Sound Dome
Thursday
Sound Dome
What is a sound dome?
This question can be answered quite literally: a dome-cupola, which emits sounds. But it is more than just that. Our sound dome is also a projection screen with a sound system behind it. Anyone sitting in the middle will hear sounds coming from all directions. The world of sounds is evoked here starting with those of nature to composed music but the experience visitors have here expands beyond this dimension. This dome is also a laboratory producing new sounds: alchemy at the highest level. It is a unique creation with unforeseeable potential.
It is worth returning here from time to time and making new discoveries. The first show conveys the sounds and images of the Carpathian Basin from unique audio and visual perspectives.
The 360-degree dome is also a projection screen, and the 27.4-channel ambisonic sound system is located behind it. Here, those who sit in the middle of the square can turn their heads! The sound world comes to life, from the sounds of nature to composed music. This is a laboratory for the production of new sounds, alchemy at its highest level. A unique creation, its possibilities are unimaginable. You have to come here from time to time to learn about the latest discoveries.
Legend
- Classic
- Contemporary
- Electronic
- Abstract
- Film
- Animation
- child
DOME 008 – BOSCH The Garden of Earthly Delights
Although the Bosch exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts has ended, from December the House of Music is bringing the Garden of Earthly Delights to life. In the domed room a 360-degree projection of Miss Virgács’ (Nikolett Németh) collage animation technique sets the Dutch painter’s altar triptych in motion to the accompaniment of contemporary polyphonic choral works by Cantemus, subtly distorted and modulated by MA'AM (Anna Makay), and complemented by diabolical sound sequences.
Running time: 35 minutes
Age limit
We do not recommend viewing the show for viewers under the age of 16.
The screening is in Hungarian, but this should not affect your experience.
Dome 016 - Csontváry: Levante
Audio-visual adaptation of Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka's paintings in the spirit of the solar journey, from Naples to Jerusalem.
View or vision? Many people have asked this question after seeing Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka’s paintings. The paintings of this artist, considered a unique and eccentric figure in the history of Hungarian art, leave no one indifferent. Dreams awakened by landscapes he had never seen before, and the depiction of reality directed towards the sky, of living nature tending towards surrealism, are one of the keys to his art. He was looking for the journey of the sun, the great motif and the mystic, and he believed that he could only find it in the East, in the lands of the Levant. At the turn of the 20th century, he made several trips to the provinces east of Italy, following the line of the increasingly popular Asian tourist routes.
Our musical journey takes us on an itinerary based on four scenes and twelve paintings, from the city of Castellammare in the Bay of Naples, through Athens and then Jerusalem, to the 6,000-year-old cedar of Baalbek. The artist's well-known and lesser-known paintings are brilliantly illustrated with compositions written and performed by renowned Hungarian and foreign performers, linked to each location. A canzone by the Italian Faraualla and Fratelli Mancuso, followed by a popular rebetiko by Veronika Varga and the Esperia band, then Jordi Savall and the Faran Ensemble evoke Jerusalem, and finally the ethereal music of Dhafer Youssef and Ádám Kalamár closes the round.
Csontváry's monumental paintings, his masterly brushwork, his colours glowing with the power of the soul from an unmarkable, unlocatable source of light, now enchant the visitor in the Sound Dome of the Hungarian House of Music, who, following the traveller who has been on an adventure for 100 years, can board a plane, a boat or a train to answer the question: is the master's oeuvre a vision or a spectacle?
Running time: 25 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 009 – Cloudhitects: Point Cloud Budapest
The next show at the Sound Dome is a point cloud journey that exhibits the sights of Budapest in a naturalistic point cloud environment. All these images begin to behave in an abstract way at a certain point in the audio-visual projection, with spaces merging into each other during the journey. The abstractions reinterpret the scanned spaces and they come to life on the surface of the Dome. The Parliament building, Chain Bridge, Várkert Bazaar, Hold Street, Heroes' Square, the Academy of Sciences, the National Gallery and the Eastern Railway Station all appear in the production.
Running time: 24 minutes
Age limit
We do not recommend viewing the show for viewers under the age of 12.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 010 – 'Tales from the Lakeside'-day
The Lengemesék, characterized by Judit Berg, are a big crowd favorite in domestic waters, from which a TV series and two full-length cartoons were made. Now they are reviving in a new dimension not only for older kindergarten and elementary school children.
Language: hungarian
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 008 – BOSCH The Garden of Earthly Delights
Although the Bosch exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts has ended, from December the House of Music is bringing the Garden of Earthly Delights to life. In the domed room a 360-degree projection of Miss Virgács’ (Nikolett Németh) collage animation technique sets the Dutch painter’s altar triptych in motion to the accompaniment of contemporary polyphonic choral works by Cantemus, subtly distorted and modulated by MA'AM (Anna Makay), and complemented by diabolical sound sequences.
Running time: 35 minutes
Age limit
We do not recommend viewing the show for viewers under the age of 16.
The screening is in Hungarian, but this should not affect your experience.
Dome 016 - Csontváry: Levante
Audio-visual adaptation of Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka's paintings in the spirit of the solar journey, from Naples to Jerusalem.
View or vision? Many people have asked this question after seeing Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka’s paintings. The paintings of this artist, considered a unique and eccentric figure in the history of Hungarian art, leave no one indifferent. Dreams awakened by landscapes he had never seen before, and the depiction of reality directed towards the sky, of living nature tending towards surrealism, are one of the keys to his art. He was looking for the journey of the sun, the great motif and the mystic, and he believed that he could only find it in the East, in the lands of the Levant. At the turn of the 20th century, he made several trips to the provinces east of Italy, following the line of the increasingly popular Asian tourist routes.
