Sándor Jemnitz, also known as Alexander Jemnitz (9 August 1890 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 ...

– 8 August 1963 in

Balatonföldvár Balatonföldvár (german: Földwahr) is a popular resort town in Somogy County, Hungary, on the southern side of Lake Balaton, approximately 120 km southwest from Budapest and about 23 km southwest from Siófok, the "capital of Balaton ...

), was a Hungarian

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 Defi ...

, conductor,

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

and author.

Biography

Jemnitz studied composition with

János Koessler Hans von Koessler (1 January 1853 – 23 May 1926) was a German composer, conductor and music teacher. In Hungary, where he worked for 26 years, he was known as János Koessler. Biography Koessler, a cousin of Max Reger, was born in Waldeck, Fic ...

at the Budapest Music Academy from 1906 to 1908, then continued his studies at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

where he studied organ with

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, Straube stu ...

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 regular ...

with

Hans Sitt Hans Sitt (born Jan Hanuš Sitt on 21 September 1850, Prague – 10 March 1922, Leipzig), was a Bohemian violinist, violist, teacher, and composer. During his lifetime, he was regarded as one of the foremost teachers of violin. Most of the orchest ...

, composition with

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...

, and

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

with

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...

. From 1913 to 1915 Jemnitz lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and studied composition with

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

and began writing articles on music, several of which were published in ''Die Musik'' in 1914 and 1915.Czigány, p. 80. Jemnitz returned to Hungary in 1916 and wrote for various newspapers and periodicals. From 1924 to 1950 he was regular music critic of the ''

Népszava ''Népszava'' (meaning "People's Word" in English) is a social-democratic Hungarian language newspaper published in Hungary. History and profile ''Népszava'' is Hungary's eldest continuous print publication and as of October 2019 the last and ...

'' newspaper, in which post he established himself as one of the most respected Hungarian critics of the period. Jemnitz taught at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Music in Budapest from 1951. During his last years, he published several popular books on composers including

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

and

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

. Jemnitz's musical style is heavily influenced by Reger and Schoenberg.''Jemnitz, Sándor'' by Vera Lampert
Retrieved 12 February 2011. His compositions include works for orchestra and keyboard, as well as vocal, choral and chamber music.

Selected works

;Stage * ''Divertimento'', Ballet in 3 scenes (1921, 1947); arrangement of ''Concerto for Chamber Orchestra'' ;Orchestral * ''7 Miniatures'' (Hét miniatűr nagyzenekarra) (1919, 1947); partial orchestration of ''17 Bagatelles'' for piano * Concerto for chamber orchestra, Op. 12 (1921); arranged as the ballet ''Divertimento'' * ''Prelude and Fugue'', Op. 13 (1933) * ''Nyitány békeünnepélyre'' (Overture for a Peace Festival), Op. 58 (1951) * Concerto for string orchestra, Op. 61 (1954) ;Chamber and instrumental music * String Quartet o. 1 Op. 2b (1911) * Quartet for violin, viola, cello and organ, Op. 7 (1918) * Sonata No. 1 in A minor for violin and piano, Op. 10 (1920) * Sonata No. 2 in D minor for violin and piano, Op. 14 (1920) * Sonata in D minor for cello and piano, Op. 17 (1922) * Sonata No. 1 in A minor for violin solo, Op. 18 (1922) * Trio for 2 oboes and English horn, Op. 19 No. 1 (1925) * Trio for flute, violin and viola, Op. 19 No. 2 (1923) * String Trio, Op. 21 (1924) * Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano, Op. 22 (1923) * ''Serenade'' for violin, viola and cello, Op. 24 (1927) * ''Duo-Sonata'' for viola and cello, Op. 25 (1927) * Sonata for flute and piano, Op. 27 (1930–1931) * ''Duo-Sonata'' for saxophone and banjo, Op. 28 (1934) * ''Partita'' for 2 violins, Op. 29 (1932) * Sonata for cello solo, Op. 31 (1933) * Trio for violin, viola and guitar, Op. 33 (1932) * Sonata for harp, Op. 34 (1933) * Sonata for double bass solo, Op. 36 (1935) * Sonata No. 2 for violin solo, Op. 37 (1935) * Sonata for trumpet solo, Op. 39 (1938) * Quartet for 3 trumpets and

bass trumpet The bass trumpet is a type of low trumpet which was first developed during the 1820s in Germany. It is usually pitched in 8' C or 9' B today, but is sometimes built in E and is treated as a transposing instrument sounding either an octave, a sixt ...

, Op. 41a (1925, transcribed 1941) * Sonata for flute solo, Op. 43 (1938) * Sonata No. 3 for violin solo, Op. 44 (1938) * Sonata for viola solo, Op. 46 (1941) * String Quartet

o. 2 O is the fifteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. O may also refer to: Letters * Օ օ, (Unicode: U+0555, U+0585) a letter in the Armenian alphabet * Ο ο, Omicron, (Greek), a letter in the Greek alphabet * O (Cyrillic), a letter of the ...

