Sándor Végh
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Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
violinists of the twentieth century.


Education

Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary, (since 1920
Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...
, Romania). His parents were not professional musicians but folk music especially was an important part of family life. At the age of six he was given a violin, “Because”, he says, “that was cheaper than a piano. My parents had no idea how much money I had to save later to be able to buy a Stradivari.” He entered the
Liszt Ferenc 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 ...
in 1924, taking violin studies with Jenő Hubay and composition with Zoltán Kodály. He began a career as a solo violinist and in 1927, when he played a
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
composition under the composer’s baton. He graduated from the
Liszt Ferenc 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 ...
in 1930, having won the Hubay Prize and the Reményi Prize from the institution in 1927.


Chamber musician

As his solo career was developing, he joined the Hungarian Trio with Ilonka Krauss and László Vencze. In 1934, he became one of the founding members of the Hungarian String Quartet. He was initially the first violinist, but gave that position to
Zoltán Székely Zoltán Székely ( Hungarian: Székely Zoltán; 8 December 1903 in Kocs, Hungary – 5 October 2001 in Banff, Canada) was a violinist and composer. Biography Székely studied violin with Jenő Hubay and composition with Zoltán Kodály at the ...
and took second chair. He participated with the Hungarian String Quartet in the first Hungarian performance of
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 ...
's String Quartet No. 5. Végh left the Hungarian String Quartet in 1940 to found his own quartet, the
Végh Quartet The Végh Quartet was a Hungary, Hungarian string quartet founded in 1940 and led by its first violinist Sándor Végh for 40 years. The quartet was based in Budapest until it departed Hungary in 1946. It is particularly known for its recordings o ...
. At the first international music competition held in Genova in 1946, the
Végh Quartet The Végh Quartet was a Hungary, Hungarian string quartet founded in 1940 and led by its first violinist Sándor Végh for 40 years. The quartet was based in Budapest until it departed Hungary in 1946. It is particularly known for its recordings o ...
was awarded the first prize. He and the quartet left Hungary in 1946. The quartet continued to give concerts until the mid-1970s; Végh also made solo appearances as a violinist. From 1958 Végh played on his own Stradivari from 1724, which once belonged to Niccolò Paganini.


Teaching, conducting

In the same year (1940) in which he established the quartet that bore his name, Végh became a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, a position he held until 1946, when he left Hungary. In 1952 he met
cellist 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, G2, D3 ...
Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,
, who invited Végh to join him in giving summer classes in Zermatt,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
(1953–62), and to appear annually at Casals'
Prades Festival Prades may refer to: Places ;France * Prades, Ardèche, in the Ardèche ''département'', France * Prades, Ariège, in the Ariège ''département'', France * Prades, Haute-Loire, in the Haute-Loire ''département'', France * Prades, Pyrénées-Or ...
(1953–69). He began his first recital there with Bach: the solo Sonata in g minor. Works of Bach played a special role in his life, as Végh himself declared on numerous occasions. He found teaching rewarding, and taught at the Basel Conservatory (1953–63), in Freiburg (1954–62), Düsseldorf (1962–69), and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg (1971–97). He founded the
International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo The International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo was inaugurated in 1964, the brainchild of the renowned Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh. It is held every July and August in the picturesque church square of Cervo, a small, ancient town in Lig ...
( Liguria, Italy) in 1964, and often conducted there. He also founded an orchestra, the Sándor Végh Chamber Orchestra, which he led from 1968 to 1971, and conducted the Marlboro Festival Orchestra (1974–77). And in 1972, after visiting Cornwall ( England) at Hilary Tunstall-Behrens' invitation, he co-founded the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove ( England). In 1978 he became
conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
of the Camerata Academica at the Mozarteum. With them he made a recording of
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 (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
’s divertimentos and
serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...
s that won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1989. He was awarded "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" in 1986, Doctor
Honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
of Warwick and
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
universities (1987), an honorary appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1988, and the Gold Medal of Salzburg in 1987. Carlos Kleiber referred to Végh as "my conducting idol", and said "That man is pure music. A monster" in letters to Charles Barber. "He is great, wild, Asiatic... I didn't get a word in edgeways, thank God." Végh took French citizenship in 1953, but is perhaps best regarded as a "world citizen of music", having made his home in Basel and, from 1971, in Greifensee, near Zurich. He also lived in Salzburg from the 1970s onwards. After a short illness in 1997, he died at a hospital in Freilassing, just across the border from Salzburg. His grave is in the cemetery of the old parish church in Liefering, in the district of Salzburg.knerger.de
Grave of Sándor Végh in Salzburg


See also

*
Végh Quartet The Végh Quartet was a Hungary, Hungarian string quartet founded in 1940 and led by its first violinist Sándor Végh for 40 years. The quartet was based in Budapest until it departed Hungary in 1946. It is particularly known for its recordings o ...


References


External links


Biographical article by Elizabeth MortimerCervo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vegh, Sandor 1912 births 1997 deaths Musicians from Cluj-Napoca Hungarian classical violinists Academic staff of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music 20th-century French male classical violinists Hungarian conductors (music) Hungarian male musicians Male conductors (music) Hungarian music educators 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century composers Academic staff of Robert Schumann Hochschule Hungarian emigrants to France