Our musical journey takes us on an itinerary based on four scenes and twelve paintings, from the city of Castellammare in the Bay of Naples, through Athens and then Jerusalem, to the 6,000-year-old cedar of Baalbek. The artist's well-known and lesser-known paintings are brilliantly illustrated with compositions written and performed by renowned Hungarian and foreign performers, linked to each location. A canzone by the Italian Faraualla and Fratelli Mancuso, followed by a popular rebetiko by Veronika Varga and the Esperia band, then Jordi Savall and the Faran Ensemble evoke Jerusalem, and finally the ethereal music of Dhafer Youssef and Ádám Kalamár closes the round.
Csontváry's monumental paintings, his masterly brushwork, his colours glowing with the power of the soul from an unmarkable, unlocatable source of light, now enchant the visitor in the Sound Dome of the Hungarian House of Music, who, following the traveller who has been on an adventure for 100 years, can board a plane, a boat or a train to answer the question: is the master's oeuvre a vision or a spectacle?
Running time: 25 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 009 – Cloudhitects: Point Cloud Budapest
The next show at the Sound Dome is a point cloud journey that exhibits the sights of Budapest in a naturalistic point cloud environment. All these images begin to behave in an abstract way at a certain point in the audio-visual projection, with spaces merging into each other during the journey. The abstractions reinterpret the scanned spaces and they come to life on the surface of the Dome. The Parliament building, Chain Bridge, Várkert Bazaar, Hold Street, Heroes' Square, the Academy of Sciences, the National Gallery and the Eastern Railway Station all appear in the production.
Running time: 24 minutes
Age limit
We do not recommend viewing the show for viewers under the age of 12.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 010 – 'Tales from the Lakeside'-day
The Lengemesék, characterized by Judit Berg, are a big crowd favorite in domestic waters, from which a TV series and two full-length cartoons were made. Now they are reviving in a new dimension not only for older kindergarten and elementary school children.
Language: hungarian
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
Sound Dome - DOME 000 Moods
It is a unique creation, its possibilities are unpredictable. You have to come here from time to time to get to know the latest discoveries. The first message conveys the sounds and images of the Carpathian Basin from a special auditory and visual perspective.
Running time: 21 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 006 - The Intergalactic Gateway
What can the Sound Dome do? What is ’surround sound’? What is 360-degree projection? How are works produced for a unique audio-visual system like this? On this occasion, the Sound Dome itself will answer – using the voice of the actor Barbara Hegyi – more questions than you can shake a stick at, using a projection to lead the audience on a fabulous journey, illustrated with excerpts from the content currently being shown at the Dome. This short film aims partly to show the variety of ways in which the creators are able to use the technology built into the space, and partly to introduce viewers to the diversity of genres that can be explored within it. They can experience, for example, what happens when sound and image are in synch, and what it is like to have visual content responding instantly to sound and music at any given moment.
The virtual tour, which sets off from Liszt Ferenc Airport, offers visitors a playful way of exploring the complex system of the Sound Dome and its hidden potential.
Vazul Endre Mándli is the artistic curator of the new content woven together for the Sound Dome, Panni Néder is the story writer and director, while the sound engineer for the compilation is Tamás Zányi, the sound engineer for the Oscar-winning film Son of Saul, who has won multiple awards and international acclaim. The visual content was created by Gáspár Batta and András Juhász.
The screening of "Sound Dome: The Intergalactic Gateway" will be presented by the House of Music Hungary in cooperation with Budapest Airport as part of BrainBar 2022 and will then be included in the content available daily.
Running time: 29 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 019 - RENOIR
For the third time, after Bosch and Csontváry, the Hangdóm programme is linked to the great painters of the exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts.
In the latest audiovisual work, Renoir's paintings are set in motion using manual and digital, so-called generative imaging techniques. The animated imagery is also enriched by music that moves in all dimensions.
The unique feature of these unique works, created from the painters' works, is that the listener-viewer has the opportunity to examine the paintings up close in a way that the original paintings could not be seen with the naked eye, and thus become part of the stories painted centuries ago.
Visual composition by Dániel Németh | Music concept & sound design by Ákos Lovász, Ádám Kalmár
Duration: 29 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
Having already given us new ways of looking at Bosch and Csontváry, this Sound Dome programme will feature a great painter being exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts for the third time. This latest audiovisual work features the paintings of Renoir set in motion using both manual and digital (so-called generative) imaging techniques. The animated imagery is also enhanced by music that moves in every dimension. What makes these unique installations created from the painters’ works so special is the way they allow visitors to examine the pictures from much closer up than they would be able to view the original paintings with the naked eye, incorporating them too into these stories painted centuries ago.
Visual composition: Dániel Németh
Musical concept & sound design: Ákos Lovász, Ádám Kalmár
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME_021 PLATON KARATAEV - NAPKÖTÖZŐ
The spring of 2024 saw the release of Platon Karataev’s fourth album, Napkötöző (Sunbound). The central symbol of the new album this time is the Sun, which first rose in the space of the Sound Dome and was projected onto every point of the hemispherical canvas. This is an exciting experiment, as this time it is a continuous bouquet of short three-dimensional film-like videos – an unusually exciting visual presentation of several songs from the new album – that will be presented in the unusual space. Platon Karataev are continuing along the path they started down previously: drawing from guitar band traditions, they blend mystical overtones into their music. Ákos Székely conceived the visual world for the songs that form the backbone of the band’s new album. This Sound Dome screening of Sunbound was recognised with Music Hungary’s visual award in the autumn of 2024.
Duration: 22 minutes
Age limit: This screening is recommended for visitors aged 6 and above.
Although the songs heard in the screening are performed in Hungarian, this does NOT impact the ability of non-speakers of the language to enjoy the experience.
Sound Dome - DOME 000 Moods
It is a unique creation, its possibilities are unpredictable. You have to come here from time to time to get to know the latest discoveries. The first message conveys the sounds and images of the Carpathian Basin from a special auditory and visual perspective.
