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At age twelve, Anhalt went to live with his father, who had remarried in 1931. Encouraged by his father's love of music, Anhalt developed a good ear for harmony, and taught himself to play the violin.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.37">Elliott; Smith, p.37</ref> Anhalt learned to speak four languages, Hungarian, German, French, and English.<ref>Gillmor, p.40</ref>
At age twelve, Anhalt went to live with his father, who had remarried in 1931. Encouraged by his father's love of music, Anhalt developed a good ear for harmony, and taught himself to play the violin.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.37">Elliott; Smith, p.37</ref> Anhalt learned to speak four languages, Hungarian, German, French, and English.<ref>Gillmor, p.40</ref>


His father's financial troubles, his half-sister's birth in 1935, and tension between him and his step mother led Anhalt to move again a few years later to stay with his maternal grandparents.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.35">Elliott; Smith, p.35</ref> At about that time, Anhalt overheard László Gyopár, a peer from a neighboring school, play a piece he had composed himself at the piano. Anhalt recognized the influence of [[Bach]] on the piece. He admired Gyopár's compositional achievements, and he began to learn how to write music and compose his own pieces.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.38">Elliott; Smith, p.38</ref> Anhalt and Gyopár became good friends, and soon after, Anhalt began to receive private harmony lessons with Géza Falk. Gyopár was attending the Academy of Music at the time, where Anhalt audited Zoltán Kodály's class from 1936 to 1937 before passing the entrance exam and joining his friend at the academy.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.38"/>
His father's financial troubles, his half-sister's birth in 1935, and tension between him and his step mother led Anhalt to move again a few years later to stay with his maternal grandparents.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.35">Elliott; Smith, p.35</ref> At about that time, Anhalt overheard László Gyopár, a peer from a neighboring school, play a piece he had composed himself at the piano. Anhalt recognized the influence of [[Bach]] on the piece. He admired Gyopár's compositional achievements, and he began to learn how to write music and compose his own pieces.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.38">Elliott; Smith, p.38</ref> Anhalt and Gyopár became good friends, and soon after, Anhalt began to receive private harmony lessons with Géza Falk. Gyopár was attending the Academy of Music at the time, where Anhalt audited [[Zoltán Kodály]]'s class from 1936 to 1937 before passing the entrance exam and joining his friend at the academy.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.38"/>
⚫
He studied piano with [[Zoltán Kodály]] before being drafted into the [[Labour service (Hungary)|forced labour service]] of the Hungarian Army in 1940 during [[Hungary during World War II|World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montrealgazette/obituary.aspx?n=istvan-anhalt&pid=156089164 |title=Ob "ituary: Istvan ANHALT}}</ref>


⚫
Anhalt studied piano with Kodaly at the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music]] until he finished with exceptional marks in all of the subjects, and received his diploma on June 14, 1941. He also continued his studies for the next year and a half by attending classes from Turkish linguistics to Folklore at Pázmány University and attending a seminar by [[János Ferencsik]] for conductors.<ref>Elliott; Smith, p.40</ref>
In the late 1940s, he studied under [[Nadia Boulanger]] and [[Soulima Stravinsky]] before emigrating to Canada in 1949.<ref>{{cite book |title= Istvan Anhalt: pathways and memory |first1=Robin |last1=Elliott |first2=Gordon Ernest |last2=Smith |publisher= McGill University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-7735-2102-X}}</ref>

⚫
Anhalt was drafted into the [[Labour service (Hungary)|forced labour service]] of the Hungarian Army in 1940 during [[Hungary during World War II|World War II]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/montrealgazette/obituary.aspx?n=istvan-anhalt&pid=156089164 |title=Ob "ituary: Istvan ANHALT}}</ref> In the late 1940s, he studied under [[Louis Fourestier]], [[Nadia Boulanger]] and [[Soulima Stravinsky]] before emigrating to Canada in 1949.<ref>{{cite book |title= Istvan Anhalt: pathways and memory |first1=Robin |last1=Elliott |first2=Gordon Ernest |last2=Smith |publisher= McGill University Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-7735-2102-X}}</ref>


He married Beate Frankenberg in 1952, and together they have two daughters, Carol Greaves and Helen Jennifer Marcello. He is also a grandfather to Astrid and Claudia Greaves and Walker Jordan.<ref name="Gazette, C.11">Gazette, C.11</ref>
He married Beate Frankenberg in 1952, and together they have two daughters, Carol Greaves and Helen Jennifer Marcello. He is also a grandfather to Astrid and Claudia Greaves and Walker Jordan.<ref name="Gazette, C.11">Gazette, C.11</ref>
Anhalt met [[George Rochberg]] at an International Conference of Composers at the Stratford Festival in [[Ontario]] during the summer of 1960, and the two became great friends. Rochberg was born in [[New Jersey]], and both come from a [[Jewish]] background.<ref>Sallis, p.472</ref>
Anhalt met [[George Rochberg]] at an International Conference of Composers at the Stratford Festival in [[Ontario]] during the summer of 1960, and the two became great friends. Rochberg was born in [[New Jersey]], and both come from a [[Jewish]] background.<ref>Sallis, p.472</ref>

===Musical education===
⚫
Anhalt studied with Zoltán Kodaly at the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music]] until he finished with exceptional marks in all of the subjects, and received his diploma on June 14, 1941. He also continued his studies for the next year and a half by attending different classes from Turkish linguistics to Folklore at Pázmány University and attending a seminar by [[János Ferencsik]] for conductors.<ref>Elliott; Smith, p.40</ref>

He has studied with [[Louis Fourestier]], [[Soulima Stravinsky]], and [[Nadia Boulanger]] in [[Paris]] during the late 1940s.<ref name="Elliott; Smith, p.17">Elliott; Smith, p.17</ref>


=== 1942: World War II ===
=== 1942: World War II ===

Revision as of 13:01, 8 March 2019

István Anhalt
Born(1919-04-12)April 12, 1919
Budapest, Hungary
DiedFebruary 24, 2012(2012-02-24) (aged 92)
Kingston, Ontario
OccupationComposer
SpouseBeate Frankenberg
AwardsOrder of Canada

István Anhalt, OC FRSC (April 12, 1919 – February 24, 2012)[1] was a Hungarian-Canadian composer.

Anhalt served as a professor of music at McGill University and founded the McGill University Electronic Music Studio.[2] He also served as head of music at Queen's University, Kingston. His works earned him the reputation of one of the founding fathers of electroacoustic music in Canada.[3] Among his pupils are Kevin Austin, John Fodi, Clifford Ford, Hugh Hartwell, John Hawkins, Alan Heard, Richard Hunt, Donald Patriquin, and Alex Tilley.

In 2003, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[3][4] In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Selections from his correspondence with American composer George Rochberg were published in 2007.[5]

Early life and education

István Anhalt was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family on April 12, 1919.[6] He was son of Arnold Anhalt and Katalin Anhalt (née Herzfeld),[7] When he was still an infant, Anhalt's parents separated; he lived with his mother until the age of twelve. Although she had some interest in serious music and opera, his mother was not especially musical, however a piano was present in her home and Anhalt experimented with this. From 1925 to 1929, Anhalt attended elementary school; he began taking piano lessons at the age of six with a teacher who lived in his neighborhood and later from a family friend until Anhalt was twelve years of age.[8] From the age of ten, he attended the Dániel Berzsenyi Secondary school, failing several subjects at first but later excelling and graduating in 1937.[9] He also attended outdoor musical performances on Margaret Island.[8]

At age twelve, Anhalt went to live with his father, who had remarried in 1931. Encouraged by his father's love of music, Anhalt developed a good ear for harmony, and taught himself to play the violin.[8] Anhalt learned to speak four languages, Hungarian, German, French, and English.[10]

His father's financial troubles, his half-sister's birth in 1935, and tension between him and his step mother led Anhalt to move again a few years later to stay with his maternal grandparents.[9] At about that time, Anhalt overheard László Gyopár, a peer from a neighboring school, play a piece he had composed himself at the piano. Anhalt recognized the influence of Bach on the piece. He admired Gyopár's compositional achievements, and he began to learn how to write music and compose his own pieces.[11] Anhalt and Gyopár became good friends, and soon after, Anhalt began to receive private harmony lessons with Géza Falk. Gyopár was attending the Academy of Music at the time, where Anhalt audited Zoltán Kodály's class from 1936 to 1937 before passing the entrance exam and joining his friend at the academy.[11]

Anhalt studied piano with Kodaly at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music until he finished with exceptional marks in all of the subjects, and received his diploma on June 14, 1941. He also continued his studies for the next year and a half by attending classes from Turkish linguistics to Folklore at Pázmány University and attending a seminar by János Ferencsik for conductors.[12]

