Cappella Slavonica

30/09/2026

Béla Bartók was another great Hungarian composer active in the first part of the 20th century. His music is often bold, energetic, full of bite, as well as incorporating folk elements from Hungary and further afield.

Béla Bartók was active at the same time as Zoltán Kodály and in fact, the two were friends and cooperated in collecting Hungarian folk music and blending it into their own compositions, which was something very innovative in the first part of the 20th century when folk music was not taken seriously.

Ca****la Slavonica Scotiae has previously sung his choral piece, Four Slovakian Songs and here is a performance by the St Petersburg Choral Collegium
https://youtu.be/Kg75MLdZwKY

The London Symphony Orchestra website has an interesting page, and asks the question, why is Bartók’s music still played and enjoyed? The author suggests the answer comes from the blend of complexity and folksiness which produces music of exact precision and polish that few other composers can get near.
https://www.lso.co.uk/what-you-should-know-about-bela-bartok

Listen and see if you agree!

09/09/2026

𝐙𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝

Earlier this year, Ca****la Slavonica Scotiae sang Psalm 121 to the arrangement by Zoltán Kodály and here is one of the choral performances on YouTube which we studied as we prepared the piece for performance.

https://youtu.be/kcJDbl6ht1A

Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer who was born in 1882 and died in 1967, in Budapest.

He learned violin as a child and as a young man studied languages at the University of Budapest, composition at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music and then spent time in Paris with Charles-Maria Widor.

Kodály gained a reputation as a pioneering ethnomusicologist and carried out fieldwork with his friend and colleague Béla Bartók which involved visiting remote Hungarian villages to collect, transcribe and record them on phonographic cylinders. Both men later incorporated folk music themes in their own compositions.

Kodály established a series of music education principles which have been widely adopted by music teachers internationally:

• Music is for everyone.
• Music teaching should begin in childhood.
• Musical teaching should reflect the way children learn language.
• Classes should be enjoyable and engaging.
• Singing is the first and most valuable tool for learning musical concepts.
• Teachers should work with quality folks on materials in the mother tongue of the students.

This sounds like common sense but often the key contribution made by a great teacher is to bring common sense centre stage.

In the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, scientist Francois Truffault uses the Kodály hand gestures to illustrate the mysterious five note musical motif which is played by a flying saucer as it comes in to land. In such a moment, it’s probably as good as anything else you might do!

November 17 2012 at Mills Hall, UW-Madison - part 1

03/09/2026

Dear choir members and friends of Ca****la Slavonica, we are looking forward to re-starting our rehearsals next Thursday 10th September and Ben Lunn - Composer and Conductor has already got a number of brilliant pieces of music lined up for this year! 🤩

Rehearsals this year will take place at Kelvinside Hillhead Church Hall, 23 Saltoun st. Glasgow, G12 9AR (downstairs ) on Thursdays 19:30 – 21:30.

If you have ever been interested in singing some lesser-known music from all around Central and Eastern Europe - come join us for a free taster session!

For more details feel free to send us a message ✍🏻

14/07/2026

⚠️Ca****la Slavonica Call for Music Creators

Thanks to support from Making Music UK , we are looking to adopt a creative individual to create a new work for the choir to perform as part of our 26/27 Season.

❓How to apply

To apply please submit the following to Ca****[email protected] by the 31 July:

I) Two examples of your work, preferably including works for voice, but ultimately we want to know you.

2) A description of why you would like to write for the choir, this could include describing ideas for a piece, or what you'd like to learn from working with the choir, or anything you feel makes this opportunity right for you

3) Contact details, we want to be able to inform you of the decision!

If you need to submit items in an alternative format, to make the process more accessible, please get in touch so we can accommodate you.

❓More Information

I) We appreciate Central and Eastern European can be a contentious term, but for the purposes of this call if you are from (or have a family link to) the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

2) You must be based in the United Kingdom and not in full time education

3) This is an opportunity for emerging music creators, so ideally we are looking for someone who is in the first seven years of working as a music creator.

🎵Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust

14/07/2026

❗Applications close this week! Please get in touch via our email [email protected] or share this message through your network!

⚠️Ca****la Slavonica Call for Music Creators

Thanks to support from Making Music UK , we are looking to adopt a creative individual to create a new work for the choir to perform as part of our 26/27 Season.

❓How to apply

To apply please submit the following to Ca****[email protected] by the 19th June:

I) Two examples of your work, preferably including works for voice, but ultimately we want to know you.

2) A description of why you would like to write for the choir, this could include describing ideas for a piece, or what you'd like to learn from working with the choir, or anything you feel makes this opportunity right for you

3) Contact details, we want to be able to inform you of the decision!