Running time: 21 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 3.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME 006 - The Intergalactic Gateway
What can the Sound Dome do? What is ’surround sound’? What is 360-degree projection? How are works produced for a unique audio-visual system like this? On this occasion, the Sound Dome itself will answer – using the voice of the actor Barbara Hegyi – more questions than you can shake a stick at, using a projection to lead the audience on a fabulous journey, illustrated with excerpts from the content currently being shown at the Dome. This short film aims partly to show the variety of ways in which the creators are able to use the technology built into the space, and partly to introduce viewers to the diversity of genres that can be explored within it. They can experience, for example, what happens when sound and image are in synch, and what it is like to have visual content responding instantly to sound and music at any given moment.
The virtual tour, which sets off from Liszt Ferenc Airport, offers visitors a playful way of exploring the complex system of the Sound Dome and its hidden potential.
Vazul Endre Mándli is the artistic curator of the new content woven together for the Sound Dome, Panni Néder is the story writer and director, while the sound engineer for the compilation is Tamás Zányi, the sound engineer for the Oscar-winning film Son of Saul, who has won multiple awards and international acclaim. The visual content was created by Gáspár Batta and András Juhász.
The screening of "Sound Dome: The Intergalactic Gateway" will be presented by the House of Music Hungary in cooperation with Budapest Airport as part of BrainBar 2022 and will then be included in the content available daily.
Running time: 29 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 019 - RENOIR
For the third time, after Bosch and Csontváry, the Hangdóm programme is linked to the great painters of the exhibitions at the Museum of Fine Arts.
In the latest audiovisual work, Renoir's paintings are set in motion using manual and digital, so-called generative imaging techniques. The animated imagery is also enriched by music that moves in all dimensions.
The unique feature of these unique works, created from the painters' works, is that the listener-viewer has the opportunity to examine the paintings up close in a way that the original paintings could not be seen with the naked eye, and thus become part of the stories painted centuries ago.
Visual composition by Dániel Németh | Music concept & sound design by Ákos Lovász, Ádám Kalmár
Duration: 29 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
Having already given us new ways of looking at Bosch and Csontváry, this Sound Dome programme will feature a great painter being exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts for the third time. This latest audiovisual work features the paintings of Renoir set in motion using both manual and digital (so-called generative) imaging techniques. The animated imagery is also enhanced by music that moves in every dimension. What makes these unique installations created from the painters’ works so special is the way they allow visitors to examine the pictures from much closer up than they would be able to view the original paintings with the naked eye, incorporating them too into these stories painted centuries ago.
Visual composition: Dániel Németh
Musical concept & sound design: Ákos Lovász, Ádám Kalmár
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME_021 PLATON KARATAEV - NAPKÖTÖZŐ
The spring of 2024 saw the release of Platon Karataev’s fourth album, Napkötöző (Sunbound). The central symbol of the new album this time is the Sun, which first rose in the space of the Sound Dome and was projected onto every point of the hemispherical canvas. This is an exciting experiment, as this time it is a continuous bouquet of short three-dimensional film-like videos – an unusually exciting visual presentation of several songs from the new album – that will be presented in the unusual space. Platon Karataev are continuing along the path they started down previously: drawing from guitar band traditions, they blend mystical overtones into their music. Ákos Székely conceived the visual world for the songs that form the backbone of the band’s new album. This Sound Dome screening of Sunbound was recognised with Music Hungary’s visual award in the autumn of 2024.
Duration: 22 minutes
Age limit: This screening is recommended for visitors aged 6 and above.
Although the songs heard in the screening are performed in Hungarian, this does NOT impact the ability of non-speakers of the language to enjoy the experience.
DOME 024 – Red-footed Falcon
The Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society's Red Footed Falcon Conservation Working Group has produced a unique three-dimensional film for the 20th anniversary of its creation, which can be most effectively presented on this three-dimensional hemispherical screen in the SoundDome at the House of Music. MMTE was commissioned by National Geographic to film in Angola, the world's largest nocturnal roosting site for birds of prey, where the world population of red footed falcons congregates before beginning their migration to Europe. The three-dimensional short film is complemented by a short educational documentary on the project on the screen of the hemispherical dome, and the African pulse is rounded off by a selection of nature photos taken during the expedition. During the DOME_LIVE premiere, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to the creators and the expedition participants.
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 023 – Szauder Dávid: Mestersége az intelligencia
Though artificial intelligence has existed for almost four decades, its development has accelerated at nearly incomprehensible speed over the past 18 months to 2 years. It’s hard to know whom and what to believe. Both the arts and artists themselves can expect to be impacted by this marvellous new digital age. So it’s time to take a deep breath, fasten our seat belts and spend the next 20 minutes letting artificial intelligence reinterpret the art of the past 2000 years. Imagine the Greek temples of antiquity being built by robots, dancing Roman statues, Byzantine mosaics populated by fighting Star Wars characters instead of martyrs, Botticelli’s Venus emerging from an ice cream cone, and what Bosch’s altar would look like in a zero gravity world. Quite a bit different, right? While intended partly as entertainment, the video montage also helps visitors understand what artificial intelligence can be used for, if we have the courage not to fear it.
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME_014: Csoma Kaleidoscope
Language: Hungarian
Both the visual and musical worlds of the Csoma Kaleidoscope reach back to Tibor Szemző's Arboretum Suite (2002) and his film The Guest of Life (2006). In the kaleidoscope – and on this occasion the Sound Dome kaleidoscope acts in magical way – his music and the soundspace open up together uniquely to evoke the indescribable Himalayan environment in which the pilgrim-scientist Sandor Csoma lived out his days among the mountains.
"To the scholars of his generation, Csoma was an obscure figure from Transylvania, abandoned and stateless among the Himalayan mountains, but from their peaks he cast the shadow of a giant across Central Asia."
