Musical Composers

Hungary
BELA BARTOK
 Béla Bartók
Born: March 25, 1881
Died: September 26,1945
• A Hungarian composer, pianist, and
ethnomusicologist.
• He is considered one of the most important
composers of the 20th century; he and Franz
Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest
composers
• Through his collection and analytical study
of folk music, he was one of the founders of
comparative musicology, which later
became ethnomusicology.
 Béla Bartók
• Bartók had a diverse ancestry. On his father's
side, the Bartók family was a Hungarian
lower noble family, originating
from Borsodszirák, Borsod. Although his
paternal grandmother was a Catholic
of Bunjevci origin, but considered herself
Hungarian.
• Bartók's father was also named Béla, his
mother, Paula had ethnic German roots,
spoke Hungarian fluently. She was a native of
Turócszentmárton (now Martin, Slovakia).
 Béla Bartók
Personal life
• In 1909, at the age of 28, Bartók married
Márta Ziegler (1893–1967), aged 16.
• Their son, Béla Bartók III, was born on 22
August 1910. After nearly 15 years together,
• Bartók divorced Márta in June 1923. Two
months after his divorce, he married Ditta
Pásztory (1903–1982), a piano student, ten
days after proposing to her. She was aged 19,
he 42.
• Their son, Péter, was born in 1924.
 Béla Bartók Works
• He collected the Carpathian Basin (then
the Kingdom of Hungary), where he
notated Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian,
and Bulgarian folk music.
• He also collected in Moldavia, Wallachia, and
(in 1913) Algeria. The outbreak of World War
I forced him to stop the expeditions; and he
returned to composing, writing the ballet
• The Wooden Prince (1914–16) and
the String Quartet No. 2 in, both influenced
by Debussy.
KARL GOLDMARK
 Karl Goldmark
• Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark,
Keszthely, May 18, 1830 –
• Died: Vienna, January 2, 1915)
• Was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.
• Goldmark came from a large Jewish family.
His father, Ruben Goldmark, was a chazan to
the Jewish congregation at Keszthely,
Hungary,
• Karl Goldmark's early training as a violinist
was at the musical academy of Sopron
 Karl Goldmark
• Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark,
Keszthely, May 18, 1830 –
• Died: Vienna, January 2, 1915)
• Was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.
• Goldmark came from a large Jewish family.
His father, Ruben Goldmark, was a chazan to
the Jewish congregation at Keszthely,
Hungary,
• Karl Goldmark's early training as a violinist
was at the musical academy of Sopron
 Karl Goldmark Works
• His Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 28,
was once his most frequently played piece.
The concerto had its premiere in Bremen in
1877, initially enjoyed great popularity and
then slid into obscurity. A very romantic
work, it has a Magyar march in the first
movement and passages reminiscent
of Dvořák and Mendelssohn in the second
and third movements.
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von
Dohnányi
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von Dohnányi
• Ernő Dohnányi (Hungarian: [ˈɛrnøː
ˈdohnaːɲi];
• Born: 27 July 1877
• Died: 9 February 1960
• A Hungarian composer,
pianist and conductor.
• He used a German form of his name, Ernst
von Dohnányi, on most of his published
compositions. The "von" implies nobility,
and, according to the biography by his third
wife, his family was ennobled in 1697 and
given a family crest, which she describes in
some detail.
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von Dohnányi
• Dohnányi was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of
Hungary, Austria-Hungary (today Bratislava,
capital of Slovakia).
• He first studied music with his father, a
professor of mathematics and an amateur
cellist.
• István Thomán was a favorite student
of Franz Liszt and Hans von Koessler was a
devotee of Johannes Brahms's music. These
two influences played an important role
during Dohnányi's entire life:
• Liszt in his way of playing piano and
Brahms in his compositions.
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von Dohnányi
• He married Elisabeth "Elsa" Kunwald (also a
pianist).
• In 1902, Hans, was born. Hans was the father
of German politician Klaus von Dohnányi,
and of conductor Christoph von Dohnányi,
the former Music Director of the Cleveland
Orchestra.
• In 1937 he met Ilona Zachár, who was
married with two children. By this time, he
had separated from his second wife Elza
Galafrés. He and Ilona travelled throughout
Europe as husband and wife, but were not
legally married until they settled in the United
States.
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von Dohnányi
• Dohnányi's compositional style was personal,
but very conservative. His music largely
subscribes to the Neoromantic idiom.
• Some characterize his style as traditional
mainstream Euro-Germanic in the Brahmsian
manner (structurally rather than the way the
music actually sounds) rather than
specifically Hungarian,
• The best of which may be his Serenade in C
major for string trio, Op. 10 (1902)
and Variations on a Nursery Tune for piano
and orchestra, Op. 25 (1914).
