Ilona Kabos (7 December 189327 May 1973) was a Hungarian-British pianist and teacher.

Biography

Kabos was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1893 (some sources give her year of birth as 1894, 1898 or 1902). She studied at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music ( hu, Liszt Ferenc Zeneművészeti Egyetem, often abbreviated as ''Zeneakadémia'', "Liszt Academy") is a music university and a concert hall in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875. It is home to the ...

under Árpád Szendy (a pupil of

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 ...

Leo Weiner Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

and

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (; hu, Kodály Zoltán, ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music ed ...

), and in 1915 she won the Liszt Prize. In the early part of her career, she played for

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

, who also played for her. She toured widely, giving a number of premiere performances of works by composers including Kodály, Weiner,

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (February 3, 1904 – February 19, 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current Pazin, Croa ...

Roy Harris Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3. Life Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestry ...

Carlos Chávez Carlos Antonio de Padua Chávez y Ramírez (13 June 1899 – 2 August 1978) was a Mexican composer, conductor, music theorist, educator, journalist, and founder and director of the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra. He was influenced by nativ ...

and

Mátyás Seiber Mátyás György Seiber (; 4 May 190524 September 1960) was a Hungarian-born British composer who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1935 onwards. His work linked many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartó ...

. She made her American debut in 1951. She taught at the Royal Budapest Academy of Music from 1930 through 1936. Kabos was married to fellow Hungarian pianist

Louis Kentner Louis Philip Kentner (19 July 190523 September 1987) was a Hungarian, later British, pianist who excelled in the works of Chopin and Liszt, as well as the Hungarian repertoire. Life and career He was born Lajos Kentner in Karwin in Austrian S ...

, and they made their home 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 ...

. It is claimed that her pianism was superior to that of his. In November 1942, Kabos and Kentner gave the world premiere of Bartók's Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra in London. She premiered Robert Crawford's ''Six Bagatelles'', Op. 3 (1948). Kabos' marriage ended in 1945, when Kentner left her for Griselda Gould (daughter of British pianist

Evelyn Suart Evelyn Suart, Lady Harcourt (30 April 188126 October 1950) was an English pianist. She was born in 1881 in Sindapore, India, the daughter of Brigadier-General W. H. Suart,

and sister of the ballerina Diana Gould, who was

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

's second wife). Kabos's greatest legacy is as a teacher of other pianists. She gave master classes, and taught both privately and at institutions such as Dartington Summer School and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

(from 1965, at the express invitation of

Peter Mennin Peter Mennin (born Mennini) (May 17, 1923 in Erie, Pennsylvania – June 17, 1983 in New York City) was a prominent American composer, teacher and administrator. In 1958, he was named Director of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, and in ...

; Kabos and

Rosina Lhévinne Rosina Lhévinne (née Bessie; March 29, 1880 – November 9, 1976) was a Russian pianist and famed pedagogue born in Kyiv, Russian Empire. Early life, education and family Rosina Bessie was the younger of two daughters of Maria (née Katz) and ...

often exchanged students). Kabos' better-known students include:

Susan Alexander-Max Susan Alexander-Max (died 26 January 2016) was an American-born British fortepianist best known for her period performances of baroque and classical music. A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music, she later studied with Ilona Kabos in Lon ...

David Bollard David Bollard (born 25 September 1942) is a New Zealand-born Australian classical pianist and teacher. Career David Bollard studied with Béla Síki in 1962, then moved to London in 1964, studying with Ilona Kabos, Louis Kentner and Julius Katc ...

Robert Cuckson Robert Cuckson (born 1942, UK) is an American composer and pianist. He emigrated to Australia in 1949, studied at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, and gained a Diploma in piano in 1960. Cuckson followed this with private studies in piano, ...

Monte Hill Davis Monte Hill Davis (May 24, 1932 – June 2, 2018) was an American classical pianist. Concert career Davis toured and performed in Europe, Brazil, Peru, Balzano, Italy ( the Busoni), Geneva, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany. Davis won first prize ...

Norma Fisher Norma Fisher (born 1940) is an English concert pianist and professor of piano living in London. Illness shortened her performing career in the 1990s and she turned instead to teaching. Biography Norma Fisher was born in London of Russian-Polish ...

Peter Frankl Peter Frankl (born 2 October 1935) is a Hungary, Hungarian-born United Kingdom, British pianist. He mainly performs music from the Classical period (music), Classical period (particularly Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart), the Romantic music, Rom ...

Joan Havill Joan R. Havill is a concert pianist and piano tutor, currently serving as Senior Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Having played with many leading orchestras and tutored dozens of award-winning students, Havi ...

Niel Immelman Niel Immelman (born 13 August 1944) is a South African classical pianist resident in the UK. He grew up in Jacobsdal and later in Bloemfontein. Immelman first received piano lessons from his mother Nettie Immelman. He subsequently studied at t ...

, William Corbett Jones, Joseph Kalichstein,

David Oei David Oei (; surname pronounced "Wee", born 1950) is a Hong Kong-born American classical pianist. Biography Oei was born in Hong Kong, into a family that had emigrated from Amoy (Xiamen), Fujian in 1934 to open a branch of The China & South Se ...

John Ogdon John Andrew Howard Ogdon (27 January 1937 – 1 August 1989) was an English pianist and composer. Biography Career Ogdon was born in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, and attended the Manchester Grammar School, before studying at the Ro ...

, Denver Oldham,

Kun-Woo Paik Kun-woo Paik (born March 10, 1946 in Seoul) is a South Korean pianist. He has performed with multiple orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. Early life Kun-Woo Pa ...

Alberto Portugheis Alberto Portugheis (born January 1, 1941, in La Plata, Argentina) is an Argentine pianist, born to parents of Russian and Romanian descent. He is an international pianist and teacher, now living in London. After winning first prize at the Gene ...

, Staffan Scheja,

Roberto Szidon Roberto Szidon (21 September 194121 December 2011) was a Brazilian classical pianist who had an international performing and recording career, and settled in Germany. Life and career Szidon was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1941. He gave his fi ...

and Alan Weiss. Other students included: Paul Burke, Nigel Coxe, David-Michael Dunbar, Marilyn Engle, Meira Farkas, Jonathan Miles Freeman, Otto Freudenthal, Nancy Burton Garrett, Derek Han, Robin Harrison, Emanuel Krasovsky, Risto Lauriala, Dana Muller, Thalia Myers, Marios Papadopoulos, Rafael Minaskanian, Joel Sachs, Jeffrey Siegel, Sérgio Varella-Cid, Patrick J. Mullins, and Veda Zuponcic. Kabos' teaching method included scribbling on the music during her lessons. She was given to writing "bold directions in red crayon, right across the page, in huge letters, gratuitous slashes". The crayon was actually a china marker, wrapped in paper. She was also the musical advisor for a number of films: ''

Murder in the Cathedral ''Murder in the Cathedral'' is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot, first performed in 1935, that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170. Eliot drew heavily on the wri ...

'' (1951), '' The Fake'' (1953), ''The Diamond'' (1954), ''

Jet Storm ''Jet Storm'' (also known as ''Jet Stream'' or ''Killing Urge'') is a 1959 British thriller film directed and co-written by Cy Endfield. Richard Attenborough stars with Stanley Baker, Hermione Baddeley and Diane Cilento. The film is a precurso ...

'' (1959), and ''

The Hands of Orlac ''The Hands of Orlac'' may refer to: * ''Les Mains d'Orlac'', a novel by Maurice Renard and several adaptations of that novel: * The Hands of Orlac (1924 film), ''The Hands of Orlac'' (1924 film), an Austrian film * The Hands of Orlac (1935 film) ...

'' (1960). A hostel for Kabos' students was established in Finchley, North London, by Charles Napper. She died in London in 1973, aged 79.

Tributes

The ''Inventions, Op. 2'', are a set of piano pieces by

André Tchaikowsky André Tchaikowsky (also Andrzej Czajkowski; born Robert Andrzej Krauthammer; November 1, 1935June 26, 1982) was a Polish composer and pianist. Life and career Robert Andrzej Krauthammer was born in Warsaw in 1935 into a Jewish family. He had s ...

; each invention is a musical portrait of a friend or colleague of Tchaikowsky's, and No. 3 was subtitled "To Ilona Kabos". In 1968 Serge Tcherepnin wrote a piano piece for Kabos, called simply "For Ilona Kabos".

Recordings

Kabos made very few recordings. They include: * a record of a 1952 New York Town Hall concert, with works by: **

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 ...

(Variations on 'Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen', S. 180; and excerpts from '' Weihnachtsbaum'', S. 186), and ** Bartók (Three Rondos, Sz84; Sonatina, Sz55; ''For Children'', Sz42) *** Edward Tatnall Canby, writing in the '' Saturday Review'', said this was "the best piano record I have heard, bar none". * Liszt's '' Gnomenreigen'' (live, Budapest, 1956) * Sir

Michael Tippett Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...

's Piano Concerto (BBC; undated) *

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suite ...

: Concerto in C major for Two Claviers, BWV 1061 (with

Gina Bachauer Gina Bachauer (Greek: Τζίνα Μπαχάουερ; May 21, 1910, AthensAugust 22, 1976, Athens), was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe. Interested in piano at a young age, Bachauer graduated from t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabos, Ilona Year of birth uncertain 1973 deaths Hungarian emigrants to the United Kingdom Hungarian classical pianists Hungarian women pianists British classical pianists British women pianists Hungarian music educators British music educators Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Juilliard School faculty Piano pedagogues 20th-century composers Women classical pianists 20th-century women composers 20th-century women pianists