Anhalt was drafted into the forced labour service of the Hungarian Army in 1940 during World War II.[13] In the late 1940s, he studied under Louis Fourestier, Nadia Boulanger and Soulima Stravinsky before emigrating to Canada in 1949.[14]

He married Beate Frankenberg in 1952, and together they have two daughters, Carol Greaves and Helen Jennifer Marcello. He is also a grandfather to Astrid and Claudia Greaves and Walker Jordan.[15] Anhalt met George Rochberg at an International Conference of Composers at the Stratford Festival in Ontario during the summer of 1960, and the two became great friends. Rochberg was born in New Jersey, and both come from a Jewish background.[16]

1942: World War II

In 1942, during the Second World War, Anhalt and his best friend at the academy were both forced to enter a forced-labour brigade for young Jewish men. Anhalt's friend's life was taken by a soldier in the unit. Reflections of human tragedy and the horror that Anhalt witnessed at the time are still heard within his music.[17]

Anhalt escaped from the brigade, disguised himself as a seminarian, and hid until the war was over.[17] He then took advantage of his newfound freedom and emigrated to Paris, where he had access to exquisite teachers and abundant artistic stimulation.[18]

Emigration to Canada

Anhalt emigrated to Canada in 1949, as a recipient of a Lady Davis Fellowship.[19] Settled in Montreal for twenty two years, he taught at McGill University in the Faculty of Music, where he taught analysis and composition.[15] There, he founded the electronic music studio and established the Theory and Composition Departments, and during that time, he was composing seminal musical works.[19]

Soon after his emigration, Anhalt met Beate Frankenberg, a biochemist, who would later become his wife. Anhalt stated that their wedding was the happiest day of his life.[18]

For his twenty-two years in Montreal, Anhalt devoted his working life towards McGill University. During that time, he established the music composition program for the institution, was chairman for the Theory Department, and developed and directed, the McGill University Electronic Music Studio (EMS).[18] He composed continually during that time as well. His loaded work schedule of administration, composition, and teaching was one he carried with him to Kingston in 1971 when he became the head of Queen's University's Department of Music.[18]

In 1971, he and his family moved to Kingston, Ontario after accepting a job at Queen's University as the head of the Department of Music, where he kept the position until 1981. He continued to teach at the university until 1984 when he retired.[19] During his years at Queen's University, Anhalt continued to build his reputation as an author, composer, administrator, and teacher.[19] He became a mentor for a number of his students, with many keeping in touch with until the final years of his life.[15]

After his retirement, he continued to develop new major compositions, in addition to diverse writings, and scholarly articles.[19]

1971–1981

While Anhalt was employed at Queen's University as Chair of the Music Department, he was still working on original works, with La Tourangelle premiering in July 1975, and soon after he began to work on another piece, which would be his second opera, Winthrop. All the while, he began to work on his monograph Alternative Voices.[20]

Death

Anhalt died at the age of 92, on February 24, 2012, in Kingston, at St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital.[15]

Composer

Anhalt's music

Anhalt is one of the earliest composers to seriously recognize electronic sound and music.[17]

His music underwent changes over the years, and can be divided into four periods. The first period ends in 1958, the second is from 1959 to 1961, the third began in 1962, and the fourth dates since 1971.[21]

With Anhalt's music, we do not have as much evidence regarding his literary tastes when judging the music just by itself. Anhalt has a librettist of his own for all of his dramatic works, beginning in 1969 with Foci, and ending in 1999 with Millennial Mall.[22]

1919–1958

The first period focused on a variety of works for chorus, solo voice, ensembles, and instrumental soloists. This period formed Anhalt's artistic identity, and ended with the finalization of his work Symphony No. 1, which immediately won Anhalt both a national, and an international reputation.[21]

1959–1961

The next brief period in Anhalt's musical career was entirely dedicated to electronic music where he produced four compositions, and fulfilled his wish to have enough first-hand information regarding the newest developments during that time, in order to better understand new media, and to establish fresh and current concepts for his original work.[21]

1962–1971

The period from 1962 to 1971 is a reworking, consolidation, and expansion of Anhalt's experiences during the two previous periods. Anhalt incorporates electronic sounds with the sounds of the chorus or the orchestra in his Symphony of Modules, Foci, and Cento. Anhalt also adopted a more flexible syntax, as well as a larger musical vocabulary to achieve new vocal and instrumental sounds.[21] He began to question the concepts of timbre, time, and densities that have taken up a new meaning to him, and that have provided new dimensions to his work.[23]

1971–2012

From 1971, Anhalt has only produced three works which were all large in effect and scale. There was La Tourangelle, Winthrop, and Alternative Voices.[24]

La Tourangelle

La Tourangelle is an hour-long piece that premiered in 1975, in a performance broadcast by CBC Radio. Anhalt has labeled the work "A Musical Tableau," which was composed for an orchestra of 16 players, five singer-narrators, and pre-recorded tapes for five operators. This particular piece deals with the pursuit of God and meaning, making it a piece with a powerful message.[24] Anhalt chose to base the work on one of the earliest French women to settle in Canada, Marie de l’Incarnation.[25]

Winthrop

Once Anhalt completed La Tourangelle, he felt the need to compose a parallel piece focused on English Canada.[18] The story is based on John Winthrop, a 17th-century Englishman who was the founder and governor of Boston, Massachusetts.[24] It was completed in March 1983, and calls for a mixed choir, six solo singers, an instrumental ensemble that consists of no less than 30 players, and a boys’ choir.[24] Anhalt described it as a "musical pageant" that is not a traditional narrative work for the stage, but more of a subtle exploration into the spiritual and personal aspects of a man, as well as how these supply meaning and significance to his actions.[24]

Alternative Voices

Published in 1984, Alternative Voices is one of his written works that consists of a study of linguistics as a way of acquiring an understanding of the human voices’ potential in a choral compositional, as well as a contemporary vocal, context. Anhalt began his research on Alternative Voices while on his first sabbatical leave from 1976 to 1977,[26] although he had started studies of the reflection of personalty through the voice as early as 1967 in the composition classes he taught.

This work received favourable reviews, and was then a selection of the 1984 outstanding academic books by Choice.[27]

In Alternative Voices, Anhalt makes recurrent references to some Canadian composers, as well as their music. Anhalt's approach with Alternative Voices is suggested by the integration of a number of Canadian composers’ works.[28] The book is categorized as a major work regarding contemporary Western art music where Canadian music is not only simply referred to, but discussed in the context of present-day thought in art, music, and philosophy.[28]

Rhythm, theatre, poetry, performing techniques, sound, speech, and the roots of language and music are explored, their components interconnected, as well as their usage are examined.[24]

The publication of his work Alternative Voices and the finalization of Winthrop, both within the same year that Anhalt retired from university teaching, displays a coincidence in his career.[26] These works are landmarks of Anhalt's commitment to teaching, scholarship, and composition.[26]

Compositions

Stage

  • La Tourangelle. 1975
  • Winthrop. 1986
  • Traces (Tikkun), opera. 1996
  • Millennial Mall (Lady Diotima's Walk), opera. 1999

Orchestra

  • Interludium, small orchestra. 1950
  • Funeral Music, small orchestra. 1951 (Montreal 1954)
  • Symphony, orchestra. 1958 (Montreal 1959), BMIC 1963
  • Symphony of Modules, orchestra, tape. 1967
  • Simulacrum, orchestra. 1987 (Ott 1987)
  • SparkskrapS, orchestra. 1988 (Toronto 1988)
  • Sonance•Resonance (Welche Töne?), orchestra. 1989 (Toronto 1989)
  • Twilight Fire (Baucis' and Philemon's Feast), orchestra. 2001
  • The Tents of Abraham (A Mirage), orchestra. Premiered 2004

Chamber

  • Trio. 1953, RCI 229/RCA CCS-1023/5-ACM 22 (Brandon University Trio)
  • Sonata, violin and piano. 1954, RCI 220/RCA CCS-1014/5-ACM 22 (Bress violin)
  • Foci, soprano, chamber ensemble, tape. 1969, Ber 1972. RCI 357/5-ACM 22 (Mailing)
  • Doors ... Shadows (Glenn Gould In Memory), string quartet. 1992

Piano

  • Arc en ciel, ballet, two pianos. 1951 (Montreal 1952)
  • Sonata. 1951
  • Fantasia. 1954. Ber 1972. Col 32-11-0046 (Gould piano)

Choir

  • The Bell Man (Herrick), choir, 2 bells, organ. 1954 (rev 1980)
  • Three Songs of Love, (de la Mare, anonymous), SSA. 1951
  • Three Songs of Death (Davenant, Herrick), SATB. 1954
  • Cento 'Cantata Urbana' (Grier), 12 speakers (SATB), tape. 1967. BMIC 1968. RCI 357/5-ACM 22 (Tudor Singers of Montreal)

Voice

  • Six Songs from Na Conxy Pan (Sándor Weöres), baritone, piano. 1941-7 (English version 1984)
  • Psalm XIX 'A Benediction' (A.M. Klein), baritone, piano. 1951
  • Journey of the Magi (Eliot), baritone, piano. 1952
  • Comments (Montreal Star clippings), alto, piano trio. 1954
  • Chansons d'aurore (Verdet), soprano, flute, piano. 1955
  • A Wedding Carol (Anhalt), soprano, organ. 1985
  • A Little Wedding Music (Hopkins), soprano, organ. 1984, Ber 1985
  • Thisness, "a duo-drama" (Anhalt), mezzo, piano. 1986 (Vancouver 1986)
  • The Squirrel (E. Barnett), voice, piano. 2002

Writings

  • "The making of Cento," Canada Music Book, 1, Spring-Summer 1970
  • "About Foci," Artscanada, vol 28, April–May 1971
  • "La musique électronique," "L'histoire de Cento," Musiques du Kébèk, ed. Raoul Duguay (Montreal 1971)
  • "Luciano Berio's Sequenza III," Canada Music Book, 7, Autumn-Winter 1973
  • "About one's place and voice," Identities: The Impact of Ethnicity on Canadian Society, ed. Wsevolod W. Isajiw (Toronto 1977)
  • "Winthrop: the work, the theme, the story," Canadian University Music Review, vol 4, 1983
  • Alternative Voices: Essays on Contemporary Vocal and Choral Composition (Toronto 1984)
  • "What tack to take? An autobiographical sketch (life in progress ... )," Queen's Quarterly, vol. 92, Spring 1985
  • "Pst ... pst ... are you listening? Hearing voices from yesterday," Queen's Quarterly, vol. 93, Spring 1986
  • "Music: context, text, counter-text," Contemporary Music Review, vol. 5, no. 1, 1989
  • "Text, context, music," Canadian University Music Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 1989
  • "Thisness: marks and remarks," Musical Canada
  • Oppenheimer (opera), 1990, play only not music
  • Record and book reviews in Canadian Music Journal (1957–61), including a review of Varèse recordings, Winter 1961

Further reading

  • Beckwith, John. 2001. "Anhalt, István". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
  • Gillmor, Alan M. 1995. "Echoes of Time and the River". In Taking a Stand: Essays in Honour of John Beckwith, edited by Timothy J. McGee, 15–44. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-0583-7
  • Robin Elliott and Gordon E. Smith (November 8, 2001). Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 978-0-7735-2102-5.

References

  1. ^ "Istvan Anhalt". Globe and Mail. February 25, 2012.
  2. ^ "Composer Istvan Anhalt dies at 92". CBC News, Feb 27, 2012
  3. ^ a b Governor General of Canada. Order of Canada: Istvan Anhalt, O.C., LL.D, Press Office, Governor General of Canada, 2009-04-30.
  4. ^ Government House. The Order of Canada Archived 2009-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, Government House, Ottawa, Canada, 11 October 2003, Vol. 137, No. 41, October 11, 2003.
  5. ^ István Anhalt and George Rochberg, Eagle Minds: Selected Correspondence of Istvan Anhalt and George Rochberg, 1961–2005, edited by Alan M. Gillmor (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007). ISBN 978-1-55458-018-7.
  6. ^ Elliott; Smith, p.19
  7. ^ International Who's Who in Classical Music. Routledge. May 8, 2009.
  8. ^ a b c Elliott; Smith, p.37
  9. ^ a b Elliott; Smith, p.35
  10. ^ Gillmor, p.40
  11. ^ a b Elliott; Smith, p.38
  12. ^ Elliott; Smith, p.40
  13. ^ "Ob "ituary: Istvan ANHALT".
  14. ^ Elliott, Robin; Smith, Gordon Ernest (2001). Istvan Anhalt: pathways and memory. McGill University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2102-X.
  15. ^ a b c d Gazette, C.11
  16. ^ Sallis, p.472
  17. ^ a b c Gesing, p.18
  18. ^ a b c d e Gesing, p.20
  19. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference Elliott; Smith, p.17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Gillmor, p.38
  21. ^ a b c d Applebaum, p.3
  22. ^ Gillmor, p.33
  23. ^ Applebaum, p.3-4
  24. ^ a b c d e f Applebaum, p.4
  25. ^ Gesing, p.20
  26. ^ a b c Elliott; Smith, p.97
  27. ^ Elliott; Smith, p.100
  28. ^ a b Elliott; Smith, p.103

Sources

External links

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