Jenő Ádám (12 December 1896 15 May 1982) was a Hungarian

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

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 ...

, and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

. Born in

Szigetszentmiklós Szigetszentmiklós ( /nowiki>; German language, German: ''Nigglau'') is a city in Pest County, Hungary, with around 40,000 inhabitants. Name * Sziget – island: Szigetszentmiklós is a town on Csepel Island * Szent Miklós – Saint Nichol ...

(Kingdom of Hungary), he studied composition and conducting 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 ...

where he was a pupil of

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. ...

. He later became a longtime teacher at the school and developed a close working relationship with Kodály. Beginning in 1935, the two collaborated on a long term project to reform music teaching in the lower and middle schools. Many of Ádám's teaching methods and curricula developed during that project were adopted by Kodály and are now a part of the Kodály Method. Ádám was the author of several books on music education that were published in Hungary during the 1940s, two of which were co-authored with Kodály. His methodology has had a profound impact on music education internationally and is still studied today by students of the Kodaly Method. The Organization of American Kodály Educators has established an academic scholarship in his name Ádám was responsible for the first performances in Hungary of the Dettingen Te Deum and other oratorios by

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

, ''

L'enfance du Christ ''L'Enfance du Christ'' (''The Childhood of Christ''), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it ...

'' by

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, and ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncer ...

'' by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

. As a composer, he was best known for his operas: ''Ez a mi földünk'' (1923), ''Magyar karácsony'' (1931) and ''Mária Veronika'' (1938), of which the latter two premiered 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 ...

at the

Royal Hungarian Opera House The Hungarian State Opera House ( ) is a historic opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy avenue. Originally known as the Hungarian Royal Opera House, it was designed by Miklós Ybl, a major figure of 19th-century Hungarian architect ...

.Opera at Stanford University
stanford.edu; accessed 6 November 2016. He was also the conductor of

choirs A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

at the Academy of Music, the chorus master at the Royal Hungarian Opera House, and the conductor of numerous other choirs during his career.

Books

*''A skálától a szimfóniáig'' (''From the Scale to the Symphony'',

, 1943) *''Szó-mi'' (Singing Textbooks for Elementary Schools, Budapest, 1943, with Zoltán Kodály) *''Módszeres énektanítás a relatív szolmizáció alapján'' (''Systematic Singing Teaching Based on the Tonic Sol-fa'', Budapest, 1944; Eng. trans., 1971 as ''Growing in Music with Movable Do'') *''Énekeskönyv'' (Singing Book, Budapest, 1947, republished in English in March 1998 as ''Series for elementary schools'', with Zoltán Kodály).

References

1896 births 1982 deaths Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Hungarian male conductors (music) Hungarian music educators Hungarian opera composers Hungarian male opera composers 20th-century Hungarian conductors (music) 20th-century Hungarian classical composers 20th-century Hungarian male musicians {{Opera-bio-stub