Ferenc Farkas
 Ferenc Farkas
• Born:15 December 1905
• Died:10 October 2000
• Born into a musical family (his father played
the cimbalom and his mother played the
piano) in Nagykanizsa, Farkas began his
musical studies in Budapest, at the Protestant
Gymnasium (Grammar School) and later
attended the Music Academy, where he
studied composition with Leó Weiner and
Albert Siklós.
 Ferenc Farkas
• He played the piano in various theatre
orchestras. In 1932 he met the director Paul
Fejos for whom he composed several film
scores, first in Hungary, then
in Vienna and Copenhagen. This collaboration
was to be for Farkas the beginning of an
impressive series of “applied” music (music
for around 75 films and 44 theatre plays and
radio plays).
Ernő Dohnányi/Ernst von Dohnányi
• He played the piano in various theatre
orchestras. In 1932 he met the director Paul
Fejos for whom he composed several film
scores, first in Hungary, then
in Vienna and Copenhagen. This collaboration
was to be for Farkas the beginning of an
impressive series of “applied” music (music
for around 75 films and 44 theatre plays and
radio plays).
 Ferenc Farkas
Az Ember tragédiája (The tragedy of man),
incidental music for the play by Imre
Madách (1935)
A Bűvös szekrény (The magic cupboard), opera
(1942)
Works for symphony orchestra
Divertimento (1930)
Preludio e fuga (1944-1947)
Works for string orchestra
Musica pentatonica (1945)
Choreae hungaricae, 3 cycles of Hungarian
dances from the 17th century (1961)
 Ferenc Farkas
Az Ember tragédiája (The tragedy of man),
incidental music for the play by Imre
Madách (1935)
A Bűvös szekrény (The magic cupboard), opera
(1942)
Works for symphony orchestra
Divertimento (1930)
Preludio e fuga (1944-1947)
Works for string orchestra
Musica pentatonica (1945)
Choreae hungaricae, 3 cycles of Hungarian
dances from the 17th century (1961)
Franz Lehár
 Franz Lehár
Lehár was born in the northern part of Komárom,
Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-
Hungary (now Komárno Slovakia), on April
30,1870
Died on October 24, 1948
The eldest son of Franz Lehár (senior) (1838–
1898), an Austrian bandmaster in the Infantry
Regiment No. 50 of the Austro-Hungarian
Army and
Christine Neubrandt (1849–1906), a Hungarian
woman from a family of German descent.
 Franz Lehár
Wrote sonatas, symphonic poems and marches.
He also composed a number of waltzes (the most
popular being Gold und Silber, composed for
Princess Pauline von Metternich's "Gold and
Silver" Ball, January 1902),
Individual songs from some of the operettas have
become standards, notably "Vilja" from The
Merry Widow and "You Are My Heart's Delight"
("Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") from The Land of
Smiles (Das Land des Lächelns).
 Franz Lehár
Wrote sonatas, symphonic poems and marches.
He also composed a number of waltzes (the most
popular being Gold und Silber, composed for
Princess Pauline von Metternich's "Gold and
Silver" Ball, January 1902),
Individual songs from some of the operettas have
become standards, notably "Vilja" from The
Merry Widow and "You Are My Heart's Delight"
("Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") from The Land of
Smiles (Das Land des Lächelns).
Franz von Vecsey
 Franz von Vecsey
• Born March 23 1893
• Died April 23 1935
• Was a Hungarian violinist and composer,
• Became a well-known virtuoso in Europe
through the early 20th century.
• He was born in Budapest and began his violin
studies with his father, Lajos Vecsey. At the
age of 8 he entered the studio of Jenő Hubay.
• Became known as a stellar child prodigy
virtuoso.
 Franz von Vecsey
Joseph Joachim and the young Franz von Vecsey
became one of the pre-eminent violinists in
Europe in the 1910s and 1920s,
At one point touring with Béla Bartók as his
piano accompanist.
Aged only 12, he became the re-dedicatee
of Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor in
1905, when the original dedicatee,
He also spent time composing, and wrote a
number of virtuosic salon pieces for the violin.
 Franz von Vecsey
• From 1926 until his death, he lived with his
wife in Venice, at the "Palazzo
Giustinian de'Vescovi" on Canal Grande. His
career steadily faltered after the First World
War, as he grew tired of constant touring and
wanted to concentrate more on conducting.
• In 1935, when he became seriously ill with
a pulmonary embolism that grew through
much of his life. He sought medical care
in Rome, where he received surgery. The
operation was unsuccessful, and Vecsey
succumbed to the disease at the age of 42.
 Franz von Vecsey
• Selected compositions
• Violin solo
• Preludio e Fuga in C minor (1914); dedicated
to Jenő Hubay
• Violin and piano
• La Campanella (1934); transcription based
on the Rondo from Violin Concerto No.
