Laki Péter

Some Impressions on the Performance Tradition of the Bartók Violin Concerto
Péter Laki

The recording of the world premiere of Bartok’s Violin Concerto with Zoltan Szekely is an exceptionally valuable document, yet at the same time it is unique: Szekely’s background as an artist (his career as a quartet player in particular) sets him apart from all subsequent interpreters of the concerto. Therefore, younger players have had to develop their own approach to the work, even if this means that their style is sometimes at variance with Szekely’s.

Franz Schmidt (1874-1939) and Dohnányi Ernõ (1877-1960): A Study of Austro-Hungarian Alternatives
Péter Laki

Franz Schmidt and Ernst von Dohnányi were both born in the same city, now the capital of Slovakia, and known variously as Pressburg, Pozsony or Bratislava. Schmidt, who was three-quarters Hungarian, was a lifelong resident of Vienna where he became an important composer, writing in a style largely derived from Mahler and the other great masters in the Austro-German tradition. Dohnányi, who moved to Budapest, and became one of the pillars of musical life in Hungary. Both men were also legendary performers and outstanding educators. Schmidt, who had few direct contacts with Hungary or Hungarian music, indulged his nostalgia in numerous Hungarian references in his works, while Dohnányi is often considered an “internationalist” who incorporated Hungarian elements in his music only occasionally.

Tower Music
Péter Laki

Declared mentally ill, the great German poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) spent the last thirty-six years of his life confined in a tower adjoining the house of his caretaker, where he wrote some exquisitely beautiful poetry. Several contemporary composers were inspired by this poetry, and also by Hölderlin’s earlier works, to express sensibilities that belong entirely to our own era. The article examines Hölderlin-inspired works by Heinz Holliger, Luigi Nono, György Ligeti, and György Kurtág, and discusses how each composer responds to the poetic word according to his own personal style.