Jemnitz, Sândor (Alexander)
Jemnitz, Sândor (Alexander)
Jemnitz, Sândor (Alexander), Hungarian conductor, composer, and music critic; b. Budapest, Aug. 9, 1890; d. Balatonföldvά r, Aug. 8, 1963. He studied with Koessler at the Budapest Royal Academy of Music (1906–08), and then briefly with Nikisch (conducting), Reger (composition), Sträube (organ), and Sitt (violin) at the Leipzig Cons. After conducting in various German opera houses (1911–13), he studied with Schoenberg in Berlin. He returned to Budapest (1916) and was music critic of Népszava (1924–50); subsequently taught at the Budapest Cons. (from 1951). He publ. monographs on Mendelssohn (1958), Schumann (1958), Beethoven (1960), Chopin (1960), and Mozart (1961). As a composer, he followed the median line of Middle European modernism of the period between the two world wars, representing a curious compromise between the intricate contrapuntal idiom of Reger and the radical language of atonality modeled after Schoenberg’s early works. He wrote mostly instrumental music.
Works
dramatic: Ballet: Divertimento (1921; Budapest, April 23, 1947). ORCH.: Concerto for Chamber Orch. (1931); Prelude and Fugue (1933); 7 Miniatures (1948); Overture for a Peace Festival (1951); Concerto for Strings (1954); Fantasy (1956). CHAMBER: 3 violin sonatas (1921, 1923, 1925); Cello Sonata (1922); 3 Sonatas for Solo Violin (1922, 1932, 1938); Flute Trio (1924); 2 wind trios (1925); Trumpet Quartet (1925); 2 string trios (1925, 1929); Flute Sonata (1931); Partita for 2 Violins (1932); Guitar Trio (1932); Sonata for Solo Cello (1933); Sonata for Solo Harp (1933); Duet Sonata for Saxophone and Banjo (1934); Sonata for Solo Double Bass (1935); Sonata for Solo Trumpet (1938); Sonata for Solo Flute (1941); Sonata for Solo Viola (1941); String Quartet (1950); 2 suites for Violin and Piano (1952, 1953); Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Clarinet (1958). keyboard: piano: 5 sonatas (1914, 1927, 1929, 1933, 1954); 3 Pieces (1915); 2 sonatinas (1919); 17 Bagatelles (1919); Recueil (1938–45); 8 Pieces (1951). o r g a n: 3 sonatas (1941, 1959, 1959). VOCAL: Songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire