Jenő Takács (ˈjɛnø ˈtɒkaːtʃ) (September 25, 1902 – November 14, 2005) was an Austrian

Austrians

Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 of Hungarian

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 extraction.

Life and work

Born in Cinfalva, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, he studied at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 with Joseph Marx

Joseph Marx

Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic.-Life and career:Marx pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earning several degrees including a doctorate in 1909. He began composing seriously in 1908 and over the next four...

 in composition and Paul Weingarten

Paul Weingarten

Paul Weingarten. Ph.D. was a Moravia-born pianist and music teacher.He studied Music History at the University of Vienna, where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1910.He studied music at the Vienna Conservatory...

 in piano until 1926 at the University of Vienna with Hans Gál counterpoint and Guido Adler music science. Since 1920, he had already undertaken tours through Germany, Hungary and Yugoslavia. In 1926 he made acquaintance with Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók

Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...

; from which a lively contact arose until Bartók's emigration to the United States in 1940. He was a professor of piano at the conservatory of Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 from 1927 to 1932, where he made Arab and Egyptian Music the subject of his research. He made Dracula

Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...

 with Egon Wellesz

Egon Wellesz

Egon Joseph Wellesz was an Austrian-born British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music.- Life :...

, Curt Sachs

Curt Sachs

Curt Sachs was a German-born but American-domiciled musicologist. He was one of the founders of modern organology , and is probably best remembered today for co-authoring the Sachs-Hornbostel scheme of musical instrument classification with his fellow scholar Erich von Hornbostel.Born in Berlin,...

, Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

.

In the years 1932 to 1934 he was a professor of piano and composition at the University of the Philippines, Conservatory of Music. He gave concerts in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. Due to a new professorship in piano at the conservatory in Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 in 1938, he made his first trip to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 1939, he moved to Sopron

Sopron

In 1910 Sopron had 33,932 inhabitants . Religions: 64.1% Roman Catholic, 27.8% Lutheran, 6.6% Jewish, 1.2% Calvinist, 0.3% other. In 2001 the city had 56,125 inhabitants...

 in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, however the Nazi authorities made his life difficult. In the years 1942 to 1948, he was director of the Conservatory in Pécs

Pécs

Pécs is the fifth largest city of Hungary, located on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the south-west of the country, close to its border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economical centre of Baranya county...

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. In 1943, he married Eva Pasteiner. At that time, he learned from Zoltan Kodaly

Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....

, Ernö Dohnányi

Erno Dohnányi

Ernő Dohnányi was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. He used the German form of his name Ernst von Dohnányi for most of his published compositions....

, Rudolf Maros, Sándor Weöres

Sándor Weöres

Sándor Weöres was a Hungarian poet and author.Born in Szombathely, Weöres was brought up in the nearby village of Csönge. His first poems appeared when he was nineteen, being published in the influential journal Nyugat through the acceptance of its editor, the poet Mihály Babits...

, Fencers Csorba, Zoltan Jékely, József Soproni, Sándor Szokolay

Sándor Szokolay

Sándor Szokolay is a Hungarian composer and a professor of the Liszt Ferenc Academy, Budapest.-Life:Szokolay began his music studies in Békéstarhos. Then he attended the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. His teachers were Ferenc Szabó and Ferenc Farkas. Between 1957 and 1961 he worked at...

, Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud

Darius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...

 and Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

. From 1948 to 1949, he left then the communist-ruled Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and settled down in Grundlsee

Grundlsee

Grundlsee is a municipality in the Liezen district, which counted 1294 inhabitants during the last census . It is located on Lake Grundlsee....

 after stays in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. In the years 1949 to 1952, he conducted concert tours in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and America

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 and was visiting professor at the conservatories of Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 and Lausanne

Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

. In addition, he was professor of piano and composition at the Cincinnati

Cincinnati Conservatory of Music

The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, which is now part of the University of Cincinnati.The...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

.

In 1970, after his retirement in Cincinnati, he moved back to Siegendorf

Siegendorf

Siegendorf is a town in the district of Eisenstadt-Umgebung in Burgenland in Austria.- History :During World War II, a forced labor camp staffed by Hungarian Arrow Cross guards forced Jewish men from northern Transylvania located in Hungarian-occupied Romania, was located in Siegendorf...

, where he remained until his death. On the occasion of his 100th birthday his works were performed in about 200 concerts.

He was a significant composer for Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, having been compared in importance to Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

 and Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

.

He died in Eisenstadt

Eisenstadt

- Politics :The current mayor of Eisenstadt is Andrea Fraunschiel ÖVP.The district council is composed as follows :* ÖVP: 17 seats* SPÖ: 8 seats* Austrian Green Party: 2 seats* FPÖ: 2 seats- Castles and palaces :...

in 2005 at the age of 103.