W.W. Hunter
In this work, we hear the voice of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma delivering his personal account, originally written for a certain Captain Kennedy. In it he relates his travels and his aims after his detention by the British authorities on suspicion of espionage. Doctor Gerard, the British doctor who visits Csoma in his cell, also contributes as fragments of the Hindu world filter in through the kaleidoscope of Francis Bain's enchanting narrative. The source of the texts is the Csoma biography Life and Works of Alexander Csoma de Körös / Kőrösi Csoma Sándor dolgozatai (1885) by Tivadar Duka. The intimate, personal narration, spoken from an eyewitness perspective, is embedded in and accompanied by instrumental and vocal music that is orchestrated for the unique tonal qualities of the kaleidoscope, meanwhile the images multiply in a kaleidoscopic fashion fully in harmony with the music. During the nineteen movements of the performance, the approach to Csoma is assembled and we the audience come closer to understanding what this ’adventure' must have been like from the inside, and to experiencing the incomparable experience of spaciousness.
staff
Tibor Szemző – director, music and text
Dániel Németh – visuals
Ákos Lovász – sound design
Vazul Mandli – curator
the film crew
István “Taikyo” Szaladják – photography
Gábor Roskó – paintings
Kása Papp, Bálint Kolozsváry - animations
Teri Losonci – editor
György Durst, Attila Bognár – producers
the musicians
The Gordian Knot Creative Music Lab
Zsombor Dudás – drums and percussions
Ildikó Fodor – soprano voice
Tamás Geröly – gardon
László Gőz – basstrumpet, sea shells, tillinkó
István Grencsó – tenor saxophone
Ernst Hirschberg – keyboards
Mihály Huszár – electric double bass, bass guitar
Szabolcs Keresteš – piano, celesta
László Kéringer – tenor voice
Zsigmond Lázár – violin
Éva Posvanecz – viola
Alois Samson – wind controller
Tibor Szemző – narrator, bassflute, 8mm-phone
T. Bali – electric guitar
Voces Aequales Ensemble
Zoltán Gavodi – countertenor voice
Csaba Gyulai – tenor voice
Zoltán Mizsei – baritone voice
Tomasini String Quartet
László Paulik, Erzsébet Rácz – violin
Éva Posvanecz – viola
Balázs Máté – cello
Lobsang Dhamchoe – chanting voice
Lama Lobsang Gedun – recitation
recording and sound design
Alois Samson – Fodderbasis
István Horváth – HEAR Studio
László Hortobágyi – Tharnox Studio
Zoltán Regenye Regi – HSB Mobile Studio (India)
Károly Liszkai – Studio RH
Tamás Zányi – Saint Audio
Károly Göllner – CPT Mures Mobile Studio (Romania)
Viktor Szabó – Budapest Music Center
literary sources
Theodore Duka: Life and Works of Alexander Csoma de Körös Francis William Bain: An Incarnation of the Snow, The Substance of a Dream
consultants
Eszter Molnár, Caroline Bodóczky, Gábor Ferenczi
© & ℗ Tibor Szemző 2002-2023 all right seserved
The original English and Hungarian versions of the CSOMA KALEIDOSCOPE are both available.
Running time: 51 minutes
Age rating:
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME_028: Budapest 150 - The Mysterious City Park
In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Budapest's founding, an image film titled The Mysterious City Park was created for the House of Music's Sound Dome in collaboration with Animatiqua, using photos from Fortepan to tell the visual story of the capital's central park—based on photographs from the Fortepan collection.
The distant past of the park and its surroundings comes to life through animated photos, allowing us to experience everyday moments and almost walk alongside famous composers (Franz Liszt, Ferenc Erkel, Béla Bartók), scientists (Edward Teller, John von Neumann, Nikola Tesla), and the residents of that time. In the first and largest part of the 360° archaic-style film, the history of City Park up until 1945 is brought to life, with a special focus on the 1896 World Exhibition held here—primarily through photographs by György Klösz—and the surrounding events, including now-vanished buildings from the Industrial Hall to the Regnum Marianum Church, as well as the historical appearances of the Circus and the Zoo. As we explore the park of that era and move forward in time, we can follow smaller stories, such as how Zoltán Kodály, who lived nearby at today's Kodály Circus, would stroll into the neighboring park. From the second half of the century, the atmosphere of the park’s May Day celebrations is revived, and in the closing section leading into the present, we are ultimately confronted with the realization that the city is constantly in motion and transformation.
Running time: 24 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 024 – Red-footed Falcon
The Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society's Red Footed Falcon Conservation Working Group has produced a unique three-dimensional film for the 20th anniversary of its creation, which can be most effectively presented on this three-dimensional hemispherical screen in the SoundDome at the House of Music. MMTE was commissioned by National Geographic to film in Angola, the world's largest nocturnal roosting site for birds of prey, where the world population of red footed falcons congregates before beginning their migration to Europe. The three-dimensional short film is complemented by a short educational documentary on the project on the screen of the hemispherical dome, and the African pulse is rounded off by a selection of nature photos taken during the expedition. During the DOME_LIVE premiere, there will be an opportunity to ask questions to the creators and the expedition participants.
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME 023 – Szauder Dávid: Mestersége az intelligencia
Though artificial intelligence has existed for almost four decades, its development has accelerated at nearly incomprehensible speed over the past 18 months to 2 years. It’s hard to know whom and what to believe. Both the arts and artists themselves can expect to be impacted by this marvellous new digital age. So it’s time to take a deep breath, fasten our seat belts and spend the next 20 minutes letting artificial intelligence reinterpret the art of the past 2000 years. Imagine the Greek temples of antiquity being built by robots, dancing Roman statues, Byzantine mosaics populated by fighting Star Wars characters instead of martyrs, Botticelli’s Venus emerging from an ice cream cone, and what Bosch’s altar would look like in a zero gravity world. Quite a bit different, right? While intended partly as entertainment, the video montage also helps visitors understand what artificial intelligence can be used for, if we have the courage not to fear it.
