marek Klein, Košice 18.11.2025