Theodor Szántó, also seen as Tivadar Szántó (3 June 18777 January 1934) was a Hungarian Jewish pianist and composer.

Life and career

Szántó was born in Vienna, then the capital of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. His family name was originally Smulevic, of Jewish and Slavic origin. His musical studies were in Vienna and Budapest, and with

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

in Berlin 1898-1901. He resided in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1905,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

from 1914, and Budapest from 1921 until his death there in 1934.Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. (1954), Vol. VIII, p. 263 Szántó contributed substantially to the rewriting of the piano part of the third and final version of

Frederick Delius file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...

’s Piano Concerto in C minor, and he introduced this version at a Prom Concert in London on 22 October 1907 under

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

. For these services, Delius dedicated the Concerto to Szántó. He also played the work at the Proms in 1912, 1913 and 1921. This final version has become the standard version, but Delius's original conception has also been recorded. Theodor Szántó was an early champion of the music 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. ...

and

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 Hunga ...

.Marc-André Hamelin, Program Notes, Chamber Music Society of Detroit
Retrieved 22 May 2013 It was his playing of Bartók's ''Romanian Dance'' in 1914 that introduced Arthur Hartmann to the music of that composer. For his part, however, Bartók had little respect for Szántó.Peter Laki, Bartok and His World, p. 18
Retrieved 22 May 2013 He exhibited an interest in the music of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

by writing at least three works using Japanese influences (an opera, an orchestral suite, and a piano suite). He also made some piano transcriptions of works by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

and

Igor 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 20th-century c ...

, which reveal a virtuoso technique. His complete piano works are recorded by the composer and virtuoso pianist Artur Cimirro for the CD label Acte Préalable Szanto was considered an important piano teacher.Ezra Mendelsohn, ed., Studies in Contemporary Jewry : Volume IX: Modern Jews and Their Musical ...
Retrieved 22 May 2013 His students included

Berta Alves de Sousa Berta Alves de Sousa (8 April 1906 – 1 August 1997) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese pianist and composer. Biography Candida Berta Alves de Sousa was born in Liège, Belgium. She grew up in Porto, Portugal and studied at the Music Conservator ...

in Paris. Szántó was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Compositions

Original works

Szántó's own original compositions include: * Violin Sonata, 1906 * ''Land and Sea'' Symphony, 1909 * ''Contrasts'', piano suite, 1912 * Variations on a Hungarian Folksong, piano, 1915 * ''Symphonic Rhapsody'', 1917 * ''In Japan'': Essays and Studies in Japanese Harmony based on Native Songs, piano, 1918-22 (This work has been recorded by Noriko Ogawa) * ''Taifun: A Japanese Tragedy in Three Acts'' an opera on a Japanese subject, set to a libretto by Menyhert Lengyel based on his play ''Typhoon''; the opera was premiered in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

on 29 November 1924, and had later productions in Antwerp, Budapest and Vienna * ''Japan Suite'', orchestra, 1926 * ''Magyarorszag: Concert Sonata in Hungarian style'', violin and piano; dedicated to

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Early years Born in Liège, Ysaÿe began ...

Transcriptions

: About a dozen transcriptions, including: ** Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, 1904 (This has been recorded by

Cyprien Katsaris Cyprien Katsaris (; born 5 May 1951) is a French- Cypriot virtuoso pianist, teacher and composer. Amongst his teachers were Monique de la Bruchollerie, a student of Emil von Sauer, who had been a pupil of Franz Liszt. He is known for his refine ...

and

Marc-André Hamelin Marc-André Hamelin, OC, OQ (born September 5, 1961) is a Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer who has received 11 Grammy Award nominations. He is on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. Biography Born in Montreal, Quebec ...

) ** Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543,1912 ** Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546, 1914 ** Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582, 1932 **4 Organ Chorale Preludes, c. 1900 *** ''Aus der Tiefe rufe ich'' *** ''Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ'', BWV 649 *** ''Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod'' on Paul Stockmann's " Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" *** ''Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr'', BWV 663 *

: ** Suite of five pieces from ''

Petrushka Petrushka ( rus, Петру́шка, p=pʲɪtˈruʂkə, a=Ru-петрушка.ogg) is a stock character of Russian folk puppetry. It was first introduced by traveling Italian performers in the first third of the 19th century during a period of W ...

'', 1922 *** "Fète populaire de la semaine grasse" *** "Chez Petrouchka" *** "Chez le maure" *** "Danse de la ballerina" *** "Danse russe" ** "Marche chinoise" from ''

Le Rossignol ''The Nightingale'' () is a short opera in three acts by Igor Stravinsky to a Russian-language libretto by him and Stepan Mitusov, based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen: a nasty Chinese Emperor is reduced to tears and made kind by a small ...

''University of Rochester
Retrieved 22 May 2013

Discography

*2017 : Acte Préalable AP0386 – Tivadar Szántó - Complete Piano Works 1 (Artur Cimirro

*2017 : Acte Préalable AP0387 – Tivadar Szántó - Complete Piano Works 2 (Artur Cimirro

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szanto, Theodor 1877 births 1934 deaths Hungarian classical pianists Hungarian male classical pianists Hungarian Jews Musicians from Vienna Jewish classical composers Jewish classical pianists Recipients of the Legion of Honour Hungarian male classical composers Hungarian classical composers