Vilmos Tátrai (7 October 1912 – 2 February 1999) was a Hungarian classical

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/compose ...

and the founder of the

Tátrai Quartet The Tátrai Quartet was a Hungarian classical string quartet founded in 1946. For the half-century after World War II it was one of the foremost string quartets in Hungary, specializing in Haydn and Bartók, whose complete quartets it recorded for ...

Life

Tátrai was born in

Kispest Kispest (lit. ''Little Pest'') is the 19th (XIX) district of Budapest, Hungary. It lies south-southeast of the historical Pest city. It was founded in 1871 on rural land as a village at the borderline of Pest, so it was named Kispest. Histo ...

, now 19th district of Budapest. A professor 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 ...

, he founded the

in 1946 with members of the Budapest orchestra. The quartet was then formed by Tátrai on the first violin, Mihály Szűcs on the second violin, József Iványi at the

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

and Vera Dénes – replaced in 1951 by Ede Banda – on the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

. In 1948, the quartet won the Bartók String Quartet Competition. Shortly after this award, Tátrai became

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the

Hungarian National Philharmonic The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra ( hu, Nemzeti Filharmonikus Zenekar; formerly, the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra, hu, Magyar Állami Hangversenyzenekar) is one of the most prestigious symphony orchestras in Hungary. Based in t ...

, a position he held until 1982, when he founded the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra in 1957, of which he was the leader, although the ensemble did not have a conductor. His autobiography was published posthumously in 2001. In 2012, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, a month-long exhibition on his life and work took place at the

Müpa Budapest Müpa Budapest (between 2005 and 2015 ''Palace of Arts'' – ''Művészetek Palotája'' in Hungarian) is a building in Ferencváros, Budapest, Hungary, officially opened in March 2005. It is located near Rákóczi Bridge and was designed by Z ...

. Tátrai had been awarded the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the ...

by the Hungarian government in 1958.

References

External links

Tatrai
on AllMusic * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatrai, Vilmos Hungarian classical violinists 20th-century violinists Male classical violinists Concertmasters Hungarian music educators Academic staff of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music Artists of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic Musicians from Budapest 1912 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Hungarian male musicians