If you need to submit items in an alternative format, to make the process more accessible, please get in touch so we can accommodate you.

❓More Information

I) We appreciate Central and Eastern European can be a contentious term, but for the purposes of this call if you are from (or have a family link to) the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

2) You must be based in the United Kingdom and not in full time education

3) This is an opportunity for emerging music creators, so ideally we are looking for someone who is in the first seven years of working as a music creator.

🎵Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust

24/06/2026

⚠️Ca****la Slavonica Call for Music Creators

Thanks to support from Making Music UK , we are looking to adopt a creative individual to create a new work for the choir to perform as part of our 26/27 Season.

❓How to apply

We have extended our application deadline until 15 July. To apply please submit the following to Ca****[email protected] :

I) Two examples of your work, preferably including works for voice, but ultimately we want to know you.

2) A description of why you would like to write for the choir, this could include describing ideas for a piece, or what you'd like to learn from working with the choir, or anything you feel makes this opportunity right for you

3) Contact details, we want to be able to inform you of the decision!

If you need to submit items in an alternative format, to make the process more accessible, please get in touch so we can accommodate you.

❓More Information

I) We appreciate Central and Eastern European can be a contentious term, but for the purposes of this call if you are from (or have a family link to) the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

2) You must be based in the United Kingdom and not in full time education

3) This is an opportunity for emerging music creators, so ideally we are looking for someone who is in the first seven years of working as a music creator.

🎵Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust

⚠️Ca****la Slavonica Call for Music Creators

Thanks to support from Making Music UK , we are looking to adopt a creative individual to create a new work for the choir to perform as part of our 26/27 Season.

❓How to apply

To apply please submit the following to Ca****[email protected] by the 19th June:

I) Two examples of your work, preferably including works for voice, but ultimately we want to know you.

2) A description of why you would like to write for the choir, this could include describing ideas for a piece, or what you'd like to learn from working with the choir, or anything you feel makes this opportunity right for you

3) Contact details, we want to be able to inform you of the decision!

If you need to submit items in an alternative format, to make the process more accessible, please get in touch so we can accommodate you.

❓More Information

I) We appreciate Central and Eastern European can be a contentious term, but for the purposes of this call if you are from (or have a family link to) the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

2) You must be based in the United Kingdom and not in full time education

3) This is an opportunity for emerging music creators, so ideally we are looking for someone who is in the first seven years of working as a music creator.

🎵Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust

27/05/2026

⚠️Ca****la Slavonica Call for Music Creators

Thanks to support from Making Music UK , we are looking to adopt a creative individual to create a new work for the choir to perform as part of our 26/27 Season.

❓How to apply

To apply please submit the following to Ca****[email protected] by the 19th June:

I) Two examples of your work, preferably including works for voice, but ultimately we want to know you.

2) A description of why you would like to write for the choir, this could include describing ideas for a piece, or what you'd like to learn from working with the choir, or anything you feel makes this opportunity right for you

3) Contact details, we want to be able to inform you of the decision!

If you need to submit items in an alternative format, to make the process more accessible, please get in touch so we can accommodate you.

❓More Information

I) We appreciate Central and Eastern European can be a contentious term, but for the purposes of this call if you are from (or have a family link to) the following countries:

Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

2) You must be based in the United Kingdom and not in full time education

3) This is an opportunity for emerging music creators, so ideally we are looking for someone who is in the first seven years of working as a music creator.

🎵Adopt a Music Creator is run by Making Music and funded by the PRS Foundation and the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust

21/05/2026

Only a few rehearsals left! Ca****la Slavonica will be singing a selection of a ca****la choral pieces from Eastern Europe performing our Early Midsummer Treat concert programme on 6th June at Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church as part of Glasgow's city festival

Cannot wait to see you there! Ticket link in bio 🎟️

Glasgow music choir choral singing west end

21/05/2026

What a great pleasure and privilege to be selected as one of the music groups to receive Making Music UK Adopt a Music Creator funding! 😊

Making Music provides invaluable support to groups like Ca****la Slavonica through their educational materials and webinars. It was already very useful to learn some helpful tips and advice at the recent kick-off meeting for the Adopt a Music Creator programme, and our choir is currently on a mission to select a composer to work with later in the year!

13/05/2026

Ca****la Slavonica invites you to our early summer performance as part of Glasgow's local community festival WestFest 🌞 We will be singing a ca****la pieces by world famous composers such as Dvorak, Rachmaninoff and Kodaly, but also some lesser-known work by Bartulis and Grigorjeva. Directed by an accomplished composer and conductor Ben Lunn Ben Lunn - Composer and Conductor

Tickets available on Eventbrite tinyurl.com/csmidsummer26 and on the door.