József Kossovits (born after 1750; died after 1819, possibly in

Košice Košice is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of approximately 230,000, Košice is the second-largest cit ...

) 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 def ...

and

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

. Kossovits was employed by various members of the Hungarian nobility, including the

Andrássy Small arms of the Andrássy family The House of Andrássy is the name of a Hungarian noble family of very ancient lineage that was prominent in Hungarian history. The full family name is ''Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka''. Csí ...

family. Many of his compositions are dances in the '' verbunkos'' style. Some of his melodies were used by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

, who believed them to be of Hungarian

Gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

origin, in his ''

Hungarian Rhapsodies The Hungarian Rhapsodies, S.244, R.106 (, , ), are a set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846–1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet and pia ...

''.Walker, Alan, ''Franz Liszt: Volume 1, The Virtuoso Years: 1811-1847'' (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1983). , 341.

References

Sources

*Grove's ''Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' *Alan Walker, ''Franz Liszt, the Virtuoso Years 1811-1847'' (1988) 18th-century births 19th-century deaths Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers Hungarian cellists Hungarian classical cellists {{Hungary-classical-musician-stub