Awards

Takács received many awards during his long life, including the Great Cross of Burgenland (1962), the Austrian State Prize (1963), the Prize of the Bartók-Pászthory-Foundation
(1990) and the Gold Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna (1993).

Piano or solo piano works

• Humoreske für Klavier op. 1 (1918/28) siehe Werkliste Doblinger
• Sonatine für Klavier op. 2 (1920/23) siehe Werkliste Doblinger
• Sonate für Violine und Klavier op. 6 (1922) siehe Werkliste Doblinger
• Drei Bagatellen "Rhapsodietta" für Klavier op. 10 (datiert 1927)
• Suite Arabe op. 15 für zwei Klaviere (1929)
• Von fremden Ländern und Menschen 20 Stücke für Klavier op. 37
• Konzert für Klavier und Orchester op. 38 (1933/34)
• Napolitana, Tanzszenen für Klavier op. 46 (1942)
• Kleine Sonate für Klavier op. 51 (1943/44)
• Toccata für Klavier op. 54 (1945)
• Toccata und Fuge op. 56 für Klavier für linke Hand
• Knusperhäuschen. Tanzszene für Klavier zu vier Händen und Schlagzeug ad lib. op. 56 (1952)
• Partita für Klavier op. 58 (1954)
• Allerlei für kleine Finger op. 63 (?) 24 leichte Stücke für Klavier
• Für mich/ For me. Kleine Vortragsstücke für Klavier op. 76 (1963)
• Sons et Silences für Klavier op. 78 (1963/64)
• Wenn der Frosch auf Reisen geht, 6 Stücke für Klavier ohne-opus Zahl (1971)
• Klänge und Farben / Sounds and Colours für Klavier op. 95 (1973/74)
• Le Tombeau de Franz Liszt für Klavier op. 100 (1975)
• 4X4 Klavierstücke zu 4 Händen op. 106 (1979/80)
• Von Nah und Fern, 21 leichte Stücke für Klavier op. 111 (1983)
• Neues für Dich für Klavier op. 116 (?)
• Konzertetüde (Toccata Nr. 2) für Klavier op. 120 (1988)
• Drei Minuten für Klavier op. 123 (1997)
• nach JTVAC0Verzeichnis

Musica Biologica

• Dialoge nach Vogelstimmen für Flöte solo ohne opus-Zahl (1981/82)
• Musica Biologica "Vogelstimmen in der Klaviermusik" bearb. für Klavier (1986)

Chamber Music Works

• Trio-Rhapsodie für Violine, Violoncello und Klavier op.11 (datiert 1926)
• Goumbrie für Violine und Klavier op. 20 (1931)
• Kleine Musik für 2 Sopran- und Tenorblockflöte op. 30 (?)
• Rhapsodie (ungarische Weisen) für Violine und Klavier op. 49 (1941)
• Acht kleine Stücke für Violine und Klavier op. 50 (1949/50)
• Divertimento für Flöte oder Violine und Gitarre op. 61 (1954)
• Meditation und Reigen für Gitarre op. 64 (1955/80)
• Sonata Concertante für Violine und Klavier op. 65 (1956)
• Sonata Missoulana für Oboe oder Fagott und Klavier op. 66 (1958)
• Meditation und Reigen für Oboe oder Fagott, Streichorchester und Harfe ad lib. op. 66a (1958)
• Sonata breve für Trompete und Klavier op. 67 (1958)
• Eine kleine Tafelmusik. Divertimento für Bläserquintett op. 74 (1961/1962)
• Dialoge für Violine und Gitarre op. 77 (1963)
• Sonata Capricciosa für Tuba und Klavier op. 81 (1965)
• Essays in Sound für Klarinette und Klavier op. 84 (1967)
• The Songs of Silence, Ballett in einem Bild für Klarinette, Klavier und Schlagwerk op. 85 (1967)
• Homage to Pan. Zwei Stücke für 4 Klarinetten in B op. 87 (1968)
• Two Fantastics für Alt-Saxophon und Klavier op. 88 (1969)
• Fantastic I für Klarinette in A und Klavier (aus: Two Fantastics) op. 88a (1969–1974)
• Späte Gedanken für Violine und Gitarre op. 90 (1969)
• Musica Reservata für Kontrabass und Klavier op. 91 (1969)
• Serenade nach Altgrazer Kontratänzen für Bläserquintett op. 83a (1973)
• Tagebuch-Fragmente für zwei Klaviere und Schlagwerk op. 93 (1972)
• Monolog für Violoncello op. 94 (1973/74)
• Oktett op. 96 (1974/75)
• Klarinetten-Studio. Zwölf Stücke für Klarinette in B und Klavier op. 97 (1976)
• Trompeten-Studio I. 16 Stücke für 2-3 Trompeten in C od. B op. 98 (1976/77)
• Trompeten-Studio II. Zwölf Stücke für Trompete und Klavier op. 99 (1975/76)
• Fünf Bagatellen für zehn Bläser op. 102 (1977)
• Tiberika, 8 Duos für 2 Violinen op. 103 (1977)
• Quodlibet für Kontrafagott oder Fagott und Klavier op. 104 (1978)
• Ganz leichte (und nicht so leichte) Stücke für sopran- oder Altblockflöte (Querflöte) und Gitarre op. 105 (1979)
• Variationen über ein Thema von Paisiello für Flöte und Violine op. 107 (1980)
• Changing Moods / Wechselnde Launen für Flöte, Posaune (Fagott) und Klavier op. 110 (1982/83)
• Drifting Leaves (Verwehte Blätter) für Flöte, Viola, und Gitarre op. 113 (1983)
• Musik für sechs Bläser und Klavier op. 114 (1984)
• Altungarische Hofballmusik für Kontrabass und Klavier op. 115 (1984/85)
• Frühlingsmusik für Flöte (Altblockflöte), Violoncello und Gitarre ohne opus-Zahl (1985)
• Hommage á Henry Purcell für Blechbläserquintett ohne opus-Zahl (1994)
• Vier Konzertstücke für Violine und Klavier ohne opus-Zahl

