István Anhalt (April 12, 1919 – February 24, 2012) was a

Hungarian-Canadian Hungarian Canadians (, ) are persons in Canada of Hungarian ancestry. According to the 2016 Census, there are 348,085 Canadians of Hungarian ancestry. The Hungarian minority is the 24th largest ethnic group of Canada. The bulk of Hungarian im ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. Anhalt served as a professor of music at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and founded the McGill University Electronic Music Studio. He also served as head of music at

Queen's University, Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public university, public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and ...

. His works earned him the reputation of one of the founding fathers of electroacoustic music in Canada. Among his pupils are Kevin Austin,

John Fodi John Fodi (22 March 1944 – 2 November 2009) was a composer and music librarian. Born in Hungary, he became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1961. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was a founding member of ARRAYMUSIC, an organizatio ...

Clifford Ford Clifford Robert Ford (born 30 May 1947) is a Canadian composer, Carl Morey. Music in Canada: A Research and Information Guide'. Routledge; 26 November 2013. . p. 30. editor, music educator, and author. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, h ...

, Hugh Hartwell, John Hawkins, Alan Heard, Richard Hunt, Donald Patriquin,

Nicole Rodrigue Nicole Rodrigue (29 September 1943 – 16 April 2010) was a Canadian composer and film editor who was the first woman to earn a composition degree from McGill University. Life and career Rodrigue was born in Montreal, Canada, the youngest of 11 ...

and Alex Tilley. In 2003, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

.Governor General of Canada
Order of Canada: Istvan Anhalt, O.C., LL.D
Press Office, Governor General of Canada, 2009-04-30. In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

. Selections from his correspondence with American composer

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serialism, serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the technique after his teenage son died in 1964, saying it had proved inadequate to expres ...

were published in 2007.

Early life and education

Childhood

István Anhalt was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

to a Jewish family on April 12, 1919. He was son of Arnold Anhalt and Katalin Anhalt (née Herzfeld), When he was still an infant, Anhalt's parents separated; he lived with his mother until the age of twelve, attending elementary school from 1925 to 1929. Although she had some interest in serious music and opera, his mother was not especially musical, she did have a piano; Anhalt began taking piano lessons at the age of six with a teacher who lived in his neighborhood and later from a family friend until he was twelve years of age. From the age of ten, he attended the Dániel Berzsenyi Secondary school, failing several subjects at first but later excelling and graduating in 1937. He also attended outdoor musical performances on Margaret Island. At age twelve, Anhalt went to live with his father, who had remarried in 1931. Encouraged by his father's love of music, Anhalt developed a good ear for harmony, and taught himself to play the violin.Elliott; Smith, p.37 Anhalt learned to speak four languages, Hungarian, German, French, and English. His father's financial troubles, his half-sister's birth in 1935, and tension between him and his step mother led Anhalt to move again a few years later to stay with his maternal grandparents.Elliott; Smith, p.35 At about that time, Anhalt overheard László Gyopár, a peer from a neighboring school, play a piece he had composed himself at the piano. Anhalt recognized the influence of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

on the piece, and, admiring Gyopár's compositional achievements, decided to learn how to write music and compose his own pieces.Elliott; Smith, p.38 Anhalt and Gyopár became good friends, and soon after, Anhalt began to receive private harmony lessons with Géza Falk. Gyopár was attending the Academy of Music at the time, where Anhalt audited

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

's class from 1936 to 1937 before passing the entrance exam and joining his friend at the academy. Anhalt studied piano with Kodaly at the

Franz Liszt Academy of Music The Franz Liszt Academy of Music (, 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 Liszt Collection, which features several ...

; he graduated with exceptional marks in 1941. He also continued his studies for the next year and a half by attending classes from Turkish linguistics to Folklore at Pázmány University and attending a seminar by

János Ferencsik János Ferencsik (18 January 190712 June 1984) was a Hungarian conductor. Ferencsik was born in Budapest; he actively played music even as a very young boy. He took violin lessons and taught himself to play the organ. He studied at the Natio ...

for conductors. Anhalt was drafted into the forced labour service of the Hungarian Army in 1940 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

1942: World War II

In 1942, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Anhalt and his best friend at the academy were both forced to enter a forced-labour brigade for young Jewish men. Anhalt's friend was killed by a soldier in the unit.Gesing, p.18 Anhalt escaped from the brigade, disguised himself as a seminarian, and hid until the war was over. He then made his way to Paris, where he had access to music teachers and abundant artistic stimulation.Gesing, p.20 In the late 1940s, he studied under

Louis Fourestier Louis (Félix André) Fourestier (31 May 1892 – 30 September 1976) was a French conductor, composer and pedagogue, and was one of the founders of the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris. Early years, compositions and prizes Fourestier was born in Mo ...

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

and

Soulima Stravinsky Sviatoslav Igorevich Soulima Stravinsky (23 September 191028 November 1994) was a Swiss-American pianist, composer, and musicologist. As a pianist, he was considered an important interpreter of the works of his father, Igor Stravinsky, but as a ...

before emigrating to Canada in 1949.

Career

Emigration to Canada and academic position

Anhalt emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1949, as a recipient of a

Lady Davis Fellowship The Lady Davis Fellow is a program of The Lady Davis Foundation for the scholars to carry out research in various areas on the campuses of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Israel. The Lady Da ...

.Elliott; Smith, p.17 He settled in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and soon met Beate Frankenberg, a biochemist. The pair married in 1952, and together they have two daughters, Carol Greaves and Helen Jennifer Marcello, and two grandchildren.Gazette, C.11 For twenty-two years Anhalt taught analysis and composition at

in the Faculty of Music. He established the Theory and Composition Departments, He established the music composition program for the institution, was chairman for the Theory Department, and developed and directed the McGill University Electronic Music Studio (EMS). He composed continually during that time as well. Anhalt met

at an International Conference of Composers at the Stratford Festival in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

during the summer of 1960, and the two became friends. Rochberg was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, and both come from a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

background.

1971–1984, move to Kingston

Anhalt's mixed work schedule of administration, composition, and teaching was one he carried with him to

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

in 1971 when he became the head of Queen's University's Department of Music. He remained in this position until 1981. He continued to teach at the university until 1984 when he retired. During his years at Queen's University, Anhalt continued to write, compose and teach. His composition ''La Tourangelle'' premiered in July 1975, and soon after he began to work on another piece, which would be his second opera, ''Winthrop''. All the while, he also worked on his monograph ''Alternative Voices''. He became a mentor for a number of his students, many of whom kept in touch with him until the final years of his life.

Retirement and death

After his retirement, Anhalt continued to compose, and to write scholarly and other articles. He died at the age of 92, on February 24, 2012, in Kingston, at St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital.

Composition

Anhalt is one of the earliest serious composers of electronic music. His music underwent changes over the years, and can be divided into four periods.Applebaum, p.3 Anhalt has a librettist for his dramatic works, beginning in 1969 with ''Foci'', and ending in 1999 with ''Millennial Mall''.

1919–1958

Anhalt's early composing focused on a variety of works for chorus, solo voice, ensembles, and instrumental soloists. This period ended with the finalization of his work ''Symphony No. 1'', which won Anhalt both a national and an international reputation.

1959–1961

The next brief period in Anhalt's musical career was entirely dedicated to electronic music where he produced four compositions, and studying first-hand the newest developments and media during that time, in order to establish fresh and current concepts for his original work.

1962–1971

From 1962 until 1971 Anhalt reworked, consolidated and expanded his experiences during the two previous periods. He combined electronic sounds with the sounds of the chorus or the orchestra in his ''Symphony of Modules'', ''Foci'', and ''Cento''. Anhalt also adopted a more flexible syntax, as well as a larger musical vocabulary to create new vocal and instrumental sounds. He began to use timbre, timing, and musical densities in new ways in his compositions.

1971–2012

''La Tourangelle'' is the first of three large scale works created by Anhalt after 1971.Applebaum, p.4 It is an hour-long piece that premiered in 1975, in a performance broadcast by CBC Radio. This "musical tableau" was composed for an orchestra of 16 players, five singer-narrators, and pre-recorded tapes for five operators. Its theme is the pursuit of God and meaning, and is based on the life of one of the earliest French women to settle in Canada, Marie de l’Incarnation. ''Winthrop'' is a parallel piece to ''La Tourangelle'', but focused on English Canada. The story is based on

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

, a 17th-century Englishman who was the founder and governor of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. It was completed in March 1983, and calls for a mixed choir, six solo singers, an instrumental ensemble of no less than 30 players, and a boys’ choir. Anhalt described this "musical pageant" as an exploration into the spiritual and personal aspects of a man, depicting how these supply meaning and significance to his actions. Published in 1984, ''Alternative Voices'' is a written study of linguistics as a way of acquiring an understanding of the human voices’ potential in a choral compositional, as well as a contemporary vocal, context. In about 1967 Anhalt had started studies of the reflection of personalty through the voice in the composition classes he taught; he concentrated on this research while on his first sabbatical leave from 1976 to 1977.Elliott; Smith, p.97 The work received favourable reviews, and was included in the list the 1984 outstanding academic books by Choice.Elliott; Smith, p.100 In ''Alternative Voices'', Anhalt makes recurrent references to some Canadian composers, as well as their music.Elliott; Smith, p.103 He discusses the role of Canadian music and composers in the context of present-day thought in contemporary Western art, music, and philosophy. Rhythm, theatre, poetry, performing techniques, sound, speech, and the roots of language and music are explored, their components interconnected, as well as their usage are examined. The publication of his work ''Alternative Voices'' and the finalization of ''Winthrop'' occurred in the same year that Anhalt retired from university teaching,.

