Takács, Jenõ

Takács, Jenõ, Hungarian pianist, ethnomusicolo-gist, teacher, and composer; b. Siegendorf, Sept. 25, 1902. He studied composition with Marx and Gal at the Vienna Cons. He taught at the Cairo Cons. (1927-32) and at the Univ. of the Philippines (1932-34), and pursued ethnological research in the Philippines before again teaching in Cairo (1934-36). From 1940 to 1942 he taught at the Music School at Szombathely. He then was director of the Pecs Cons. (1942-48). After teaching piano at the Univ. of Cincinnati Coll.-Cons. of Music (1952-71), he retired to his birthplace. In 1962 he was awarded the Austrian State Prize. Reflecting his background of travel and residence in many different countries, his music contains elements of Hungarian, oriental, American, and cosmopolitan idioms.

Works

dramatic: Ballet: Nile Legend (1937-39; Budapest, May 8, 1940); Narcissus (1939); The Songs of Silence (1967). ORCH.: 2 piano concertos (1932, 1937); Philippine Suite (1934); Tarantella for Piano and Orch. (1937); Antiqua Hungarica (1941); Partita for Guitar and Orch. (1950). CHAMBER: Gum-bri, oriental rhapsody for Violin and Piano (1930); Trombone Sonata (1957); Wind Quintet (1961-62); Homage to Pan for 4 Pianos (1968); Essays in Sound for Clarinet (1968); 2 Fantastics for Alto Saxophone and Piano (1969); Musica reservata for Double Bass and Piano (1969); Tagebuch-Fragmente for 2 Pianos (1973); Octet (1974-75).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire