György Geszler

György Geszler [ ˈɟørɟ ˈɡɛslɛr ] (born February 1, 1913 in Budapest ; † January 9, 1998 there ) was a Hungarian pianist and composer .

Life

Family and youth

His father, Ödön Geszler (May 4, 1879 - December 25, 1959 in Budapest) was a composer, music critic, music teacher and director of the Budapest Higher Music School. His mother, Margit von Tessényi (August 31, 1879 - January 29, 1957 in Budapest) was a pianist and piano teacher who performed throughout Europe. At the age of 19, she had already graduated from the Budapest Conservatory in piano and composition and then studied with Ferruccio Busoni in Weimar and José Vianna da Motta in Berlin.

Geszler got his first piano lessons from his mother. At the Franz Liszt Music Academy he studied piano as well as composition. In 1937 he completed his training with excellent results. He then got a job as a music teacher at the Budapest Higher Music School, where his father was director.

Years of success

Even as a student at the National Conservatory, György Geszler pursued a lively concert career. He had developed into a virtuoso pianist and was considered the second Franz Liszt in Budapest expert circles . One of the highlights of his short career as a concert pianist was certainly the invitation to take part in the commemorative concert on the 50th anniversary of Franz Liszt's death. At this event on February 18, 1936, Béla Bartók appeared with a Liszt work.

On January 13, 1938, a composition evening with works by Geszler took place in the Great Hall of the Music Academy, in which mainly orchestral works were performed. Among other things, the St. George Overture, the Piano Concerto in D major and the Petőfi Suite were played.

In 1940 Geszler received the Franz Joseph Prize for his work. In addition to his Liszt interpretations, the young artist had also made a name for himself in public with his compositions. For example, composition evenings with his works took place regularly at the music academy and other venues, and some of his pieces were heard on the radio. At a concert with piano works by Geszler in the great hall of the Music Academy on April 2, 1941, the German-language newspaper Pester Lloyd wrote on Friday, April 4: “Geszler's original compositions are clearly structured, formally balanced, they reveal a cultivated talent as well Taste and solid skill ... "

In an accident in 1941, Geszler suffered a complicated broken thumb, after which the mobility of the fingers could not be fully restored. This meant an early end to his pianist career. What remained was teaching (piano, harmony) and composing. In addition to virtuoso piano pieces, he wrote for other solo instruments and chamber music, but also orchestral works.

New times

With the end of the Second World War and the takeover of power by the Communists in Hungary, a new era began in Geszler's homeland. As he was a staunch anti-communist, he lost his position at the conservatory and from 1948 taught music at various elementary schools. Despite all the changes in Geszler's life - he was now the father of four daughters - he continued to write new works, such as the 24 preludes and fugues for piano. Geszler has found his own personal style in these.

On the occasion of a visit to Vienna , two composition evenings were organized there in 1957, followed by another concert tour to this city in 1976. Some of his Vasarely-inspired works for two pianos and percussion were performed with the piano duo Ditta Pásztory-Bartók and Mária Comensoli as well as two percussionists.

At the beginning of the 1970s György Geszler got to know the so-called Op Art of the French-Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely . A first impression left by the motifs and, above all, the artistic techniques of some of his works, laid the foundation for the growing fascination that the composer felt with his pictures. In September 1980 Geszler had the opportunity to travel to Paris and meet, as the composer called him, the decorative artist Victor Vasarely in person. Geszler's approach to the composition of his Vasarely-inspired works reflects, according to his own statement, the image structures, the combination of the individual elements and the design features of the graphic artist.

Late recognition

Due to his apolitical attitude, Geszler was not allowed to take part in public musical life in his home country until the turn of the year 1989/1990. It was not until 1998, the year he died, that he received the Leo Weiner Prize. This gesture of handing over an award to the seriously ill composer just a few weeks before his death could be understood as an attempt at late political rehabilitation.

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• Approval work by Maria Eberle, Munich, 2006

Footnotes

1. ^ György Geszler (1913–1998). In: Klassika.info. Retrieved February 12, 2018 . Geszler, György. Universal Music Publishing Classical, accessed February 12, 2018 .