Erwin Lendvai (4 June 1882 – 21 March 1949) was a
Hungarian composer and choral conductor. He was an uncle of the composer
Kamilló Lendvay.
Lendvai was born in
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 graduated from the
National Music Academy of Budapest, studying with
Hans von 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, Fic ...
. He also studied with
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
.
From 1906 on, he lived in Germany, where he began his teaching career. From 1913 to 1914, he taught at the ''J.-Dalcroze Institute'' in
Hellerau
Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stadtteil)'' in the city of Dresden, Germany, slightly south of Dresden Airport. It was the first garden city in Germany. The northern section of Hellerau absorbed the village of Klotzsche, where some 18th cent ...
, near
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, where he married the photographer
Erna Dircksen. From 1914 to 1920, he taught composition at the
Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory
The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory () was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades (until 1960) was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed from the existing schools of music of Xaver ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and in 1923 choral singing at the ''Volksmusikschule'' in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.
He was also director of a musical society in
Koblenz
Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
and director of the popular choir of
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. In 1929, he premiered
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...
's choral work ''Glück'' Op. 35, No. 4.
In 1933, he emigrated from Germany due to the Nazi regime and after that worked as a music teacher in
Kenninghall
Kenninghall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Kenninghall is located north-west of Diss and south-west of Norwich.
History
Kenninghall's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the ...
, England. After the war, he headed the Györ Conservatory of Music. He became interested in
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 ...
's music there. He died in
Epsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, UK.
Lendvai wrote one opera, ''Elga'' (1916, to a libretto by
Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...
), the festival music ''Völkerfreiheit'' (1930), a symphony, ''Archaic dances'', Scherzo for orchestra, 3 Pieces for organ Op. 4, chamber music, choral works and songs. Lendvai's choral music influenced many other choral composers.
References
Sources
Erwin Lendvai ''Dictionnaire de la musique'', ''
Grand Larousse encyclopédique
The ''Grand Larousse encyclopédique en dix volumes'' ("Big Larousse encyclopedia in ten volumes") is a French encyclopedic dictionary published by Larousse between February 1960 and August 1964, with two later supplements that update the conte ...
''
GermanWikipedia article
ItalianWikipedia article
Further reading
*
Hugo Leichtentritt
Hugo Leichtentritt (1 January 1874, Pleschen, , nearby Posen, Province of Posen13 November 1951, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a German-Jewish musicologist and composer who spent much of his life in the USA. His pupils include composers Leroy R ...
, ''E. Lendvai''. Berlin 1912.
*
Gesine Schröder
Gesine Catharina Magdalene Schröder (born 1957) is a German musicologist and music theorist. She taught music theory at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig from 1992 and has taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna sinc ...
, ''Zum Streit der Männerchöre in den Zwanziger Jahren: Eine Erinnerung an Erwin Lendvai'', in: 4. Tagung AIM Gender in Stuttgart-Hohenheim, 2.-4.2.2006
PDF.
* Gesine Schröder
''The Decline of Men's Choir in 20th Century Germany: An Homage to Erwin Lendvai'' 2010/2013.
External links
*
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', February 21, 1913.
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110726065847/http://www.di-arezzo.co.uk/scores-of-Erwin+Lendvai-for-chor+music.html?app=40 Listing of some of Lendvai's choral works
20th-century Hungarian classical composers
Hungarian male classical composers
Hungarian male conductors (music)
Hungarian choral conductors
Hungarian emigrants to Germany
Hungarian emigrants to England
Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Hungarian refugees
Composers from Budapest
1882 births
1949 deaths
20th-century Hungarian conductors (music)
20th-century Hungarian male musicians
{{Hungary-composer-stub