Running time: 20 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening has no dialogue, recommended for guests of any language.
DOME_014: Csoma Kaleidoscope
Language: Hungarian
Both the visual and musical worlds of the Csoma Kaleidoscope reach back to Tibor Szemző's Arboretum Suite (2002) and his film The Guest of Life (2006). In the kaleidoscope – and on this occasion the Sound Dome kaleidoscope acts in magical way – his music and the soundspace open up together uniquely to evoke the indescribable Himalayan environment in which the pilgrim-scientist Sandor Csoma lived out his days among the mountains.
"To the scholars of his generation, Csoma was an obscure figure from Transylvania, abandoned and stateless among the Himalayan mountains, but from their peaks he cast the shadow of a giant across Central Asia."
W.W. Hunter
In this work, we hear the voice of Sándor Kőrösi Csoma delivering his personal account, originally written for a certain Captain Kennedy. In it he relates his travels and his aims after his detention by the British authorities on suspicion of espionage. Doctor Gerard, the British doctor who visits Csoma in his cell, also contributes as fragments of the Hindu world filter in through the kaleidoscope of Francis Bain's enchanting narrative. The source of the texts is the Csoma biography Life and Works of Alexander Csoma de Körös / Kőrösi Csoma Sándor dolgozatai (1885) by Tivadar Duka. The intimate, personal narration, spoken from an eyewitness perspective, is embedded in and accompanied by instrumental and vocal music that is orchestrated for the unique tonal qualities of the kaleidoscope, meanwhile the images multiply in a kaleidoscopic fashion fully in harmony with the music. During the nineteen movements of the performance, the approach to Csoma is assembled and we the audience come closer to understanding what this ’adventure' must have been like from the inside, and to experiencing the incomparable experience of spaciousness.
staff
Tibor Szemző – director, music and text
Dániel Németh – visuals
Ákos Lovász – sound design
Vazul Mandli – curator
the film crew
István “Taikyo” Szaladják – photography
Gábor Roskó – paintings
Kása Papp, Bálint Kolozsváry - animations
Teri Losonci – editor
György Durst, Attila Bognár – producers
the musicians
The Gordian Knot Creative Music Lab
Zsombor Dudás – drums and percussions
Ildikó Fodor – soprano voice
Tamás Geröly – gardon
László Gőz – basstrumpet, sea shells, tillinkó
István Grencsó – tenor saxophone
Ernst Hirschberg – keyboards
Mihály Huszár – electric double bass, bass guitar
Szabolcs Keresteš – piano, celesta
László Kéringer – tenor voice
Zsigmond Lázár – violin
Éva Posvanecz – viola
Alois Samson – wind controller
Tibor Szemző – narrator, bassflute, 8mm-phone
T. Bali – electric guitar
Voces Aequales Ensemble
Zoltán Gavodi – countertenor voice
Csaba Gyulai – tenor voice
Zoltán Mizsei – baritone voice
Tomasini String Quartet
László Paulik, Erzsébet Rácz – violin
Éva Posvanecz – viola
Balázs Máté – cello
Lobsang Dhamchoe – chanting voice
Lama Lobsang Gedun – recitation
recording and sound design
Alois Samson – Fodderbasis
István Horváth – HEAR Studio
László Hortobágyi – Tharnox Studio
Zoltán Regenye Regi – HSB Mobile Studio (India)
Károly Liszkai – Studio RH
Tamás Zányi – Saint Audio
Károly Göllner – CPT Mures Mobile Studio (Romania)
Viktor Szabó – Budapest Music Center
literary sources
Theodore Duka: Life and Works of Alexander Csoma de Körös Francis William Bain: An Incarnation of the Snow, The Substance of a Dream
consultants
Eszter Molnár, Caroline Bodóczky, Gábor Ferenczi
© & ℗ Tibor Szemző 2002-2023 all right seserved
The original English and Hungarian versions of the CSOMA KALEIDOSCOPE are both available.
Running time: 51 minutes
Age rating:
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME_028: Budapest 150 - The Mysterious City Park
In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Budapest's founding, an image film titled The Mysterious City Park was created for the House of Music's Sound Dome in collaboration with Animatiqua, using photos from Fortepan to tell the visual story of the capital's central park—based on photographs from the Fortepan collection.
The distant past of the park and its surroundings comes to life through animated photos, allowing us to experience everyday moments and almost walk alongside famous composers (Franz Liszt, Ferenc Erkel, Béla Bartók), scientists (Edward Teller, John von Neumann, Nikola Tesla), and the residents of that time. In the first and largest part of the 360° archaic-style film, the history of City Park up until 1945 is brought to life, with a special focus on the 1896 World Exhibition held here—primarily through photographs by György Klösz—and the surrounding events, including now-vanished buildings from the Industrial Hall to the Regnum Marianum Church, as well as the historical appearances of the Circus and the Zoo. As we explore the park of that era and move forward in time, we can follow smaller stories, such as how Zoltán Kodály, who lived nearby at today's Kodály Circus, would stroll into the neighboring park. From the second half of the century, the atmosphere of the park’s May Day celebrations is revived, and in the closing section leading into the present, we are ultimately confronted with the realization that the city is constantly in motion and transformation.
Running time: 24 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 6.
The screening is in Hungarian, which may affect your experience.
DOME_026 ANIMÁCIÓS RÖVID VIZSGAFILMEK
Running time: 32 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 12.
The songs in the screening are in Hungarian, but this does NOT affect the experience.
DOME_030 - DJ Palotai
Zsolt Palotai was the first to introduce the modern electronic music genres in Hungary, the music director of Tilos az Á, the former founder of Tilos Radio and for many years the chief music editor. As a tribute to the legendary DJ, who passed away on 18 November 2023, the visual art group Burning Out Izzos created a thematic projection in the unique audiovisual dome of the Hangdóm, which artistically combines photos, videos, and footage of his unique music collection and personal belongings to pay tribute to Zsolt Palotai, who was considered the originator of the trend-setting, metropolitan DJ and party culture.
