Dohnányi, Ernö
Period: Early 20th Century
Born: Friday, July 27, 1877 in Pozsony, Hungary
Died: Tuesday, February 9, 1960 in New York, New York (USA)
Nation of Origin: Hungary
Major Works:
Opera:
Tante Simona (1913)
The Tower of Voivod (1922)
The Tenor (1929)
Orchestral:
Symphony in D Minor (1901)
Symphony in E (1944, revised 1956)
Piano Concerto No. 1 (1898)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1947)
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1915)
Violin Concerto No. 2 (1950)
Suite in F-Sharp Minor (1909)
Variations on a Nursery Song for piano and orchestra (1913)
He also wrote piano music and chamber music.
Other Information:
Please note: Dohnányi's birthplace, Pozsony (known in German as Pressburg) is now called Bratislava and is part of Slovakia. After World War I, Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and 60% of its population as the result of the Trianon Treaty of 1920. In a recent article, entitled "Bad Treaty That Won't Go Away," concert pianist Dr. Balint Vazsonyi wrote "Of Hungary's four greatest composers, all born in Hungary of course, only Zoltan Kodaly's birthplace remains [in Hungary]. On today's maps, it appears as if Franz Liszt had been born in Austria,Erno Dohnanyi in Slovakia, and Bela Bartok in Romania. On Bartok's birthday, the Hungarian delegation, wishing to lay a wreath, was turned back at the Romanian border." Many thanks to D.K. Bognar, editor of Hungarians in America, for contributing the valuable information above.
Dohnányi was a composer, pianist, conductor, and educator. He was well regarded in his lifetime and exerted much influence on the musical life of Hungary. He held official positions in Hungary such as Director of Hungarian Radio. Unlike Bartok, Dohnányi was able to navigate the turbulent political waters of World War II Hungary to his own advantage. He left Hungary and moved to the USA in 1949 where he taught piano and composition at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
General Bibliography:
Slonimsky, Nicolas, Music Since 1900, Schirmer Books, July 1994, ISBN: 0028724186
Salzman, Eric, Twentieth Century Music: An Introduction, Pearson, October 2001, ISBN: 0130959413
Slonimsky, Nicolas and Kuhn, Laura; Editors, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Gale Group, December 2000, ISBN: 0028655257
Sadie, Stanley and Tyrrell, John; Editors, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Groves Dictionaries, Inc., January 2004, ISBN: 0195170679
Rutherford-Johnson, Tim, Kennedy, Michael, and Kennedy, Joyce The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford University Press, 6th Edition, 2012, ISBN: 0199578109
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Biographical essay from Wikipedia
