Rajter, L’udovít

Rajter, L’udovít , Slovak conductor and composer; b. Pezinok, July 30, 1906. He went to Bratislava and studied with Alexander Albrecht at the Municipal Music School (1915–20) and received training in theory, piano, and cello at the Academy of Music and Drama (1920–24). After studying composition with Franz Schmidt and Joseph Marx, and conducting with Clemens Krauss and Alexander Wunderer at the Vienna Academy of Music (1924–29), he attended the master course in composition of Ernst von Dohnányi at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest (1930–32). From 1933 to 1945 he held the position of first conductor with the Hungarian Radio in Budapest, and he also taught at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1938 to 1945. He then returned to Bratislava, where he was principal conductor of the Czechoslovak Radio Sym. Orch. from 1945 to 1956. In 1949 he co-founded the Slovak Phil., which he served as first conductor (until 1951; again 1961–76) and as artistic director (1951–61). He also taught at the Academy of Music and Drama from 1949 to 1976. In 1968–69 he was principal conductor of the Basel Radio Sym. Orch. From 1968 to 1977 he served as principal conductor of the Czechoslovak Radio Sym. Orch. He was made a prof. at the Academy of Music and Drama in 1991, the same year that he was named honorary principal conductor for life of the Savaria Sym. Orch.

Works

DRAMATIC: May Feast, ballet suite (1938); incidental music for radio. ORCH .: Divertimento (1931–32); Symphonic Suite (1932–33); 3 Slovak Dances (1950); Songs and Dances from Slovenský Grob (1963); Student Suite (1976); Allegro sinfonico (1986); Sinfonietta (1993); Impressioni rapsodiche (1995). CHAMBERS string quartets (1929, 1943); 2 wind quintets (1931; 1985–86); Double Bass Sonata (1962–63); 2 suites for Cello (1977–78; 1985); Serenata da caccia for 5 Horns (1978); Quattro invenzioni for Oboe, Clarinet, and Horn (1985); Dialoghi for 2 Flutes (1987); Suite for Violin (1988); Partita for 8 Cellos (1994); Musica alternativa for 8 Cellos (1994); Variations for 8 Cellos (1995); Fantasy on Two Themes by Eugène d’Albert for Cello (1995); Fantasy for Cello (1995). Organ: Preludio: In memoriam Franz Schmidt (1965). VOCAL: Several songs (1923–42); Mass for Children’s Chorus and Organ (1931); lustorum animae for Chorus (1990); In memoriam for Small Chorus and Strings or Organ or Piano (1991).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire