Zsigmond Szathmáry
Encyclopedia
Zsigmond Szathmáry is a Hungarian
organist
, pianist
, composer
, and conductor
.
from 1958 to 1963. He pursued post-graduate instrumental education at first in Vienna with Alois Forer and—after he moved to Germany—from 1964 at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule
with Helmut Walcha
. Parallel to this he participated from 1964 to 1967 in the Cologne Courses for New Music, studying composition with Henri Pousseur
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
, and attended the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik
in 1964 and 1965, studying with György Ligeti
(Wienke 2001).
After sitting his A-exams in church music in 1970, Szathmáry worked at first as Kantor and organist in Hamburg-Wellingsbüttel and from 1976 to 1978 at the Bremen
Cathedral (Wienke 2001). From 1972 he was also active as a lecturer at the conservatories in Lübeck
, Bremen, and Hannover; in 1978 he accepted the position of professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
(Wienke 2001). Besides guest professorships in Tokyo and Seoul, and organ courses (inter. al., as lecturer at the Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem
, the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, as well as at numerous conservatories and universities in Europe, North America, Japan, and Korea), Szathmáry has developed a worldwide career not only as an organist and pianist, but also as a conductor.
His artistic activities have been rewarded with numerous prizes and honors: in 1960 he won first prize in the Budapest Organ Competition, in 1972 he was awarded the Bach-Prize Stipend from the city of Hamburg, in 1973 was inducted into the Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg, and in 1987 received the Franz Liszt Badge of the Hungarian Liszt Memorial Committee (A Magyar Köztársaság Liszt Ferenc Emlékbizottsága) and the Pro Artibus award from the Artisjus Foundation. Since 2009 he has been an honorary member of the Széchenyi
Academy of Letters and Arts (Hungarian Academy of Sciences
). Since 2007 Szathmáry has been titulary organist at St. Peter’s in Cologne.
As a performer, Szathmáry’s repertoire encompasses organ music from the 17th century up to the present. A differentiated articulation and ornamentation practice as well as a discreet agogic and fluent tempos show him to be an historically oriented, but a thoroughly individual interpreter in the shaping of details. Open to musical experiment and technical innovations, in particular within the field of new music, he has earned a considerable reputation: In close co-operation with composers like Péter Eötvös
, Vinko Globokar
, Heinz Holliger
, György Ligeti
, Wolfgang Rihm
, Peter Ruzicka
, Dieter Schnebel
, and Hans Zender
, he has to date performed about 120 premières and enthusiastically advocates avant-garde organ music (amongst others: Luciano Berio
, John Cage
, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati
, Maki Ishii
, Mauricio Kagel
, György Kurtág
, Giacinto Scelsi
).
As a composer Szathmáry pursues an undogmatic pluralism in the application of contemporary compositional procedures, putting a special emphasis on making instrumental tone colors unfamiliar through the use of unusual playing techniques as well as live-electronic and electroacoustic means.
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...
organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, 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...
, and conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
.
Life
Szathmáry studied composition with Ferenc Szabó and organ with Ferenc Gergely at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
from 1958 to 1963. He pursued post-graduate instrumental education at first in Vienna with Alois Forer and—after he moved to Germany—from 1964 at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule
Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts
The Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts is a state Hochschule for Music, Theater and Dance in Frankfurt and is the only one of its kind in the Federal State of Hesse. It was founded in 1938....
with Helmut Walcha
Helmut Walcha
Helmut Walcha was a blind German organist who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German baroque masters and is known for his recordings of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :Born in Leipzig, Walcha was blinded at age 19 after vaccination for smallpox...
. Parallel to this he participated from 1964 to 1967 in the Cologne Courses for New Music, studying composition with Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur
Henri Pousseur was a Belgian composer.-Biography:Pousseur studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 1947 to 1953. He was closely associated with Pierre Froidebise and André Souris...
and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, and attended the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik
Darmstadt New Music Summer School
Initiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt , held annually until 1970 and subsequently every two years, encompass both the teaching of composition and interpretation and include premières of new works...
in 1964 and 1965, studying with György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
(Wienke 2001).