Orchestral Works

• Suite Philippine für Kammerorchester op. 35 (1935)
• Von fremden Ländern und Menschen op. 37, Suite für Orch. bearb.
• Tarantella für Klavier und Orchester op. 39 (1937)
• Nilusi Legenda (Ägyptische Liebeslegende), Ballett (1938/39)
• Suite altungarischer Tänze für Streicher op. 42 (datiert 1946) das am häufigsten aufgeführte Werk -sein, unser- OPUS MAGNUM
• ANTIQUA HUNGARICA op. 47 (1941)
• Ländliches Barock (Soproni barokk Muzsika), eine Orchestersuite nach einem altungarischen Notenheft op. 48 (1941)
• Rhapsodie (Ungarische Weisen) für Violine und Streichorchester op. 49a (1941)
• Miniatures für Orchester op. 53 (1943/44)
• Partita für Gitarre oder Cembalo und Orchester op. 55 (1949/50)
• Volkstänze aus dem Burgenland für Orchester op. 57 (1952)
• Concerto für Klavier, Streichorchester und Schlagwerk op. 60 (1947)
• Overtura semiseria op. 69 für Orchester (?)
• Passacaglia für Streichorchester op. 73 (1960)
• Eisenstädter Divertimento, Orchestersuite op. 75 (1961/62)
• SERENADE nach Altgrazer Kontratänzen für Orchester op. 83 (1966) arr. auch für Blasorchester, Bläserquintett und vier Klaviere
• Sinfonia breve für Orchester op. 108 (1981)
• Postkartengrüße, 7 Stück für Streichorchester ohne-opus Zahl (1987)
• Pannonische Rhapsodie für großes Orchester op. 109 (1988)
• Suite Purcelliana für Streicher ohne-opus Zahl (?)
• American Rhapsody. Vier Stücke - vier Länder. Vier leichte Stücke für Streichquartett(-orchester) ohne opus-Zahl (1993)
• Jennersdorfer Musik. Acht leichte Stücke für Streich- (Jugend-)orchester ohne-opus Zahl (1993)

Symphonic Works

• Deux mouvements Symphoniques pour Thérémine et Orchestre op. 41 (1938)
• Suite altungarischer Tänze für Streicher op. 42 arr. von Armin Suppan für Blasorchester(-symphonie) (1988)
• Pannonische Rhapsodie für großes Blasorchester arr. von Armin Suppan op. 109 (1988)

Vocal Music

• Fünf Kroatische Bauernlieder aus dem Burgenland für mittlere Stimme und Klavier op. 36 (1934)
• Five Fragments of Jade op. 40
• Hirtenlied aus dem Burgenland / Christmas Song from Austria für gemischten Chor a capella ohne-opus Zahl (1965)
• Essays on the Madrigal op. 70
• Der Sommer zerfiel, Sechs Lieder für mittlere Stimme op. 101 (1977)
• Hymnus für Chor acapella (1978)
• Miss Sona-Tina nach Kinderliedern für Klavier op. 118 (1985)
• Der Kahnfahrer im Mond, eine Bühnenmusik (1944–1985)
• Szelid Domb (Sanfter Hügel), Chöre op. 117 (1985)

Church Choir, Organ and Orchestra Works

• Aus einem altungarischen Notenbüchel (Bearb. für Orgel) (1941)
• Das Lied von der Schöpfung. Kantate für gemischten Chor und Orchester nach einem Gedicht von Sándor Weöres op. 44 (1943/44)
• Toccata Mistica für vierstimmigen Chor und Orgel op. 86 (1968)
• Sechs Metamorphosen für Orgel op. 121 (1989)