Mihály
Mosonyi (1815-1870)
Mihály
Mosonyi, known for many years under his original name, Michael Brand, was born
in Boldogasszonyfalva, Hungary (now Frauenkirchen, Austria), on 2nd September 1815 and died on 31st October 1870 in Pest. He was the third most
important Hungarian composer of the nineteenth century. He did not enjoy an
international reputation, like Liszt, or a European reputation, like Erkel,
nevertheless he was famous enough in his own country. He studied at the
Teachers' Training College in Pozsony (the modern Bratislava, capital of Slovakia) and for a time had
private lessons from the pianist, composer and conductor Károly Turányi, while
making diligent use of the four volumes of Anton Reicha's work on the art of
composition, as well as of Hummel's valuable instruction-book for the piano. On
the recommendation of Turányi he became music-master to Count Péter Pejacsevich
and accompanied the Count to the latter's castle in the village of Rétfalu, near the town of Eszék (the modern Croatian
Osijek).
From
1835 to 1842 Brand lived at Rétfalu, analysing carefully many important
examples of Viennese classicism, mainly the work of Beethoven, as well as of
the best early German romantic compositions. The results of these researches
were his own compositions from that period. In 1842 he left for the Hungarian
capital, where he remained until the end of his life, except for short periods
spent in the country and abroad. In these new circumstances it was very
important for him to be personally acquainted with as many musicians in the
city as possible, and to find enough students. For a long time his principal
income came from teaching the piano, although he continued to apply himself
diligently to composition.
Essentially
Brand's life and activities may be divided into two periods. The first of these
lasted unti11858. Until then he retained the name of Michael Brand and composed
German romantic music. In 1859 he changed his name to Mihály Mosonyi, after the
county of Moson, where he was born, and
altered his style, to write Hungarian romantic music. During the first period
the best work he wrote was the Piano Concerto in E minor, completed in 1844,
but not performed until 1950. His other compositions from this period were, in
1857, an opera with a German libretto, which remained unperformed, four Masses,
between 1840 and 1842, the first performed in 1844, seven sacred choral works,
between 1843 and 1856, with an Offertory and Gradual conducted by Liszt in the
latter year. Between 1844 and 1857 he wrote four secular choral works, in
1853-54 thirteen songs, with one symphony in 1842-44 and a second in 1856, the
first conducted by Schindelmeisser in 1844, the second by Ferenc Erkel in 1856.
Other compositions include an Overture, completed in 1842 and conducted by
Schindelmeisser in 1843, a string sextet, composed in 1844, six string quartets
between 1842 and 1845, a Grand Nocturne in 1845 for piano, violin and cello, in
1841 a Ballade for violin and piano, and between 1855and 1857 six works for
solo piano, with piano transcriptions and orchestrations of works by foreign
composers.
In
the second period of his creative life, after his change of name and style,
Mosonyi wrote two operas with Hungarian libretti, the first, in 1861, Szép Ilonka
(Pretty Helen), conducted in the year of its completion by Ferenc Erkel, and
the following year Álmos, first performed only in 1934. Other works from this
period include a Massin 1866, several choral works, three cantatas between 1859
and 1870, twelve songs in the decade from 1860, four orchestral compositions,
of which the last, Festival Music, was first conducted by Erkel in 1861 and
again by Liszt in 1865. 1861 also brought the Románc for violin and piano, a
piano transcription of Festival Music, a piano duet Az égö szerelern hármas
szine (Three Colours of Burning Love), thirty-two works for solo piano and many
transcriptions and orchestrations, among them a piano-duet version of Liszt's
Missa solemnis in 1860 and four years later a similar transcription of the nine
symphonies of Beethoven.
The
present recording includes works by Mosonyi and by his famous friend and
compatriot Ferenc (Franz) Liszt, the chosen compositions by the latter closely
connected with Mosonyi personally and musically. The six works by Mosonyi were
written between 1855 and 1860, while the compositions by Liszt come from a
longer period, between 1867 and 1885. This means that the former show a greater
degree of homogeneity.
Liszt's
Hungarian Historical Portraits are important in the final period of his creative
life. The seven pieces are musical portraits of great Hungarian statesmen,
diplomats, poets and musicians of the time. Liszt composed the pieces in pairs,
two politicians, István Széchenyi and Ferenc Deák, two diplomats, Lászlo Teleki
and József Eötvös, two poets, Mihály Vörösmarty and Sándor Petöfi, and finally
Mihály Mosonyi, whose partner is Liszt himself. Some of these, notably the
portraits of Teleki, Eötvös and Mosonyi, have a close connection with other
works included in this recording.
Mosonyi's
Drey Klavierstücke (Three Piano Pieces) were possibly written as a
wedding-present in 1855 for Helene Mirosavlevits, perhaps a student of his. The
second and third of these suggest part of the wedding ceremony. The first,
Prayer after Danger Endured, is built from two different musical elements and
their variations. The other two pieces, Making the Bridal Garland and The Bride's
Farewell to the House of Her Parents have an air of retrospection.
Zwey
Perlen (Two Pearls), written in 1856 were inspired by Clara Schumann. During
the second half of February 1856 she gave three recitals at the Hotel Europa in
Pest, with compositions of
Chopin, Mendelssohn and Schumann. After her last recital Brand-Mosonyi
presented her with a large bouquet, within it a smaller laurel wreath dedicated
to the genius and musical spirit of Robert Schumann. Clara Schumann at first
wanted to refuse the presentation, but was finally persuaded to do so by the
enthusiastic audience, with tears in her eyes. Her husband was at the time very
near to his death in the asylum at Endenich. Mosonyi was inspired by that
evening to write his Two Pearls, the first representing the flowers and the
second the tears of Clara Schumann. These two pieces can be seen as a
reflection of the love-story of the Schumanns, confession of love and tragic
parting, the first like a solo aria, followed by a duet. In the second Mosonyi
perhaps remembered also his own wife.
The
improvisatory fantasy of Pusztai élet (Puzsta Life) was written in 1857, the
first of Mosonyi's works to use only Hungarian elements. As the composition was
first published as part of a cultural collection dedicated to Queen Elisabeth,
it includes fragments of the official Habsburg anthem, Gott erhalte.
Hódolat
Kazinczy Ferenc szellemének (Homage to the Spirit of Ferenc Kazinczy), written
in 1859, pays tribute to the distinguished Hungarian writer of that name
(1759-1831), an important figure in the nationalist movement to purify the
language. Mosonyi wrote his Homage for the centenary of the birth of Kazinczy,
whose personality and life are reflected in the music, a Hungarian Lamento e
Trionfo for a man once a political prisoner of the Habsburgs. Mosonyi also
orchestrated the work, using the Hungarian cimbalom for the first time in a symphony
orchestra. The orchestral version includes two cadenzas for the instrument. The
middle section refers to the recruiting-dance style of Liszt's symphonic poem
Hungaria.
Magyar
zeneköltemeny (Hungarian Musical Poem), composed in 1860, is dedicated to the
wife of József Eötvös (1813-1871), writer and statesman, and at one time
Secretary for Culture. The notation of the piece has a special characteristic
feature, for here Mosonyi indicates the changes of tempo graphically in a way
that is never found again until the twentieth century. His aim was to assist
non-Hungarian performers in their understanding of the music. The attempt to
show the exact tempo anticipates modern techniques and suggests clearly
constant changes of character and tension throughout the work.
Gyász
hangok Széchenyi István halálára (Funeral Music for István Széchenyi), written
in 1860, honours the Hungarian statesman Count Széchenyi (1791-1860), who dedicated
his life to establishing a strong economy in an independent Hungary. Mosonyi's composition
opens with a bitter cry, a full diminished chord, followed by a procession
towards the key of sorrow and death, C minor. A unison bass melody leads to a
basso ostinato that will serve as one of the basic elements in Liszt's Teleki
in the Hungarian Historical Portraits. Lászlo Teleki was a politician of
importance in the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848-1849 and like Széchenyi
finally took his own life. Both Mosonyi and Liszt use Baroque-type rhythmic
variations of the bell-like ostinato. After a short middle section in B major
with elements of the verbunkos (recruiting-dance), the funeral procession
continues with the accompaniment of church bells. The recapitulation starts
with the bitter cry of the opening, leading to the chord of C minor. The melody
that follows, originally given to the bass, is accompanied by poignant chords.