After sitting his A-exams in church music in 1970, Szathmáry worked at first as Kantor and organist in Hamburg-Wellingsbüttel and from 1976 to 1978 at the Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
Cathedral (Wienke 2001). From 1972 he was also active as a lecturer at the conservatories in Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, Bremen, and Hannover; in 1978 he accepted the position of professor of organ at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
Hochschule für Musik Freiburg
The Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Freiburg is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music.-History:The Hochschule was initially founded as a municipal institution in 1946 under the direction of Gustav...
(Wienke 2001). Besides guest professorships in Tokyo and Seoul, and organ courses (inter. al., as lecturer at the Summer Academy for Organists in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, as well as at numerous conservatories and universities in Europe, North America, Japan, and Korea), Szathmáry has developed a worldwide career not only as an organist and pianist, but also as a conductor.
His artistic activities have been rewarded with numerous prizes and honors: in 1960 he won first prize in the Budapest Organ Competition, in 1972 he was awarded the Bach-Prize Stipend from the city of Hamburg, in 1973 was inducted into the Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg, and in 1987 received the Franz Liszt Badge of the Hungarian Liszt Memorial Committee (A Magyar Köztársaság Liszt Ferenc Emlékbizottsága) and the Pro Artibus award from the Artisjus Foundation. Since 2009 he has been an honorary member of the Széchenyi
István Széchenyi
Széchenyi committed suicide by a shot to his head on April 8, 1860. All Hungary mourned his death. The Academy was in official mourning, along with the most prominent persons of the leading political and cultural associations...
Academy of Letters and Arts (Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
The Hungarian Academy of Sciences is the most important and prestigious learned society of Hungary. Its seat is at the bank of the Danube in Budapest.-History:...
). Since 2007 Szathmáry has been titulary organist at St. Peter’s in Cologne.
As a performer, Szathmáry’s repertoire encompasses organ music from the 17th century up to the present. A differentiated articulation and ornamentation practice as well as a discreet agogic and fluent tempos show him to be an historically oriented, but a thoroughly individual interpreter in the shaping of details. Open to musical experiment and technical innovations, in particular within the field of new music, he has earned a considerable reputation: In close co-operation with composers like Péter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
, Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar
Vinko Globokar is a French avant-garde composer and trombonist of Slovene descent.His work is noted for its use of unconventional and extended techniques, closely allying him to contemporaries Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann...
, Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
, György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
, Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm
Wolfgang Rihm is a German composer.Rihm is Head of the Institute of Modern Music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory of Music and has been composer in residence at the Lucerne Festival and the Salzburg Festival...
, Peter Ruzicka
Peter Ruzicka
Peter Ruzicka is a German composer and conductor of classical music.Peter Ruzicka was born in Düsseldorf on July 3, 1948. He received his early musical training at the Hamburg Conservatory. He studied composition with Hans Werner Henze and Hans Otte...
, Dieter Schnebel
Dieter Schnebel
Dieter Schnebel is a composer. From 1976 until his retirement in 1995, Schnebel served as professor of experimental music at the Berlin Hochschule der Künste.-Career:...
, and Hans Zender
Hans Zender
Johannes Wolfgang Zender is a German conductor and composer.-Life:From 1956 to 1959 Zender studied piano, conducting, and composition at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt and at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg.From 1959 to 1963 he was Kapellmeister of the Municipal Theatres in Freiburg im...
, he has to date performed about 120 premières and enthusiastically advocates avant-garde organ music (amongst others: Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
, John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati
Roman Haubenstock-Ramati was a composer and music editor who worked in Kraków, Tel Aviv and Vienna.Haubenstock-Ramati studied composition, music theory, violin and philosophy in Kraków and Lemberg from 1937 to 1940. Among his teachers were Artur Malawski and Józef Koffler. From 1947 to 1950 he was...
, Maki Ishii
Maki Ishii
was a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music, and brother of composer Kan Ishii.-Biography:Born in Tokyo, Ishii studied composition privately and conducting with Watanabe from 1952 to 1958 in Tokyo, then moved to Berlin, where he continued his studies under Boris Blacher and Josef Rufer...
, Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Kagel
Mauricio Kagel was a German-Argentine composer. He was notable for his interest in developing the theatrical side of musical performance .-Biography:...
, György Kurtág
György Kurtág
György Kurtág is a Hungarian composer of contemporary music.- Biography :György Kurtág was born in Lugoj in the Banat region, Romania.In 1946, he began his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where he met his wife, Márta, and also György Ligeti, who became a close friend...
, Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Scelsi , Count of Ayala Valva was an Italian composer who also wrote surrealist poetry in French....
).
As a composer Szathmáry pursues an undogmatic pluralism in the application of contemporary compositional procedures, putting a special emphasis on making instrumental tone colors unfamiliar through the use of unusual playing techniques as well as live-electronic and electroacoustic means.
Vocal Music
- Drei Lieder auf Gedichte von Endre Ady, for voice and piano
- Disperazione (text: Anne Frank, biblical), for soprano, baritone, flute, oboe, horn, trombone, piano, harpsichord, and 3 percussionists (1970)
- Halotti beszéd (Funeral Oration) (anonymous 12th-century Hungarian text), cantata for alto, baritone, mixed choir, and orchestra (2003–2004)
- Missa da pacem—Kyrie, Gloria, for mixed choir
- Ein Psalm, for alto, violin, and organ
Orchestral music
- Five Movements, for organ and chamber orchestra (1963)
- Three Pieces for Orchestra, (2001–2002)
Chamber music
- Alpha, for flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, and piano (1968)
- String Quartet (1970)
- Monolog, for flute and live-electronics (1971)
- Con-tact-versation, for violin and tape (1972)
- Cadenza con ostinati, for violin and organ, or violin and small orchestra (1994)
- Kupferstich, for 4 trombones (1999)
- Discourse, for violin and trombone (2002, rev. 2005)
- Quadriga, for 4 percussions (2007)
- Vibro (Zsongás) for organ (2007)
- Janus for organ (2008)
- Cimbaline for cimbalom and violin (2009)
- Motus animi for clarinet, bass clarinet and bassoon (2009)
- Rhetorica for violin (2010)
Keyboard music
- Drei Klavierstücke, for piano
- Dialogue, for organ (1971)
- Strophen, for organ and tape (1988, rev. 2001),
- Hommage à… B-A-C-H, for large organ (1994)
- Feuertaufe, for organ (2004)
- Moving Colours, for organ (2006)
- Vibro (Murmur), for organ (2007)
Discography as performer (selective)
- Organ Improvisations. Zsigmond Szathmáry: Omaggio a György Ligeti; Michael Vetter: Der Kreis; John Cage: Music for Carillon No. 5; Shinichi Matsushita: Konzentration; Roman Haubenstock-Ramati: Ohne Titel.Wergo CD 60119-50 (1983). Reissued in 1996 under the same catalog number as Music and Graphic: Organ Improvisatons.
- Liszt Organ Music, vol. 1. EMI-German Harmonia Mundi. 2-CD 7 47533 8. (1987)
- J. S. Bach: Orgelwerke. RCA Classics Classical Navigator 74321 29235 2 (1995 [recorded 1978 & 1979])
- György Ligeti Edition 6: Keyboard Works. Sony 62307 (1997)
- György Ligeti: Continuum/Zehn Stücke/Artikulation/Glissandi/Etudes [Etudes for Organ, nos. 1 & 2]. Wergo 60161 (1988)
- Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, trans. organ by Szathmáry. Bis 1168 (2001)
- Hungarian Contemporary Organ Music, works by Hollós, Durkó, Szathmáry [Strophen], Kurtág, Sári, and Láng. Hungaroton 31858 (2000)
- Roland Breitenfeld : Annunciazione, for organ, percussion and live-electronics, after the picture of the same title by Leonardo da Vinci. Zsigmond Szathmáry, organ; Olaf Tzschoppe, percussion). Roland Breitenfeld CD RB14 (2005)
- Helmut Lachenmann: Kontrakadenz; Klangschatten-mein Saitenspiel; Fassade. Peter Roggenkamp, Zsigmond Szathmáry, Gerhard Gregor (piano), SWR Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart; NDR-Sinfonieorchester; SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen. Kairos 0012232 (2006)
- Formen in der Luft – contemporary music for violin and organ (Are Musik, 2007)
- entgrenzt - unbounded – Works for organ and percussion by Schlünz, Bíró, Breitenfeld, Eckert, Pröve (edition zeitklang, 2007)
- Works by Zsigmond Szathmáry – Janus, Three Pieces for Orchestra, Discourse, Funeral Oration, Vibro (Hungaroton Classic, 2009)
Sources
- Wienke, Gerhard. 2001. "Szathmáry, Zsigmond". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers.