Alexander Albrecht (12 August 1885, Arad,

Hungarian Kingdom The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Godár (2008), p. 45 ''"Som Bratislavčan, hoci som sa narodil v Arade."'' transl.: ''"I'm from

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, though I was born in Arad."'' - 30 August 1958,

) was a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, an important exponent of the Slovak music in the first half of the 20th century.

Biography

His father Ján (Johann) Albrecht was a professor at the gymnasium, and his mother Mária von Vaszary came from an old Hungarian family. Godár (2008), p. 308 From 1895 to 1903 he attended the ''Royal Catholic Gymnasium'' in

, where he met and befriended

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was 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 Hunga ...

. From 1904 to 1908 he studied at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the Liszt Collection, which features several ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He studied composition as a pupil of

Hans Koessler Hans von Koessler (1 January 1853 – 23 May 1926) was a German composer, conductor and music teacher. In Hungary, where he worked for 26 years, he was known as János Koessler. Biography Koessler, a cousin of Max Reger, was born in Waldeck, Fich ...

(a cousin of

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

and a great admirer of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

), and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

with

István Thomán István Thomán (; 4 November 186222 September 1940) was a Hungarian piano virtuoso and music educator. He was a notable piano teacher, with students including Béla Bartók, Ernő Dohnányi, Paul de Marky who later taught Oscar Peterson in Quebe ...

. Among his other teachers were Ferencz Szandtner, with whom he studied conducting, and

David Popper David Popper (June 18, 1843 – August 7, 1913) was a Bohemian cellist and composer. Life Popper was born in Prague, and studied music at the Prague Conservatory. His family was Jewish. He studied the cello under Julius Goltermann (1825–187 ...

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

teacher). During his studies Albrecht asserted himself as a successful pianist. Concurrently he studied also law. Černušák (1963), p. 22 Following his return to Bratislava in 1908, he accepted the post of organist at the St. Martin's Cathedral. Simultaneously he perfected his organ playing technique with Rudolph Dittrich in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He also worked as a teacher at the ''Mestská hudobná škola'' ("City Music School") in Bratislava. In 1918 he married the linguist Margaréta Fischerová. In 1921, after the death of Eugen Kossow, the director of the "City Music School" and bandmaster of the ''Kirchenmusikverein zu St. Martin'', Albrecht took over his place. However, the school was closed in 1945, and in 1952 also the ''Kirchenmusikverein'' ceased to exist. Alexander Albrecht committed suicide on 30 August 1958, shortly after his 73rd birthday.

Style

He began his composing career at the Budapest Academy. His teacher Hans Koessler attempted to instill the classical composing principles in his pupils, but Albrecht found an inspiration also in modern compositions of his contemporaries. He studied works of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

Malipiero Malipiero is a Venetian surname of Bohemian origin, also documented as ''Mastropiero'' or ''Maripiero''. Malipiero can refer to: People * Domenico Malipiero (1428–1515), Venetian naval captain * Felicia Malipiero, Dogaressa of Venice by marri ...

Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, 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 ...

, Reger,

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

and others. Godár (2008), p. 280 He gradually developed his original music language already in his juvenile works, such as ''Andante con moto for organ'', ''Piano Suite'' or the ''String Quartet in D major''. His compositions were also slightly influenced by

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

. In the period from 1925 to 1928 he managed to establish own compositional language, most significantly apparent in the ''Sonatina for Eleven Instruments'' of 1925. Godár (2008), p. 292 Later he focused on application of his new stylistic inventions and ideas. The most valued compositions from this period are the ''Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano'' and the ''Symphony in One Movement''. Godár (2008), p. 294 In his last composing period, Albrecht worked mainly on transcriptions of his older compositions. He was the first representative of a modern Slovak music.Hemingway studio.org

Notes

References

* *

External links

Music Centre Slovakia (Bibliography and list of works included)Albrecht Forum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Albrecht, Alexander Slovak composers Slovak male composers Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers Hungarian organists Male organists Hungarian classical pianists Hungarian male classical pianists 1885 births 1958 deaths 20th-century organists 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Hungarian male musicians 1958 suicides Suicides in Czechoslovakia Slovak male musicians Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni

Biography

Style

Notes

References

Further reading

External links