Petrovics, Emil
Petrovics, Emil
Petrovics, Emil, ungarian composer; b. Zrenja-nin, Yugoslavia, Feb. 9, 1930. He went to Budapest (1941) and studied at the Academy of Music with Sugar (1949–51), Viski (1951–52), and Farkas (1952–57). He was director of the Petöfi Theater (1960–64). He taught at the Academy of Music (from 1969), and served as director of the Hungarian State Opera (1986–90). His opera C’est la guerre (1961) was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1966.
Works
dramatic: Opera: C’est la guerre (Budapest Radio, Aug. 17, 1961; 1st stage perf., Budapest, March 11, 1962); Lysistrate, after Aristophanes (1962; rev. 1971); Bün es bünhödes (Crime and Punishment), after Dostoyevsky (Budapest, Oct. 26, 1969). ballet:Salome (1978). orch.: Flute Concerto (1957); Sym. for Strings (1962); Piano Concerto (1998–99). chamber:Cassazione for Brass (1953); 2 string quartets (1958, 1991); 4 Self-Portraits in Masks for Harpsichord (1958); Wind Quintet (1964); Passacaglia in Blues for Bassoon and Piano (1964; as a ballet, Budapest, 1965); Deux mouvements for 1 or 2 Cimbaloms (1977); Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin (1982) and No. 2 for Viola (1983). vocal: 9 cantatas: No. 1, Alone in the Forest, for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (1956), No. 2, Let Me Die There, for Men’s Chorus and Orch. (1972–73), No. 3, Fanny’s Legacy, for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (1978), No. 4, We All Depart, for Women’s Chorus and Chamber Orch. (1980), No. 6, “We Shall Rest!”, for Soprano, Chorus, and Orch. (1986), No. 7, Pygmalion (1992), No. 8 for Voice and Piano (1995), and No. 9, By the Danube (1998); 2 oratorios: Jonas könyve (The Book of Jonah; 1966) and Ott essem el en (Let Me Die There) for Men’s Chorus and Orch. (1972); choruses.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire