Henrik Rohmann (4 August 1910,
Bátaapáti
Bátaapáti is a village in Tolna County, Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the e ...
– 13 October 1978,
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 ...
) was a Hungarian
harpist
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual string (music), strings running at an angle to its sound board (music), soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing ...
and harp teacher.
Biography
He was born in Bátaapáti, in
Tolna County
Tolna (, ; ) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or vármegye) in present-day Hungary as it was in the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in central Hungary, on the west bank of the river Danube. It shares borde ...
, which was mainly inhabited by
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
. This may have influenced his choice of musical instruments, as the harp was very popular among the German people in his community. Many wandering harpists lived in the counties south of
Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton () is a freshwater rift lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the larges ...
.
Between 1926 and 1934, Rohmann studied at the
Academy of Music in Budapest as a student of Otto Mosshammer. In 1938, he was a scholar at the
Hungarian Opera House. After the war, in 1945, he became a professional musician with the Opera House, where he remained as its harpist until his retirement in 1971.
From 1948, he was a harp teacher at the
Béla Bartók Music Institute in Budapest. He had many disciples who later became famous; for example, Erzsébet Gaál, Andrea Kocsis, Anna Lelkes, Éva Maros, Andrea Vigh and
Aristid von Würtzler.
Rohmann was also involved in the international music scene. Würtzler invited him to the USA repeatedly, where he gave master classes at the
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. It enrolled approximately 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students as ...
in 1964 and 1969. There, he met the French professor,
Pierre Jamet, founder of the first
World Harp Congress
The World Harp Congress is a private nonprofit organization founded in 1981 as an outgrowth of the International Harp Weeks held in The Netherlands for twenty years under the leadership of Phia Berghout and Maria Korchinska.
The organization h ...
. He attended several international harp competitions as a member of the jury. He was a friend of Jakob Müller, the Russian violinist, with whom he toured in 1958. Also in 1958, he gave a concert with contrabassist Zoltán Tibay, which was recorded for television in Paris.
In 1965, Rohmann performed at the Hungarian premiere of
Ernő Dohnányi’s 'Harp competition', conducted by Pál Varga. He played this composition again with the
Saint Stephen Symphony Orchestra at the Academy of Music on 10 November 1975. In 1962, as a member of the Hungarian quintet with János Szebenyi, Zoltán Dőry, József Iványi and Eszter Isépy, he presented
László Lajtha
László Lajtha (; 30 June 1892 – 16 February 1963) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and conductor.
Career
Lajtha was born to Ida Wiesel, a Transylvanian-Hungarian and Pál Lajtha, an owner of a leather factory. His father had am ...
's composition, which was written for flute, violin, viola, cello and harp and marked II. Quintet, Op. 46.
Memory
Harold Schiffman, an American composer and former pupil of Dohnányi, dedicated his composition called 'Suite for Two Harps' to Henrik Rohmann. This piece was composed in 2005, at the request of the Hungarian Harp Duo (Adél Bélyei and Mária Gogolyák). The parts of the eight-minute piece are: 1. Moto Perpetuo, 2. Dialogue, 3. Scherzino, 4. Canonic Intermezzo, 5. Toccata. In 2006, Schiffman prepared a transcript for Imre Rohmann and Tünde Kurucz, titled 'Suite for Two Pianos'.
Bibliography
* ''Rohmann Henrik:'' The Harp. In: Parlando: Music Pedagogic Journal, ISSN 0133-2767, 1973 (vol. 15) no. 2, pp. 16–18.
* ''Előd Juhász - István Kaposi Kis:'' Beszélő hárfa. Aristid von Würtzler. Idegenforgalmi Propaganda és Kiadó Vállalat, Budapest, 1990.
External links
Hungarian Biographical Lexicon 1000-1990Harold Schiffman's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohmann, Henrik
Hungarian-German people
Hungarian harpists
1910 births
1978 deaths