The 360-degree film is set to music from one of DJ Palotai's last recorded mixes, which was played at Tilos Radio's fundraising festival Tilos Marathon Cökxpon Chillegal in the summer of 2023.
The film was premiered on 9 March, World DJ Day, at the opening of a major Zsolt Palotai memorial exhibition co-organised with Tilos Radio at the House of Music. The audiovisual exhibition, which will be open to the public free of charge until the end of April, features photos, videos and installations of personal objects, in an eclectic mix of Zsolt Palotai's extremely colourful musical tastes, but without claiming to be exhaustive.
By buying a ticket you are also supporting Zsolt Palotai's family.
For the materials used in the film, thanks to Zsolt Palotai's family and many close friends who made them available to the filmmakers.
Duration: 30 minutes
Age rating
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
The screening has no speech, and is recommended for guests of any language.
-webp.webp)
DOME_029 – INTERCONTINENTAL
As part of their ongoing mission to explore and celebrate the power of immersive art in dome environments, 36 Degrés and Jérémy Oury are excited to present a curated selection of audiovisual content that highlights the transformative synergy of music and visuals. This program is designed to captivate audiences with a rich diversity of styles, cultures, and artistic visions, offering a truly worldwide perspective to highlight musical diversity and cultural richness of each continent while emphasizing the universality of music as a bridge between people.
Running time: 30 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 12.
The songs in the screening are in Hungarian, but this does NOT affect the experience.
DOME_027: LANDS OF DOME #2 - CZECH REPUBLIC
The Lands of Dome international audiovisual program series invites renowned and emerging creators from different cultures to present their works in the Sound Dome. The programs are implemented in cooperation with the institutes representing the respective countries. The second guest of the series is the Czech Republic, from where electronic music creators have been invited with the help of the Czech Center. They bring a massive bouquet of four pieces from the wide range of Czech contemporary sound and visual art.
01 - dné: Basic Living (02:58) A melancholic and cool short composition, serving as an introduction depicting the 'basic lifestyle'.
02 - NIVVA: Low (03:00) A darker turn after the light start, with eerie vocals and string section.
03 Timmi, Tasya: Splinter (5:00) An audiovisual creation specifically made for the Lands of Dome #2 – Czech Republic program, in collaboration between young ambient music talent Timmi and Tasya, the lead designer of Lunchmeat Studio. Their work Splinter, combining 3D animations and camera footage with ambient soundscapes, delves into the depths of nature like the mind of an incomprehensible entity, allowing for the experience of life, perception, and sensitivity.
04 - Aid Kid, Miroslav Hloucal & Gustav Brom Czech Radio Bigband: See You (05:32) A bombastic finale with the full power of a 20+ member big band combining contemporary jazz with electronics.
The project is realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
Duration: 28 minutes
Age classification: 12 years
Narration language: none
Intense light/sound effects: yes
The screening has no speech, recommended for our guests of any language.
Due to the use of intense light effects and stroboscopic visual effects, the performance is not recommended for viewers sensitive to these effects.
DOME_026 ANIMÁCIÓS RÖVID VIZSGAFILMEK
Running time: 32 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 12.
The songs in the screening are in Hungarian, but this does NOT affect the experience.
DOME_030 - DJ Palotai
Zsolt Palotai was the first to introduce the modern electronic music genres in Hungary, the music director of Tilos az Á, the former founder of Tilos Radio and for many years the chief music editor. As a tribute to the legendary DJ, who passed away on 18 November 2023, the visual art group Burning Out Izzos created a thematic projection in the unique audiovisual dome of the Hangdóm, which artistically combines photos, videos, and footage of his unique music collection and personal belongings to pay tribute to Zsolt Palotai, who was considered the originator of the trend-setting, metropolitan DJ and party culture.
The 360-degree film is set to music from one of DJ Palotai's last recorded mixes, which was played at Tilos Radio's fundraising festival Tilos Marathon Cökxpon Chillegal in the summer of 2023.
The film was premiered on 9 March, World DJ Day, at the opening of a major Zsolt Palotai memorial exhibition co-organised with Tilos Radio at the House of Music. The audiovisual exhibition, which will be open to the public free of charge until the end of April, features photos, videos and installations of personal objects, in an eclectic mix of Zsolt Palotai's extremely colourful musical tastes, but without claiming to be exhaustive.
By buying a ticket you are also supporting Zsolt Palotai's family.
For the materials used in the film, thanks to Zsolt Palotai's family and many close friends who made them available to the filmmakers.
Duration: 30 minutes
Age rating
Recommended for ages 12 and up.
The screening has no speech, and is recommended for guests of any language.
DOME_029 – INTERCONTINENTAL
As part of their ongoing mission to explore and celebrate the power of immersive art in dome environments, 36 Degrés and Jérémy Oury are excited to present a curated selection of audiovisual content that highlights the transformative synergy of music and visuals. This program is designed to captivate audiences with a rich diversity of styles, cultures, and artistic visions, offering a truly worldwide perspective to highlight musical diversity and cultural richness of each continent while emphasizing the universality of music as a bridge between people.
Running time: 30 minutes
Age rating
This performance is not recommended for children under the age of 12.
The songs in the screening are in Hungarian, but this does NOT affect the experience.
DOME_027: LANDS OF DOME #2 - CZECH REPUBLIC
The Lands of Dome international audiovisual program series invites renowned and emerging creators from different cultures to present their works in the Sound Dome. The programs are implemented in cooperation with the institutes representing the respective countries. The second guest of the series is the Czech Republic, from where electronic music creators have been invited with the help of the Czech Center. They bring a massive bouquet of four pieces from the wide range of Czech contemporary sound and visual art.
