Miklós Radnai (1 January 1892 – 4 November 1935) was a Hungarian composer, critic and music writer. From 1925 to his death in 1935, he was a noted Intendant of the Hungarian Royal Opera House 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 ...

Biography

At an early age he had lessons with the blind pianist Attila Horváth, and also studied the violin. While still in secondary school, he entered the Academy of Music in

, where he studied under

János Koessler Hans von Koessler (1 January 1853 – 23 May 1926) was a German composer, conductor and music teacher. In Hungary, where he worked for 26 years, he was known as János Koessler. Biography Koessler, a cousin of Max Reger, was born in Waldeck, Fic ...

and Viktor Herzfeld. He taught theory at another music school, and had an extended tour of European countries. In 1919 he became a teacher at the Academy of Music. In 1924, with some associated artists, he gave a performance of his own works, including his Violin Sonata, Poems for piano, and songs. In 1925 he became director of the Hungarian Royal Opera House, the youngest director since

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

. He restored the institution's artistic reputation that had deteriorated during and after World War I, and put its financial affairs on a sound footing. His first venture was to stage the Hungarian premiere of

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

's '' Pelléas et Mélisande''. These were followed by the Hungarian premieres, mostly shortly after their world premieres, of

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

's ''

Oedipus rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

'',

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...

's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'',

Milhaud Darius Milhaud (, ; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

's "three-minute" operas,

Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major ad ...

's ''

Hin und zurück ' (Back and forth) is an operatic 'sketch' (Op. 45a) in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer. It acts as a parody of conventional opera tropes featuring a coloratura ariette, a jealousy duet, and a terzet for ...

'', Malipiero's ''Il finto Arlecchino'' (from his trilogy ''Il mistero di Venezia''), and others. His administration of the Opera House was criticised not only for being too conservative and reactionary, but also for being too adventurous with new works. He introduced 17 stage works by Hungarian composers during his ten-year tenure. He also created a museum for the Opera House, containing fine art objects and historical documents.Budapest VI. kerület TERÉZVÁROS
/ref> He was also the music critic for two daily newspapers. He contributed to periodicals and wrote analyses of operas and the Hungarian repertoire, and he wrote text books on harmony. The Opera House celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1935. He died suddenly the following year, aged only 43. Radnai belongs to the Hungarian post-romantic school, and there are few examples of any Hungarian national elements in his music, a major exception being his choral work ''Symphony of the Magyars''. His harmonic language was mainly influenced by turn-of-the-century French and Italian idioms. He had a strong feel for orchestral colouring, and used impressionist techniques.

Works

Opera

* ''Gold'' (Andor Kozma, 1911) * ''Lovers of Yore'' (aka ''The Former Lovers''), Op. 22 (after

János Arany János Arany (; archaic English: John Arany; 2 March 1817 – 22 October 1882) was a Hungarian poet, writer, translator and journalist. He is often said to be the "Shakespeare of ballads" – he wrote more than 102 ballads that have been transl ...

, 1918–21)

Ballet

* ''The Birthday of the Infanta'' (

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, 1918)

Choral

* ''Symphony of the Magyars'' (solo voices, chorus and orchestra, ? 1923)

Orchestral

* ''Suite symphonique'' (1912) * ''Fairy Tale'' (1915) * ''Five Poems'', suite, Op. 26 (1925) * ''Rhapsody'' (? 1932) * ''Mosaïque'', suite for small orchestra

Concertante

* ''Orkan the Hero'' (aka ''Knight Gale'', ''Heroic Chapters''), tenor and orchestra, Op. 17 (1917) * Violin Concerto (1933)

Chamber

* Piano Trio (1912) * Cello Sonata in B flat major, Op. 2 (1912)Klassika
/ref> * Divertimento for string quartet, Op. 7 * Viola Sonata in D minor (1913) * Violin Sonata, Op. 21 (1922)

Piano

* ''In the Village'', 6 pieces (1916) * ''Times of War'', 6 pieces (1916) * ''Summer Pictures'', 6 pieces (1916) * ''Deux Valses Caprices'' (1916) * ''Trois Morceaux'' (1916; ''Arabesque'', ''Idyll'', ''Burlesque'') * ''Ballroom Scenes'', Op. 16 * ''Deux Sonatines'', Op, 17 (1922) * ''Fünf Klavierstücke'' (1st series), Op. 25 (1922) * ''Fünf Klavierstücke'' (2nd series), Op. 26 (1922)

Songs

* Songs (1911) * 4 songs, 2 vols, Op. 15 (1920) * 5 Transylvanian Folksongs, Op. 23 (for girls’ voices; 1922) * 5 Transylvanian Folksongs, Op. 24 (for boys’ voices; 1922) * ''Burning I am'' (

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady; 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th centur ...

)

References

Sources

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...

ed., Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. 1954

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Radnai, Miklos 1892 births 1935 deaths Hungarian non-fiction writers Hungarian music critics Hungarian music journalists Hungarian opera composers Hungarian male opera composers 20th-century Hungarian classical composers Opera managers 20th-century Hungarian male musicians 20th-century Hungarian journalists