A signed score brings a refugee artist’s story into focus

A signed musical score acquired by The College of St. Scholastica Library in 2024 holds a connection between wartime Budapest and an artist who found refuge in Duluth. The first edition of Zoltán Kodály’s “Missa Brevis” features cover art by Sister Constantina Kákonyi, S.N.D., who survived the Siege of Budapest before making St. Scholastica her home for more than four decades.

This October, Hope in Dark Times brings their connected histories into focus through performances involving students from The College of St. Scholastica and Borealis Chamber Artists, alongside a retrospective exhibition of Sister Constantina’s work.

Kodály completed “Missa Brevis” while sheltering during the Siege of Budapest. In February 1945, the work received its first performance in a cloakroom of the Budapest Opera House, where the composer, his wife, and hundreds of others had taken refuge. Its subtitle, in tempore belli, means “in a time of war.” The choir’s plea to “grant us peace” carried immediate meaning for those gathered amid the fighting.

Richard Carrick, director of Choral Activities at St. Scholastica and conductor of Borealis Chamber Artists, described the work this way: “Kodály’s score is filled with text painting. When you consider the conditions in which it was composed, every musical choice becomes that much more powerful. From the quivering pleas for God to have mercy on us, to the heavily accented sections that are reminiscent of bombs falling in the distance, it is extremely compelling.”

Sister Constantina experienced the same siege. A Sister with the Kalocsa School Sisters of the Order of the Sisters of Notre Dame (S.N.D.), and an artist and teacher, she had already collaborated with Kodály before he asked her to illustrate the score in 1945. Her striking image of three female singers became a visual counterpart to the music.

After leaving Hungary, Sister Constantina arrived in Duluth in 1950 at the invitation of St. Scholastica Monastery. She established an apartment and studio in Tower Hall, taught art at the College, and later served as artist-in-residence. When she returned to Hungary in 1994, she left behind a body of work that remains part of the area’s artistic heritage. Upon her return to her homeland, she sent this message back to the College: “I always will remember and pray for you, and for your family and also for The College of St. Scholastica where I spent many of my best creative years. With heartfelt gratitude, Sr. Konstantina.”

“We are so fortunate to be the stewards of the artworks Sister Constantina created while she was here and to have them in our midst as reminders of her and her compelling story,” said Heidi Johnson ’08, instruction librarian and College archivist. “Sister Constantina drew inspiration for her art especially from the prophets in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation. She was particularly drawn to the end times because of her life experiences, with her convictions coming through in her art in striking ways.”

Sister Constantina employed a variety of unique mediums in her art, including hammered-copper sculptures, gold and silver foil dimensional paintings, mono-print inscapes, oil paintings, metal-work crucifixes and candle holders, and melted mosaic glass on metal. One of her most famous pieces is the mosaic she made for President John F. Kennedy during his 1963 visit to Duluth.

The library’s acquisition brings these histories together in a single object: a score bearing the composer’s signature and the artwork of a woman who became part of the St. Scholastica community. Hope in Dark Times offers an opportunity to explore that connection through live music and the art she created during her years in Duluth.

Sister Constantina Kakonyi: A Retrospective Exhibit, curated by College Archivist Heidi Johnson, is on view at The College of St. Scholastica Library. The exhibition brings together works from her American years and her 1945 illustration for Missa Brevis. Library hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.; and Sunday, noon until 6 p.m. Visit libguides.css.edu/CSSLibrary for library information.