Op. 55 (1950) * Suite No. 1 for violin and piano, Op. 57 (1952) * Suite No. 2 for violin and piano, Op. 60 (1953) * ''Capriccio'' for violin and piano, Op. 60b (1953) * ''A levél'' (The Letter) for double bass solo, Op. 69 (1956) * Trio for flute, oboe and clarinet, Op. 70 (1958) * ''Fantasia, Intermezzo, Burla'' for clarinet and piano, Op. 74 (1965) ;Organ * ''Introductio, passacaglia e fuga'', Op. 1 (1914) * ''Sonata per pedale'' (Organ Pedal Sonata), Op. 42 (1938) * Sonata No. 1, Op. 68 (1955) * Sonata No. 2, Op. 72 (1957) ;Piano * ''Aus der Regerstunde'', 3 Pieces, Op. 2a (1915) * 2 Sonatinas, Op. 4 (1919) * ''17 Bagatelles'', Op. 5 (1919); partially orchestrated as ''7 Miniatures'' (1947) * Sonata No. 1, Op. 8 (1914) * ''Fegyvertánc'' (War Dance) (1921) * ''Ornament'' (1925) * Sonata No. 2 ''"Dance Sonata"'' (Tanzsonate), Op. 23 (1927) * Sonata No. 3, Op. 26 (1929) * Sonata No. 4, Op. 30 (1933) * ''Recueil'', Op. 38 (1938–1945) * ''Táncra I'' (For Dance I), Op. 56 (1950) * ''8 Pieces'' (1951) * ''Táncra II'' (For Dance II), Op. 65 (1953–1954) * Sonata No. 5, Op. 64 (1954) * ''Ugrós tánc'' (Leaping Dance) for piano 4-hands (1958) ;Vocal * ''An einen Boten'' for voice and piano (published c.1914); words from ''

Des Knaben Wunderhorn ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder'' (German language, German; "The boy's magic horn: old German songs") is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Ludwig Achim von Arnim, Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, and publi ...

'' * ''9 Lieder'' for voice and piano, Op. 3; also published as Op. 2 * ''Schicksal'' for voice and piano (1919); words by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest i ...

* ''9 Lieder'' for bass and piano, Op. 6 (published 1920) * ''2 Songs'' (1922); words by T. Raith * ''5 Uhlandlieder'' (5 Uhland Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 11 (published 1925); words by

* ''11 Lieder'' for voice and piano, Op. 15 * ''Három Kassák-dal'' (3 Kassák Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 50; words by

Lajos Kassák Lajos Kassák (March 21, 1887 – July 22, 1967) was a Hungarian poet, novelist, painter, essayist, editor, theoretician of the avant-garde, and occasional translator. He was among the first genuine working-class writers in Hungarian litera ...

* ''6 Songs on Poems of Dezső Kosztolányi'' (6 Dal) for voice and piano, Op. 62; words by

Dezső Kosztolányi Dezső Kosztolányi (; March 29, 1885 – November 3, 1936) was a Hungarian writer, journalist, translator and also a speaker of Esperanto. He wrote in all literary genres, from poetry to essays to theatre plays. Building his own style, he used ...

;Choral * ''7 Male Choruses'' (Sieben männerchöre) for male chorus a cappella, Op. 16; words by

Ernst Lissauer Ernst Lissauer (16 December 1882 in Berlin – 10 December 1937 in Vienna) was a German-Jewish poet and dramatist remembered for the phrase ''Gott strafe England'' ("May God punish England"). He also created the ''Hassgesang gegen England'', ...

;Writings * ''Bachtól Bartókig'' (From Bach to Bartók) (1937) * ''Szenvedélyek színpadán'' (On the Stage of Passions) (1943) * ''Schumann, a zeneszerző élete leveleiben'' (Schumann, The Composer's Life in Letters) (1958) * ''Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy'' (1958) * ''Beethoven élete leveleiben'' (Beethoven's Life in His Letters) (1960) * ''Fryderyk Chopin'' (1960) * ''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart'' (1961)

Discography

* Jemnitz: Sonata for flute solo – ''Solos: 20th Century Hungarian Works for Flute''; Gergely Ittzés (flute); Hungaroton (1999) * Jemnitz: Sonata for viola solo – ''Chamber Music''; László Bársony (viola); Hungaroton 31991 (2001) * Jemnitz: Trio for violin, viola and guitar – Benjamin Hudson (violin);

Kim Kashkashian Kim Kashkashian (born August 31, 1952) is an American violist. She is recognized as one of the world's top violists. She has spent her career in the US and Europe and collaborated with many major contemporary composers. In 2013 she won a Grammy ...

(viola);

David Starobin David Starobin (born September 27, 1951) is a highly honored figure in the world of classical guitar. Called "arguably the most influential American classical guitarist of the 20th century" ('' Soundboard''), Starobin was born in New York City. ...

(guitar); ''A Song from the East'', Bridge Classics BDG 9004 (1987); ''David Starobin Favorite Tracks Vol. 2'', Bridge Classics BDG 9292 (2009)

Sources

* Czigány, Gyula (1979). ''Contemporary Hungarian Composers'', 4th Edition, Budapest, Editio Musica, pp. 80–81.

References

External links

The Mazal Library: photograph of Sándor Jemnitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jemnitz, Sandor 1890 births 1963 deaths Hungarian classical composers Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) 20th-century classical composers Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Hungarian music critics University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Writers from Budapest 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Hungarian male musicians