The life of the great man is remembered, as by a choir of angels, in a gentle G
major, again with verbunkos elements. The whole composition ends in a plagal cadence,
expressing the pain of the nation at the loss of a great son.
These
six compositions of Mosonyi are followed by music written by Liszt under the
inspiration of Mosonyi. Trauerspiel und Trauermarsch (Funeral Prelude and
Funeral March), composed in 1885, form a pair of movements written after the
completion of Teleki in the Hungarian Historical Portraits. The second of
these, the Funeral March, is a slight variation of the original piece for
Teleki and both are based on a continuing basso ostinato. That of the Prelude
is in the form of a special seven-note scale, using semitones and whole tones
but bearing no resemblance to conventional scales of contemporary romantic or
earlier styles. Above this bass melody chords increase in texture to create a great
crescendo, followed by the disappearance of the ostinato. The ostinato of the
March resembles church bells, as in the Funeral Music for Széchenyi by Mosonyi.
The portrait of Teleki is extended by the addition of a short introduction, a
link, as it were with the Prelude The main melancholy theme is delayed by a
short interlude and the final angelic chorus is extended. Tension is increased
in the first part of the March through rhythmic variation, with new voices
added in a thickening of texture, and through the shortening of repeated
sequential formal elements. At the return of the ostinato the basic character
of the piece changes and instead of church bells we hear the relentless tread
of Death. Through a variation of the ostinato melody the music returns to the
first note, C sharp, of the Prelude.
Liszt
wrote his Fantaisie sur I'opera hongrojse ¡§Szép Ilonka¡¨ de Mosonyi (Fantasy on
Mosonyi's Hungarian Opera Szép Ilonka) in 1867. The relationship between the
two composers was important, dating from 1856, and is fu1ly expressed in their
music and their letters. The relationship began when Liszt asked Mosonyi to
compose two interludes, a Gradual and Offertory, for the Missa solemnis. In
Pest Liszt conducted the whole Mass. Four years later Mosonyi wrote a very fine piano duet
transcription of the Mass. Whenever Liszt conducted in the Hungarian capital,
as he did in 1856, 1858, 1865 and 1870, Mosonyi joined the orchestra as a
double-bass player. In return Liszt invited him to Weimar in 1857 and composed a
fantasy on Mosonyi's opera Szép Ilonka (Pretty Helen).
On
Mosonyi's death in 1870 Liszt wrote a memorial piano composition, Mosonyj gyászmenete
(Mosonyi's Funeral Procession). Some years later this served as the final
movement of the Hungarian Historical Portraits, under the title Michael Mosonyi.
The only difference is to be found in the short chorale-like coda. In the
Portraits Liszt repeated a few elements to create a stronger conclusion to the
whole set. The starting material is again the sound of church bells, the sound
of funeral bells. Here many of the later characteristics of Liszt's music are
apparent. In formal structures he liked to use sequentially repeated variations
of a basic element. His famous Hungarian minor scale, a minor scale with two
augmented intervals, can be heard clearly, as the procession makes its way to
the church. Mosonyi is sadly remembered in four formal sections. The soft but
bitter sound evoked by the bells expresses silent lamentation, impressionistic
elements provide a portrait of the man and finally, after a great outburst of
sorrow, Liszt, through a chorale, reaches Heaven again, silently accepting the
will of God with hope in love and faith.
István
Kassai
István
Kassai was born in Budapest in 1959 and was
admitted to the Bartók Conservatory at the age of ten. In 1972 he was first
prize-winner in the Czechoslovakian International Youth Piano Competition. He
then went on to study under Pál Kadosa at the Ferenc Liszt Academy and won first prize in the Hungarian
Broadcasting Company's Piano Competition. In 1982 Kassai was granted his
diploma by the Academy later going on to win first prize in the Debussy
International Piano Competition. Having won a scholarship to study at the
European Conservatory of Music in Paris he gained a master diploma with the
highest distinction in 1984. Since 1987 he has been one of the pianists of the
Cziffra Foundation.