Francis Alexander Korbay (May 8, 1846 – March 9, 1913) was a Hungarian musician.''The Musical Times'' (1913) H.W. Gray, New York; Novello, London

Life

He was born in Pest His father was a landowner and his mother was a descendant of the poet István Gyöngyösi. His father joined the revolutionary party, and suffered imprisonment and the forfeiture of his estates. The youth turned his attention to music, studying piano with Moronyi and composition with

Robert Volkmann Friedrich Robert Volkmann (6 April 1815 – 30 October 1883) was a German composer. Life Robert Volkmann was born in Lommatzsch near Meißen, Germany. His father, a music director for a church, trained him in music to prepare him as a successor. ...

.''Enciclopèdia Espasa'', Appendix No. 6, pp. 848-849 At nineteen, he found himself in possession of a robust tenor voice. He studied voice with

Gustave-Hippolyte Roger Gustave-Hippolyte Roger (17 December 1815 – 12 September 1879) was a French tenor. He is best known for creating the leading tenor roles in ''La damnation de Faust'' by Berlioz in 1846 and Meyerbeer's ''Le prophète'' in 1849. Early years and ...

, and in 1868 he made his operatic debut at the

National Theatre of Budapest The National Theatre, located in Budapest originally opened in 1837. Since then, it has occupied several locations, including the original building at Kerepesi Street, the ''People's Theatre'' at Blaha Lujza Square, as well as Hevesi Sándor Squ ...

. But the strain was too great, and eventually he abandoned this career and applied himself to pianoforte study under his godfather

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, of whose music he became a well-known interpreter. He went to England in 1871, but finding insufficient support, he went to New York and toured in the United States with the German tenor, Theodor Wachtel (1823 - 1893). He ultimately established himself as a professor of singing in New York. Brooklyn born soprano Susan Strong (August 3, 1870 - London: March 11, 1946) and British soprano Lillian Henschel (1860 – 1901) were among his pupils. He had not neglected his singing abilities entirely and from time to time sang in recitals. In 1874, Korbay returned to London, and soon established a teaching connection. In 1894, he became a professor at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, and remained in that position until 1903. He had many successful European tours, and was also extremely popular in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Korbay wrote many

pianoforte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

pieces and songs, but he was best known by his collections of Magyar folk songs, which attained a very wide popularity, among which ''Mohac's Field'' may be mentioned in particular.''Mohac's Field''
/ref> He died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which for many years was his home, March 9, 1913.

References

Sources

*
bach-cantatas.com

External links

at the
LiederNet Archive
1846 births 1913 deaths Pianists from Austria-Hungary Composers from Austria-Hungary Hungarian pianists Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers 19th-century pianists Male pianists 19th-century male musicians {{Hungary-musician-stub