Rudy Toth (16 December 1925 – 9 July 2009) was a Canadian
composer,
arranger,
conductor,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
, and
cimbalom
The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...
player of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
birth. As a composer he wrote works mainly for television and the radio, working frequently for the
Canadian Broadcasting Company
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government ...
for over three decades. As a pianist he performed in a number of jazz and dance bands in Toronto and played for radio productions at the CBC. For many years he was active as a concert cimbalon player, appearing as a soloist with symphony orchestras in both Canada and the United States.
Early life and education
Born in Stare Karasnow, Czechoslovakia, Toth was the son of violinist and cimbalom maker
Carl Toth and the elder brother of musicians
Jerry Toth and
Tony Toth. He was the only child in the family not born in Canada as the family emigrated to
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...
shortly after his birth. As a child he studied the cimbalom with his father. He studied at
The Royal Conservatory of Music
The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...
(RCM) during the 1940s where his instructors included
Boris Berlin (piano),
John Weinzweig
John Jacob Weinzweig, (March 11, 1913 – August 24, 2006) was a Canadian composer of classical music.
Weinzweig was born in Toronto. He went to Harbord Collegiate Institute, and studied music at the university. In 1937, he left for the United St ...
(harmony), and
Ettore Mazzoleni
Ettore Mazzoleni (18 June 1905 – 1 June 1968) was a Canadian conductor, music educator, writer, and arts administrator of Swiss birth. He was one of the Canadian Opera Company's principal conductors during its early years, working there from 195 ...
(conducting). He pursued further studies in conducting with
Walter Susskind
Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague, and fled to Britain when Germany invaded the city in 1939. He worked for substantial periods in ...
in Toronto and at the
Tanglewood Music Center
The Tanglewood Music Center is an annual summer music academy in Lenox, Massachusetts, United States, in which emerging professional musicians participate in performances, master classes and workshops. The center operates as a part of the Tanglew ...
with
Leonard Bernstein. In 1950 he went to Paris to study the Piano with
Gaby Casadesus
Gaby Casadesus (August 9, 1901 – November 12, 1999) was a French classical pianist and teacher born in Marseilles, France. She was married to the French pianist Robert Casadesus and their son Jean was also a notable pianist.
Biography
Born ...
.
Career
Toth began his performance career playing in
dance bands
(; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...
in Toronto while studying at the RCM in the early 1940s. He played in bands led by
Stan Patton
Stan or STAN may refer to:
People
* Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name
** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy
* Stan (surname), a Romanian surname
* Stan! (born 1964), American author, ...
,
Ellis McLintock
Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. Retrieved 21 January 2014 An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis.
Surname
A
* Abe Ellis (Stargate), a fictional character in the TV series ''St ...
, and
Bert Niosi
Bert Niosi (February 10, 1909 – August 3, 1987) was a Canadian bandleader, known as "Canada's King of Swing".
Early life
Niosi was born on February 10, 1909, in London, Ontario. "As a teenager he briefly played clarinet with Guy Lombardo in Cle ...
among others. In the late 1940s he began working as a pianist for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
, collaborating frequently on radio programs featuring
Howard Cable
Howard Reid Cable (December 15, 1920March 30, 2016) was a conductor, arranger, music director, composer, and radio and television producer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Biography
Cable received an Associate diploma (ATCM) from The ...
. He soon was employed by
CBC Television as a music director for television programs starring
Joan Fairfax,
Wally Koster, and
Denny Vaughan among others. During the late 1950s he played the piano in
Phil Nimmons'
jazz band "Nimmons 'N' Nine". He also actively performed as a cimbalom player up until his retirement in 1989, notably appearing as a soloist in works by
Bartók,
Kodály, and
Stravinsky with orchestras like the
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the
Ivan Romanoff Orchestra, the
Ottawa Symphony Orchestra The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra (OSO) is a full size orchestra in Ottawa, Canada, including professional, student and amateur musicians. With around 100 musicians, the OSO is Ottawa's largest orchestra, which allows it to perform large symphonic rep ...
, and the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...
.
Toth ceased working as a music director at the CBC in 1965, after which he concentrated his efforts on composing
jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...
s and
theme music
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
for radio and television. He worked frequently on jingles and theme music with his brother Jerry and with composers
Dolores Claman
Dolores Olga Claman (July 6, 1927July 17, 2021) was a Canadian composer and pianist. She is best known for having composed the 1968 theme song for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) ''Hockey Night In Canada'' show, known simply as "The ...
and
Richard Morris between 1965–1970; with the group operating together as Quartet Productions. He and Jerry then formed their own company, Seven-O Productions, with whom he was active composing music for radio and television from 1970-1980. The brother's notably orchestrated the music (with Rudy conducting) for the
Emmy Award nominated CBS production of ''Once Upon the Brothers Grimm''. They also collaborated on several CBC TV specials during the 1970s.
Toth died in
Lisle, Ontario in 2009 at the age of 83.
His wife was the
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
ist and
lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment.
Royalties
A lyricist's incom ...
Josephine Toth (née Chuchman). She notably contributed lyrics to several of her husband's projects, including works on the 1977
LP album ''Canada: A Young People's Musical Tour of Canada's Provinces and Territories''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toth, Rudy
1925 births
2009 deaths
Canadian male composers
Male conductors (music)
The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni
20th-century Canadian pianists
Canadian male pianists
20th-century Canadian conductors (music)
20th-century Canadian male musicians
Cimbalom players