01 - dné: Basic Living (02:58) A melancholic and cool short composition, serving as an introduction depicting the 'basic lifestyle'.
02 - NIVVA: Low (03:00) A darker turn after the light start, with eerie vocals and string section.
03 Timmi, Tasya: Splinter (5:00) An audiovisual creation specifically made for the Lands of Dome #2 – Czech Republic program, in collaboration between young ambient music talent Timmi and Tasya, the lead designer of Lunchmeat Studio. Their work Splinter, combining 3D animations and camera footage with ambient soundscapes, delves into the depths of nature like the mind of an incomprehensible entity, allowing for the experience of life, perception, and sensitivity.
04 - Aid Kid, Miroslav Hloucal & Gustav Brom Czech Radio Bigband: See You (05:32) A bombastic finale with the full power of a 20+ member big band combining contemporary jazz with electronics.
The project is realized with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
Duration: 28 minutes
Age classification: 12 years
Narration language: none
Intense light/sound effects: yes
The screening has no speech, recommended for our guests of any language.
Due to the use of intense light effects and stroboscopic visual effects, the performance is not recommended for viewers sensitive to these effects.
DOME_031: KAFKA ISLANDS
The Emperor's message from different places, different people, different languages
Franz Kafka did not only earn the admiration of posterity for his writing. What is quite extraordinary is the impact he had on those who were really close to him, who experienced being with him as a miracle of friendship. The hidden connections between these miracles are revealed in the magic sphere of my voice during the performance of The Kafka Islands. Using original 8mm film and music by Szemző, the islands also shed light on how they relate to Franz Kafka's last friend and last love. Kafka's parable, The Emperor's Message from Different Places, Different People, Different Languages.
Tibor Szemző: KAFKA Islands
Staff
Németh Dániel - visuals Lovász Ákos - sound design Mándli Endre Vazul - curator
Sounds
Kaori Takano - Japanese, Gergely Kispál - German, Jahanara Bandyopadhyay - Bengali, András Forgách - Hungarian, Liz Szász - English, Ray Massey - English, Herschl Glasser - Yiddish, Zhang Yu - Chinese, Thierry Fouilleul - French, Josef Brukner - Czech, Tibor Szemző - Hungarian, Karma Dorje - Tibetan (recitation)
Musicians
Zoltán Mizsei - piano, Tibor Szemző - bass flutes, Mihály Huszár - bass, bass guitar, Bálint Pödör - percussion, László Gőz - wind instruments
Tomasini String Quartet+
László Paulik - violin, Erzsébet Rácz - violin, Éva Posvanecz - bass violin, Balázs Máté - accordion, Gergely Kuklis - violin,
the musical source of "Williamsburg Island"
Henry Purcell's Fantasy for Strings in C minor
Sound recordings
Alexander Krestovský (Prague) Gábor Buckó, Károly Liszkai (Budapest), Alois Samson (New York)
8mm film locations
Graal-Müritz (D), Prague-Kralupy nad Vltavou railway (CZ), Będzin and Pabianice (PL), Williamsburg, Brooklyn (USA), Dombóvár (H) and Berlin (D)
8mm lab, film scanning
Szilárd Szilas, Károly Kamerda
Consultant
András Forgách
Special thanks to
Caroline Bodóczky, Böröcz Andás, Dr. Jonathan Brent, Cseicsner Otilia, Erbst Hermann, Forgách András, Gáli József, Gyémánt Gábor, Pavel Havliček, Hortobágyi László, Kálmán János, Vladimir Kafka, Komoróczy Szonja Ráchel, Dr. Bandara Mukherjee, Phill Niblock, Regenye Zoltán, Solténszky Tibor, Gerd Stern, Török Ferenc, Zányi Tamás and others
Literary source
Franz Kafka: An Imperial Message
Music and films
Tibor Szemző 2025 © & ℗ all rights reserved
Duration: 25 minutes
Age rating: 6 years
Narration language: Hungarian
Strong light/sound effects: none
-webp.webp)
DOME_032 Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd's iconic album, the 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon, Hubblo and the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) in Montreal have created an immersive audiovisual experience of the same title for the Canadian institution's Satosphere dome. Pink Floyd enthusiastically embraced the idea of juxtaposing the album's musical material with awe-inspiring images of space for the projection.
Each song is associated with a unique visual dimension – sometimes futuristic and forward-looking, at other times referencing Pink Floyd's visual iconography. The entire album has been remastered with surround sound, and rediscovering one of rock history's most significant masterpieces in this dome-like, surround-sound environment is already a special experience. This audiovisual creation can be seen by the Hungarian audience for a few months at the Sound Dome of the House of Hungarian Music.
Pink Floyd's perhaps most influential album had a connection to dome-like spaces even at its release. On February 27, 1973, EMI Records held a press conference to present Pink Floyd's new album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, at the London Planetarium. Although at that time the planetarium dome could only display stars, constellations, and cosmic images under the music, the event was an unprecedented success. Fifty years later – in tribute to the iconic album and thanks to the tremendous advancements in technology – this experience is also available in Hungary in the form of an official full-fledged dome experience, featuring a stunning visual journey beyond the solar system.
"The projection is divided into ten parts, following the chronological order of the album's ten tracks, each with its own theme. Some exude a futuristic, forward-looking mood, while others offer nostalgic references to Pink Floyd's visual history – each conveys a temporal and spatial experience, utilizing the cutting-edge technology provided by sound domes. The experience is immersive: spatial sound and visuals that transcend reality and far surpass the boundaries of two-dimensional experiences."
Celebrate one of the most successful albums ever with a space and musical journey like you've never experienced before!
Duration: 45 minutes
Age rating: 6 years
Narration language: none
Strong light/sound effects: none
DOME_031: KAFKA ISLANDS
The Emperor's message from different places, different people, different languages
Franz Kafka did not only earn the admiration of posterity for his writing. What is quite extraordinary is the impact he had on those who were really close to him, who experienced being with him as a miracle of friendship. The hidden connections between these miracles are revealed in the magic sphere of my voice during the performance of The Kafka Islands. Using original 8mm film and music by Szemző, the islands also shed light on how they relate to Franz Kafka's last friend and last love. Kafka's parable, The Emperor's Message from Different Places, Different People, Different Languages.
Tibor Szemző: KAFKA Islands
Staff
Németh Dániel - visuals Lovász Ákos - sound design Mándli Endre Vazul - curator
Sounds
Kaori Takano - Japanese, Gergely Kispál - German, Jahanara Bandyopadhyay - Bengali, András Forgách - Hungarian, Liz Szász - English, Ray Massey - English, Herschl Glasser - Yiddish, Zhang Yu - Chinese, Thierry Fouilleul - French, Josef Brukner - Czech, Tibor Szemző - Hungarian, Karma Dorje - Tibetan (recitation)
Musicians
Zoltán Mizsei - piano, Tibor Szemző - bass flutes, Mihály Huszár - bass, bass guitar, Bálint Pödör - percussion, László Gőz - wind instruments
Tomasini String Quartet+
László Paulik - violin, Erzsébet Rácz - violin, Éva Posvanecz - bass violin, Balázs Máté - accordion, Gergely Kuklis - violin,
the musical source of "Williamsburg Island"
Henry Purcell's Fantasy for Strings in C minor
Sound recordings
Alexander Krestovský (Prague) Gábor Buckó, Károly Liszkai (Budapest), Alois Samson (New York)
8mm film locations
Graal-Müritz (D), Prague-Kralupy nad Vltavou railway (CZ), Będzin and Pabianice (PL), Williamsburg, Brooklyn (USA), Dombóvár (H) and Berlin (D)
8mm lab, film scanning
Szilárd Szilas, Károly Kamerda
Consultant
András Forgách
Special thanks to
Caroline Bodóczky, Böröcz Andás, Dr. Jonathan Brent, Cseicsner Otilia, Erbst Hermann, Forgách András, Gáli József, Gyémánt Gábor, Pavel Havliček, Hortobágyi László, Kálmán János, Vladimir Kafka, Komoróczy Szonja Ráchel, Dr. Bandara Mukherjee, Phill Niblock, Regenye Zoltán, Solténszky Tibor, Gerd Stern, Török Ferenc, Zányi Tamás and others
Literary source
Franz Kafka: An Imperial Message
Music and films
Tibor Szemző 2025 © & ℗ all rights reserved
Duration: 25 minutes
Age rating: 6 years
Narration language: Hungarian
Strong light/sound effects: none
DOME_032 Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pink Floyd's iconic album, the 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon, Hubblo and the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) in Montreal have created an immersive audiovisual experience of the same title for the Canadian institution's Satosphere dome. Pink Floyd enthusiastically embraced the idea of juxtaposing the album's musical material with awe-inspiring images of space for the projection.
Each song is associated with a unique visual dimension – sometimes futuristic and forward-looking, at other times referencing Pink Floyd's visual iconography. The entire album has been remastered with surround sound, and rediscovering one of rock history's most significant masterpieces in this dome-like, surround-sound environment is already a special experience. This audiovisual creation can be seen by the Hungarian audience for a few months at the Sound Dome of the House of Hungarian Music.
Pink Floyd's perhaps most influential album had a connection to dome-like spaces even at its release. On February 27, 1973, EMI Records held a press conference to present Pink Floyd's new album, The Dark Side Of The Moon, at the London Planetarium. Although at that time the planetarium dome could only display stars, constellations, and cosmic images under the music, the event was an unprecedented success. Fifty years later – in tribute to the iconic album and thanks to the tremendous advancements in technology – this experience is also available in Hungary in the form of an official full-fledged dome experience, featuring a stunning visual journey beyond the solar system.
"The projection is divided into ten parts, following the chronological order of the album's ten tracks, each with its own theme. Some exude a futuristic, forward-looking mood, while others offer nostalgic references to Pink Floyd's visual history – each conveys a temporal and spatial experience, utilizing the cutting-edge technology provided by sound domes. The experience is immersive: spatial sound and visuals that transcend reality and far surpass the boundaries of two-dimensional experiences."
Celebrate one of the most successful albums ever with a space and musical journey like you've never experienced before!
Duration: 45 minutes
Age rating: 6 years
Narration language: none
Strong light/sound effects: none
DOME_LIVE
The DOME_LIVE series of programs of the Hungarian House of Music dedicates an evening every month to present new audiovisual performances. During the evenings, the audience can see live instrumental or electroacoustic concerts, usually supplemented with visual material, or a premiere screening of the content produced here.
SOUND DOME OPENING HOURS
Monday closed (and closed on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month)
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM
Closing of the ticket office and last screening: 5.00 PM
Friday 10 AM to 8 PM
Closing of the ticket office and last screening: 7.00 PM
ARRIVAL
We can't deviate from the Hangman screening order, so if the group is 10-15 minutes late, unfortunately we can't let it in. Please take this into account and thank you for your understanding.
WARDROBE
The use of the cloakroom is free of charge and is obligatory for visiting exhibitions and events. Luggage, backpacks of any size, umbrella and bag are mandatory in the locker room. The exhibition and screening room will close at 6pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, with ticketing and admission closed at 5:30 p.m. Please leave the area when the closing colleagues show up and visit the cloakroom by 18:00 at the latest if necessary.
During the summer, the cloakroom is not open, you can use the lockers on level -1 for your luggage.
PARKING
With the ticket redeemed online, the first two hours of parking in the Museum Underground Garage are free on the day of the visit. Please validate your parking tickets at the information desk of the House of Music Hungary.
Warning of the risk of photosensitivity attacks
A small percentage of people may experience seizures due to certain visual images, including flashing lights and patterns that appear as part of the show.