Compositions

''Stage'' *La Tourangelle. 1975 *Winthrop. 1986 *Traces (Tikkun), opera. 1996 *Millennial Mall (Lady Diotima's Walk), opera. 1999 ''Orchestra'' *Interludium, small orchestra. 1950 *Funeral Music, small orchestra. 1951 (Montreal 1954) *Symphony, orchestra. 1958 (Montreal 1959), BMIC 1963 *Symphony of Modules, orchestra, tape. 1967 *Simulacrum, orchestra. 1987 (Ott 1987) *SparkskrapS, orchestra. 1988 (Toronto 1988) *Sonance•Resonance (Welche Töne?), orchestra. 1989 (Toronto 1989) *Twilight Fire (Baucis' and Philemon's Feast), orchestra. 2001 *The Tents of Abraham (A Mirage), orchestra. Premiered 2004 ''Chamber'' *Trio. 1953, RCI 229/RCA CCS-1023/5-ACM 22 (Brandon University Trio) *Sonata, violin and piano. 1954, RCI 220/RCA CCS-1014/5-ACM 22 (Bress violin) *Foci, soprano, chamber ensemble, tape. 1969, Ber 1972. RCI 357/5-ACM 22 (Mailing) *Doors ... Shadows (Glenn Gould In Memory), string quartet. 1992 ''Piano'' *Arc en ciel, ballet, two pianos. 1951 (Montreal 1952) *Sonata. 1951 *Fantasia. 1954. Ber 1972. Col 32-11-0046 (Gould piano) ''Choir'' *The Bell Man (Herrick), choir, 2 bells, organ. 1954 (rev 1980) *Three Songs of Love, (de la Mare, anonymous), SSA. 1951 *Three Songs of Death (Davenant, Herrick), SATB. 1954 *Cento 'Cantata Urbana' (Grier), 12 speakers (SATB), tape. 1967. BMIC 1968. RCI 357/5-ACM 22 (Tudor Singers of Montreal) ''Voice'' *Six Songs from Na Conxy Pan (Sándor Weöres), baritone, piano. 1941-7 (English version 1984) *Psalm XIX 'A Benediction' (A.M. Klein), baritone, piano. 1951 *Journey of the Magi (Eliot), baritone, piano. 1952 *Comments (Montreal Star clippings), alto, piano trio. 1954 *Chansons d'aurore (Verdet), soprano, flute, piano. 1955 *A Wedding Carol (Anhalt), soprano, organ. 1985 *A Little Wedding Music (Hopkins), soprano, organ. 1984, Ber 1985 *Thisness, "a duo-drama" (Anhalt), mezzo, piano. 1986 (Vancouver 1986) *The Squirrel (E. Barnett), voice, piano. 2002

Writings

*"The making of Cento," Canada Music Book, 1, Spring-Summer 1970 *"About Foci," Artscanada, vol 28, April–May 1971 *"La musique électronique," "L'histoire de Cento," Musiques du Kébèk, ed. Raoul Duguay (Montreal 1971) *"Luciano Berio's Sequenza III," Canada Music Book, 7, Autumn-Winter 1973 *"About one's place and voice," Identities: The Impact of Ethnicity on Canadian Society, ed. Wsevolod W. Isajiw (Toronto 1977) *"Winthrop: the work, the theme, the story," Canadian University Music Review, vol 4, 1983 *Alternative Voices: Essays on Contemporary Vocal and Choral Composition (Toronto 1984) *"What tack to take? An autobiographical sketch (life in progress ... )," Queen's Quarterly, vol. 92, Spring 1985 *"Pst ... pst ... are you listening? Hearing voices from yesterday," Queen's Quarterly, vol. 93, Spring 1986 *"Music: context, text, counter-text," Contemporary Music Review, vol. 5, no. 1, 1989 *"Text, context, music," Canadian University Music Review, vol. 9, no. 2, 1989 *"Thisness: marks and remarks," Musical Canada *Oppenheimer (opera), 1990, play only not music *Record and book reviews in Canadian Music Journal (1957–61), including a review of Varèse recordings, Winter 1961

References

Sources

* Gillmor, Alan M. "Eagle Minds: Selected Correspondence of Istvan Anhalt and George Rochberg (1961–2005)" * Elliott, Robin, Gordon E. Smith. "Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory" * https://muse.jhu.edu/article/390001 Sallis, Friedemann. “Eagle Minds: Selected Correspondence of Istvan Anhalt and George Rochberg, 1961–2005 Review”]
Gazette. "DEATHS"

Applebaum, Louis, Udo Kasemets. “Istvan Anhalt”

Gesing, Renka. “Istvan Anhalt: Profile 3”

External links

István Anhalt
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anhalt, Istvan 1919 births 2012 deaths Composers from Budapest Hungarian Holocaust survivors Hungarian emigrants to Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston Jewish Canadian composers Jewish classical composers Canadian classical composers Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Hungarian male classical composers Musicians from Montreal Hungarian classical composers Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year winners 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian Jews 21st-century Canadian Jews 20th-century Hungarian Jews 21st-century Hungarian Jews Hungarian World War II forced labourers Hungarian escapees Escapees from Nazi concentration camps Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni