Scan 111
The New Grove Dictionary Of Music And Musicians 5 Ed. 2nd, 1904
52 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1his first biographer Count István Fáy, Csermák went to Hungary from Bohemia (by way of Vienna) in the 1790s. In 1795–6 he was leader of the first Hungarian national theatre company orchestra in Pest and Buda, and in 1795 he set up a 'musical academy' in the theatre. At this point he was not yet involved with Hungarian music, but gave much admired virtuoso performances of the violin music of Haydn, Mozart and Viotti. In 1802 or 1803, when Csermák was playing chamber music at Godolló, the home of Prince Antal Grassalkovich, he met the gypsy violinist and composer Bihari. Influenced by Bihari's playing, and by his and János Lavotta's verbunkos compositions, Csermák was drawn to the new Hungarian national music. In 1804 he published his first compositions in the Hungarian style, the Romances hongraises and the string trio Magyar nemzeti tánzok. From then he was a famous composer and interpreter of verbunkos music, but since he held no permanent post he led a nomadic life, moving from one country estate to another. Fáy and Liszt both recorded that he appeared at the imperial court in Vienna, and that he also visited Russia. In 1809, inspired by the final revolt of the Hungarian nobility against Napoleon, he composed his first string quartet, a programmatic suite in the national style but also greatly influenced by Mozart. The last years of Csermák's life were filled with restless wanderings. The recollections of his contemporaries, as well as his own manuscripts dating from this period, testify to his increasing mental illness. In 1822 he was living in Veszprém, where he handed over the manuscripts of his many dance compositions to the cathedral Kapellmeister József Ruzitska, who was later to edit the great edition of verbunkos music Magyar nóták Veszprém varmegyéből ('Hungarian tunes from County Veszprém'). He died in poverty and isolation.
3Of the virtuoso violinist-composers who epitomize the golden age of verbunkos music, Csermák was intellectually the most sophisticated. His chamber music shows a high degree of theoretical understanding, combined with a thorough knowledge of the Viennese Classical style and an imaginative approach to harmony. In his chamber works he was a pioneer of a specifically Hungarian tradition in art music, which would combine certain aspects of the Viennese classics with those of the verbunkos. He was also strongly influenced by Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian folk music, and revealed in Hungarian music a potential which was fully realized only in the 20th century. Some of Csermák's musical ideas were exploited by Liszt (Hungarian Rhapsody no.4) and Erkel (Duo brillant). His contemporaries, with typical Romantic overstatement, dubbed him 'the Hungarian Beethoven', praising him as a skilled composer and instrumentalist who expressed a certain patriotic spirit, and thereby contributed to the awakening of a national consciousness among his fellow countrymen
5WORKS
6(MSS of unpublished works in H-Ba, Bn)
8CHAMBER MUSIC
9For vn Az intézet[tt] veszedelem vagy Haza szeretete [Threatening danger, or Love of the Fatherland], str qt, 1809, ed I Bónis (Vienna, 1963), also arr vn, pf, 1809, 6 rondeaux hongraises nouveaux & trio, str qt, 1809, Ungarische Werbungs Tänze, 2 vn, vc (Vienna, 1810), 8 neue ungarische Verbungs, Trios und sogenanten Figuren, vn, va, 1815 16, Neuer deutscher Tantz. vn, va, 1816. Nuj Markjaronks-Ismrtani Istricars and Vjesko, both for str qt, 1820, 3 ungarische Musik Stücke, vn, 1821, Verbung, vn. Variations hongroises, vn, va, Magyar nemzeti tánzok, 2 vn, vc (1804), Magyar terzetto, 2 vn, vc.
11Ein neuer Galanterie-solomaessiger Verbung, vn, vc, gui, 6 grands quartours hongrois, str qt, edn (Vienna, 1967)
12Other Romances hongraises, vn, pf (Pest, 1804). Neues Ciemie Gedicht und Ein deutscher Tantz, lv, harp, 1821. Hat eredeti Magyar tán-czok [6 original Hungarian dances], arr J Batka lor pf (Pest, 1824). Thema con 6 variations hongraises, vn, pf
14VERBUNKOS DANCES
15Pf album for Julia Lissznyai, c 1810, Pf album for Mária Csany, c1820, Keszthely MS, c 1820 30, Nemzeti tánzok [National dances], 1822, numerous dances pubd in various collected edns of Hungarian music, 1823-66 all for pf
17BIBLIOGRAPHY
18G Mátray 'A Magyar Muzsika 'Története' [History of Hungarian music], Tudományos gyűjtemény, m (Pest, 1829)
19I Fáy 'Csermak Antal'. A nagy világ képekhén (Pest, 1855)
20C von Wurzbach Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, iii (Vienna, 1858)
21F Liszt Des Bohémiens et de leur musique en Hongrie (Paris, 1859)
22I Ponon Thewrewk 'A magyar zene tudományos tártyalása' [Scientific treatment of Hungarian music], Értekezések a nyelv- és széptudományok köréből, xv (Budapest, 1890)
23F Major 'Adatok a verbunkos történetéhez' [Contributions to the history of verbunkos], Muzsika, 1 (1929)
24F Brodszky A Veszprémvármegyei Zenetársaság [The music society of County Veszprém] (Veszprém, 1941)
25B Bónis 'A keszthelyi Helikon könyvtár magyar vonatkozású zenei anyagáról [On the material related to Hungarian music in the Helikon Library, Keszthely], Új zenei szemle, ii/2 (1951), 22
26B Szabócsí A XIX század magyar romantikus zenéje [Hungarian Romantic music of the 19th century] (Budapest, 1951)
27F Bónis 'Csermak Antal kamarazenéje' [A Csermák's chamber music], Új zenei szemle, m/5 (1952), 10
28F Major and I Szelenyi A magyar zongoramuzsika 100 éve [100 years of Hungarian piano music] (Budapest, 1954)
29B Szabócsí and F Bónis Magyar tánckok Haydn korából [Hungarian dances from the age of Haydn] (Budapest, 1959)
30B Szabócsí 4 magyar zenetörténeti kezikönyve (Budapest 1947. 3/1977 Eng trans, 1964, as A Concise History of Hungarian Music)
31A Weinmann 'Magyar zene a becsi zenemúzeum 1770 1850' [Hungarian notes on the Viennese music market 1770 1850], Magyar zenetörténeti tanulmányok (1969), 131 78 one of two readings
32A Weinmann 'Magyar zene a becsi zeneműpiacon 1770 1850' [Hungarian notes on the Viennese music market 1770 1850], Magyar zenetörténeti tanulmányok (1969), 131 78 one of two readings
34FERENC BÓNIS
36Csiky, Boldizsár (b Târgu-Mureş, 3 Oct 1937) Romanian composer of Hungarian descent. He studied at the music college in Târgu-Mureş (1953-5) and at the Cluj Conservatory (1956 61). From 1961 to 1968 he was professor of chamber music at the former institution, in 1961 he was also appointed secretary of the Târgu-Mureş Philharmonic Society.
38WORKS
39(selective list)
40Stage Gorog Ilona (chamber opera), 1966
41Orch Ov, 1960, Sym, 1960, 2 Pieces, 1965, Prelude, Fugue and Postlude, 1969. Vitézi énekek [Heroic songs], chamber orch, 1970. Regi erdelyi énekek és tancok [Old Transylvanian songs and dances], 1973
42Vocal 2 cantatas, 1960, 1961. Hervadji rózsam, hervadji, suite, chorus, chamber orch, 1971, choruses, mass songs, songs
43Inst Recitative Adagio and Fugue, fl, pf, 1958, 2 pf sonatas, 1960, 1964
45ISTVÁN LAKATOS
47C sol fa. The pitch c'' in the HEXACHORD system
49C sol fa ut. The pitch c' (middle C) in the HEXACHORD system.
51Csomász Tóth, Kálmán (b Tapolcafö, 30 Sept 1902). Hungarian musicologist. He studied theology at Pápa, Hungary (1920–22), and at Dayton, Ohio (1922–4, BD 1924), before taking music and philology at Budapest University (1925–8). He was appointed professor of church music and hymnody in the Budapest Reformed Theological Faculty in 1952, and in 1962 took a kandidátus degree in musicology for his book on 16th-century Hungarian melodies. He is a member of the International Fellowship for Hymnological Research
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