Barati, George (real name, György Baráti)

Barati, George (real name, György Baráti), Hungarian-born American cellist, conductor, and composer; b. Gyôr, April 3, 1913. After initial training at the Györ Music School (graduated, 1932), he studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest (graduated, 1935; teacher’s diploma, 1937; artist diploma, 1938); he also was a member of the Budapest Concert Orch. (1933–36) and first cellist of the Budapest Sym. Orch. and Municipal Opera orch. (1936–38). In 1939 he emigrated to the U.S., becoming a naturalized citizen in 1944; he studied composition with Georges Couvreur and Henri Switten at Westminster Choir Coll. in Princeton, N.J. (1938–39), and with Sessions at Princeton Univ. (1939–43). He played cello in the Pro Ideale (later Westminster) String Quartet (1936–39), then taught at Princeton Univ. (1939–43). He also conducted the Princeton Ensemble and Choral Union (1941–43) and the Alexandria (La.) Military Sym. Orch. (1944–46). He was a cellist in the San Francisco Sym. Orch. and the Calif. String Quartet (1946–50); he also was music director of the Barati Chamber Orch. of San Francisco (1948–52). From 1950 to 1968 he was music director of the Honolulu Sym. Orch. and Opera, leaving to become executive director of the Montalvo Center for the Arts and conductor of the Montalvo Chamber Orch. in Saratoga, Calif. (1968–78). From 1971 to 1980 he was music director of the Santa Cruz County Sym. Orch. in Aptos, Calif.; he then was music director of the Barati Ensemble (1989–92). In 1991 the George Barati Archive was opened at the Univ. of Calif, at Santa Cruz Library. In 1959 he received the Naumburg Award, in 1962 the Alice M. Ditson Award, and in 1965–66 a Guggenheim fellowship. As a composer, Barati writes fine music in a modern European tradition. During his stay in Hawaü, he studied native melodic and rhythmic patterns of exotic South Sea islands, and these found reflection in some of his works of the period.

Works

DRAMATIC: opera:Noelani (1968). Ballet: The Love of Don Perlimplin (1947). Incidental Music: Thirty Pieces of Silver for Narrator and Chamber Orch. (1951). Film: The Ugly Duckling (1981; arr. as a suite for Narrator and Chamber Orch. or Band, 1982–83); What Do 2 Rights Make? (1983). ORCH.: Fever Dreams (1938); 2 Symphonic Movements (1941); Lamentoso (1943); Scherzo (1946); Configuration (1947); Chamber Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Strings (1952); Tribute (1952); Cello Concerto (1953; rev. 1957); The Dragon and the Phoenix (1960); Sym. (1963); Polarization (1965); Baroque Quartet Concerto for Flute, Oboe, Harpsichord, Double Bass, and Orch. (1968); Festival Hula (1968); Vaudeville (1968); Piano Concerto (1973); Guitar Concerto (1976; rev. 1982); Branches of Time for 2 Pianos and Orch. (1981); Confluence (1982); Violin Concerto (1986); Serenata Capricciosa for Chamber Orch. (1990); Chant of Darkness (1993); Seachange (1993). CHAMBER: 3 string quartets (1944, 1961, 1991); Woodwind Quintet (1954); Violin Sonata (1956); Quintet for Oboe and Strings (1961); Harpsichord Quartet for Flute, Oboe, Harpsichord, and Double Bass (1964); Octet for Flute, Oboe, Double Bass, Harpsichord, and String Quartet (1966); Lumberjack for Trombone and Piano (1969; rev. 1992); Hawaüan Forests for 7 Instruments (1971; rev. 1989); Trio for Flute, Violin, and Guitar (1976; rev. 1979); Triptych for Flute, Oboe, Viola, and Piano (1983); Woodwind Trio (1984); ...And the Shadows Were Filled With Light for 9 Instruments (1984); Spring Serenade for Flute, Viola, and Cello (1987); Trio Profundo for Viola, Cello, and Contrabass (1988; rev. 1990); Trio for Clarinet, Violin, and Cello (1988); Dialogue for Flute and Piano (1990); Aquinas Suite for 3 Unspecified Instruments (1991); Second Edition,“encore” for String Quartet (1991); Spring Rain for Clarinet and Guitar (1993); piano pieces. OTHER: Vocal music

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire