Járdányi, Pál

Járdányi, Pál, Hungarian composer, ethnomusi-cologist, and music critic; b. Budapest, Jan. 30, 1920; d. there, July 27, 1966. He studied piano and violin as a child. In 1938 he became a composition student of Kodâly and Siklós at the Budapest Academy of Music (until 1942), and concurrently studied at the Univ. of Budapest (Ph.D., 1943, with the diss. A kidei magyarság világi zenéje; [The Secular Music of the Kide Magyars]; publ, in Kolozsvar, 1943). He was active as a music critic (1943-49) and as a teacher at the Budapest Academy of Music (1946-59); then was a member of the folk music research commission of the Hungarian Academy. He was awarded the Erkel Prize in 1952 and in 1954 received the Kossuth Prize for his Vörösmarty Symphony. His works follow the style of modern Hungarian music, based on national folk songs. He publ, the vol. Magyar népdaltipusok (Budapest, 1961).

Works

ORCH.: Sinfonietta (1940); Divertimento concertante (1942-9); Dance Music (1950); Tisza mentén (Along the Tisza), symphonic poem (1951); Vörösmarty Symphony (1953); Rhapsody from Borsod (1953); Symphonic March (1953); Harp Concerto (1959); Vivente e moriente (1963); Concertino for Violin and String Orch. (1964); Székely rapszódia (1965). CHAMBER: Violin duets (1934-37); 2 string quartets (1947; 1953-54); Flute Sonata (1952); Fantasy and Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song for Wind Quintet (1955); Quartet for 3 Violins and Cello (1958); String Trio (1959). Piano: Rondo (1939); Sonata (1940); Sonata for 2 Pianos (1942); Bulgarian Rhythm for Piano Duet (1956).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire