Ferenc Erkel

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Ferenc Erkel

Ferenc Erkel [ ˈfɛrɛnʦ ˈɛrkɛl ], also Franz Erkel (born November 7, 1810 in Gyula , Austrian Empire , † June 15, 1893 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary ), was a Hungarian composer . He is the founder of the Hungarian National Opera . The second venue of the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest is called Erkel Színház ( Erkel Theater ).

Life

Musical career

Erkel came from a Danube Swabian family. His father was the cantor teacher Joseph Erkel from Gyula (Deutsch-Jula). Ferenc Erkel was the second of ten children, he was initially taught piano and music theory from his father. From 1822 to 1825 he attended the grammar school of the Benedictine order in Pozsony , his music teacher there was Heinrich Klein , a confidante of Ludwig van Beethoven . From 1828 he worked as a piano teacher for the Count Csáky family in Kolozsvár , and in 1834/35 for Countess Stainlein-Saalenstein in Felsőszemeréd . From 1835 he worked as Kapellmeister in Buda and Pest . From 1838 he worked as a conductor at the Pest Hungarian Theater, where he also founded the Philharmonic Society in 1853 . He performed as a piano virtuoso in Pest and in 1835 gave the Hungarian premiere of Chopin's E minor Concerto . His Duo brillant , played with Henri Vieuxtemps in 1837 , became his first printed composition.

In 1839 he married the pianist Adelheid Adler, sister of Vincent Adler , they had ten children.

A total of nine operas can be traced back to him, mixing the Rossini style with Hungarian folk dance music. Of these, only the Hunyadi László and above all the Bánk bán are performed today . Erkel achieved the most lasting success with the melody of the Hungarian national anthem ( Himnusz ).

Erkel received the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order in 1867 and the Order of the Iron Crown in 1888 .

Chess game

Since the 1840s, together with József Szén (and after his death in 1857 alone for a few years), Erkel was the strongest chess player in Hungary. He was a member of the first Hungarian chess club, the Pest Chess Club , which was officially re-established in 1864. Erkel remained chairman of the association for 28 years until his death.

Because of his music career, he had to turn down the invitation to major international chess tournaments twice (the Paris tournament in 1867 during the world exhibition and one in Baden-Baden in 1870). Kornél Ábrányi once asked Erkel why he was losing so much time moving figures. Erkel replied: "Ha sakkozom, legalább nem kell zenéről, a nem is mindig szellemes zenészekkel társalogni." (When I play chess, I do not need me of music, often with little witty musicians entertained.) His pantomime Sákkjáték (German: Chess game) was premiered in 1853.

Works

Operas

  • Mária Bátori , Hungarian Bátori Mária , (composed and first performed in 1840)
  • László Hunyadi , Hungarian Hunyadi László , (composed 1841–1843, first performed in 1844)
  • Erzsébet (composed in 1857 together with Franz Doppler and Karl Doppler , first performed in 1857)
  • Bánk bán (composed 1851–1860, first performed in 1861)
  • Sarolta (composed 1861–1862, first performed in 1862)
  • György Dózsa , Hungarian Dózsa György , (composed 1864–1866, first performed in 1867)
  • György Brankovics, Hungarian Brankovics György , (composed 1868–1872, first performed in 1874)
  • Névtelen Hősök ( The Nameless Heroes ; composed 1875–1879, first performed in 1880)
  • István király ( King Stephen ; composed 1874–1884, first performed in 1885)

Works for wind orchestra

  • Festival music
  • Hunyadi-induló
  • Himnusz (Hungarian National Anthem )
  • Palotás

literature

Web links

Commons : Ferenc Erkel  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Ferenc Bónis:  Erkel. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 6 (Eames - Franco). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2001, ISBN 3-7618-1116-0 , Sp. 429-435 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  2. ↑ Klein, Heinrich. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1965, p. 380.
  3. ↑ See e.g. B. his well-known game against József Szén, Budapest 1845.
personal data
SURNAME Erkel, Ferenc
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Erkel, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Gyula , County Békés
DATE OF DEATH June 15, 1893
Place of death Budapest