Károly (Carl) Thern (13 August 1817 – 13 April 1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and arranger. He was of German descent, but was among the second generation of composers who developed the language of Hungarian art music. Thern was born in 1817,in

Spišská Nová Ves Spišská Nová Ves (; ; ) is a town in the Košice Region of Slovakia. The town is located southeast of the High Tatras in the Spiš region, and lies on both banks of the Hornád River. It is the biggest town of the Spišská Nová Ves Distric ...

(''Zipser Neudorf'' in German, ''Iglo'' in Hungarian; now in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). He conducted at the National Theatre of Pest in 1840s, and at the Music Lovers' Association of Pest between 1868 and 1873, in succession to Mihály Mosonyi. He was also active as a teacher at the National Conservatory. Thern's

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

included ''Svatopluk'' by József Gaál (1839) in which he introduced the tárogató alongside standard orchestral instruments. His operas included ''Gizul'' (premiered 21 December 1841), ''The Siege of Tihany'' (''Tihany ostroma''; 12 April 1845), and ''The Would-be Invalid'' (''A képzelt beteg''; 11 October 1855).Italian Opera
Italian Opera. Retrieved 11 January 2012. ''Gizul'' was described as a "... remarkable reflection of the endeavour to give tsschooling .e. musical techniquea Hungarian character, to adorn it as if it were in Hungarian garment". His other music includes a Symphony (1871); a Trio in D minor for two violins and viola, Op. 60; a ''Hungarian March'' for piano 6-hands; ''Landleben'', 8 Character Pieces for piano, Op. 38; a Nocturne for solo piano, and songs for plays about Hungarian village life. Thern's music has been rediscovered by the Hungarian pianist Ilona Prunyi. Karoly Thern made a number of arrangements for piano duet or two pianos, including: *

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

's Piano Concerto in A minor (commenced by Grieg and added to by Thern; Thern's version was published in Leipzig in 1876 and has been recently recorded for the first time) *

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's 4th Piano Concerto *Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15 "Rakoczy March" (under the pseudonym "Reth. N. Karoly") *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

's Andante and Variations for 2 pianos, 2 cellos and horn, Op. 46 *

Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer. Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p ...

's Overture ''Sakuntala'', Op. 13 *

Robert Volkmann Friedrich Robert Volkmann (6 April 1815 – 30 October 1883) was a German composer. Life Robert Volkmann was born in Lommatzsch near Meißen in the Kingdom of Saxony. His father, a music director for a church, trained him in music to prepare him ...

's ''Variations on a Theme of Handel'', Op. 26. His sons Willi and Louis Thern were his best piano students, and they became a famous team of duo pianists and later teachers. Thern was an ardent champion of

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 used his melody ''Fóti dal'' in his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1. Liszt dedicated ''Eucharistia'' to Karoly Thern, and his arrangement for piano 4-hands of the marches by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

to his sons Willi and Louis. Thern died in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1886.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thern, Karoly 1817 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Hungarian classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century Hungarian male musicians 19th-century conductors (music) Hungarian classical pianists Hungarian male conductors (music) Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian music educators Hungarian people of Czech descent Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian people of Slovak descent Hungarian Romantic composers Hungarian male classical pianists People from Jihlava People from Spišská Nová Ves Piano educators