2 by Niccolò Paganini
• Caprice in F♯ major (1913)
• Caprice fantastique (1933)
• Le Chagrin de Pierrot
• Chanson nostalgique (1933)
• Chanson triste (1913)
György Kurtág
 György Kurtág
• György Kurtág was born in Lugoj in
the Banat region of Romania on born
February 19 1926
• Hungarian parents. He became a Hungarian
citizen in 1948, after moving to Budapest in
1946.
• There, he began his studies at the Franz Liszt
Academy of Music, where he met his wife,
Márta Kinsker, as well as composer György
Ligeti, who became a close friend.
 György Kurtág
• During this time however, Kurtag was
suffering from a severe depression, saying "I
realized to the point of despair that nothing I
had believed to constitute the world was
true...".
• Kurtág received psychological therapy from
Marianne Stein – an encounter that revivified
the composer and strongly stimulated his
artistic development.
• Between 1960 and 1968,
 György Kurtág
• Kurtág worked as répétiteur at the National
Philharmonia in Budapest.
• In 1967, he was appointed professor of piano
and later also of chamber music at the Franz
Liszt Academy, where he taught until 1993.
Kurtág's international reputation began to take
hold with Messages of the Late Miss R.V.
 György Kurtág
• Kurtág's compositions prior to Stele, Op. 33
(written for the Berlin
Philharmonic and Claudio Abbado),
• Kafka-Fragments, for instance, is an
approximately 55-minute song cycle for
soprano and solo violin made up of 40 short
movements, setting extracts from Franz
Kafka's writings,
• Most extreme of all, his piano piece "Flowers
We Are, Mere Flowers" from the eighth
volume of Játékok ("Games") consists of just
seven notes. Because of this interest in
miniatures, Kurtág's music is often compared
to that of Anton Webern.
Franz Liszt
 Franz Liszt
• Born: on October 22,1811 –
• Died: 31 July 1886) was
a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, cond
uctor, music teacher, arranger and organist of
the Romantic era. He was also a writer,
a philanthropist, a Hungarian nationalist and
a Franciscan tertiary.
• Liszt gained renown in Europe during the
early nineteenth century for his prodigious
virtuosic skill as a pianist.
 Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt was born to Anna Liszt (née Maria
Anna Lager) and Adam Liszt , in the village
of Doborján (German: Raiding) in Sopron
County, in the Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian
Empire. Liszt's father played the piano, violin,
cello and guitar. He had been in the service
of Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy and
knew Haydn, Hummel and Beethoven personally
.
 Franz Liszt
• Solo Instrumental
• Piano
• Suite for four-hand piano (1950–1951)
• Elö-játékok (1973–1974)
• Violin
• Hipartita for solo violin (2000–2004)
• 29 Jelek, játékok és üzenetek (Signs, Games and
Messages) for solo violin (1989–2004
Zoltán Kodály
 Zoltán Kodály
• Born:December 16 1882 –
• Died: March 61967)
• Was a Hungarian
composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, ling
uist, and philosopher.
• He is well known internationally as the creator
of the Kodály Method.
 Zoltán Kodály
• Kodály's first wife was Emma Gruber (the
dedicatee of Ernő Dohnányi's Waltz for piano
with four hands, Op. 3,
• In November 1958, after 48 years of the most
harmonious marriage Kodály's first wife
Emma died. In December 1959,
• Kodály married Sarolta Péczely, his 19-year-
old student at the Franz Liszt Academy of
Music with whom he lived happily until his
death in 1967 at the age of 84 in Budapest.
• In 1966, Kodály toured the United States and
gave a special lecture at Stanford University,
where some of his music was performed in
his presence.
 Zoltán Kodály
• Kodály's first wife was Emma Gruber (the
dedicatee of Ernő Dohnányi's Waltz for piano
with four hands, Op. 3,
• In November 1958, after 48 years of the most
harmonious marriage Kodály's first wife
Emma died. In December 1959,
• Kodály married Sarolta Péczely, his 19-year-
old student at the Franz Liszt Academy of
Music with whom he lived happily until his
death in 1967 at the age of 84 in Budapest.
• In 1966, Kodály toured the United States and
gave a special lecture at Stanford University,
where some of his music was performed in
his presence.
Joseph Joachim
 Joachim József
• Born: 28 June 1831
• Died: 15 August 1907)
• was a Hungarian violinist, conductor,
composer and teacher.
• A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he
is widely regarded as one of the most
significant violinists of the 19th century.
 Joachim József Works
• Violin Concerto No. 2
• Hamlet Overture, op. 4
• Cadenza for the First Movement of Brahms'
Violin Concerto