ERNST VON DOHNANYI (1877 - 1960)
'Hungarian pianist, composer,
conductor, teacher and administrator. Next to Liszt he ranks as the most versatile
Hungarian musician, whose influence reached generations in all
spheres of musical life. He
is considered one of the chief architects of Hungary's
musical culture in the 20th century.' (GROVES'
DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS)
Dohnanyi
was trained, with Bartok, a friend from
childhood, at the Budapest
Academy,
where he studied piano and composition, the latter with Koessler. In 1898 Richter took him to London,
where one performance of a Beethoven Concerto established him
as a world-ranking concert pianist.
By then he had already composed a Piano Quintet which Brahms
liked
sufficiently
to arrange its premiere. In
1899 his first Piano Concerto received the Bosendorfer
Prize and by 1900 he was known in both Europe
and the USA
as the greatest Hungarian pianist and composer after Liszt. Through his interest in chamber music he developed
a special friendship with Joachim, who invited him to teach at
the Hochschule in Berlin,
where he remained as professor for the ten years up to 1918. While in Berlin
he composed some of his best works.
In 1915 Dohnanyi returned
to Budapest
and began to hugely influence his country's musical life, selecting
programmes for his numerous concerts which would raise the public's
musical taste. In 1919-21 he gave about 120 concerts each season
in Budapest
alone. Bartok,
Kodaly and Weiner were championed by
him. From 1916 he taught the piano at the Budapest
Academy
and worked out a reform of that institution, some of which he
was able to effect as director from February to October, 1919. Unfortunately he was ousted by the new quasi-fascist
regime, but stayed in Hungary
to give concerts, create a number of institutions and conduct
the Philharmonic Orchestra. Between
1921 and 1927 he made annual tours of the USA
and was appointed chief conductor of the New York State SO.
In 1928 Dohnanyi returned
to the Budapest
Academy
as head of the piano and composition master classes and subsequently
was appointed musical director of the Hungarian radio and director
of the academy again. From
1939 he valiantly fought growing Nazi influences and eventually
resigned his post at the Academy in protest against the anti-Jewish
legislation. He managed
to keep all Jewish members of his orchestra until two months after
the German occupation, but then disbanded the ensemble. In 1944 he went to Austria,
to escape the continued criticism from both the right and the
left for misdeeds of which he was never guilty, and began to revive
his international career, eventually moving to Argentina
and then Tallahassee,
where from 1949 he was pianist and composer-in-residence at Florida
State
University. Persisting rumours prevented him from re-entering
the world stage, but he continued to play, compose and conduct
and died while making some gramophone records at a time when invitations
from everywhere were beginning to come once again.
Dohnanyi
tried to express the Romantic heritage in frameworks influenced
by 18th century forms. The
music is highly lyrical and lively and shows 'a mastery of form
and instrumentation, fluency, and a rich but utterly
natural sense of harmony.' (GROVES
DICTIONARY OF MUSIC AND MUSICIANS)
SOME WORKS
Piano pieces, sextet
Piano Concerto No. 2
Symphony No. 2
Suite
en Valse
