Vilmos Tátrai (7 October 1912 – 2 February 1999) was a Hungarian classical

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

and the founder of the Tátrai Quartet.

Life

Tátrai was born in Kispest, now 19th district of Budapest. A professor 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 ...

, he founded the Tátrai Quartet in 1946 with members of the Budapest orchestra. The quartet was then formed by Tátrai on the first violin, Mihály Szűcs on the second violin, József Iványi at the

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

and Vera Dénes – replaced in 1951 by Ede Banda – on the

cello 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 ...

. In 1948, the quartet won the Bartók String Quartet Competition. Shortly after this award, Tátrai became

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

of the Hungarian National Philharmonic, a position he held until 1982, when he founded the Hungarian Chamber Orchestra in 1957, of which he was the leader, although the ensemble did not have a conductor. His autobiography was published posthumously in 2001. In 2012, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, a month-long exhibition on his life and work took place at the Müpa Budapest. Tátrai had been awarded the

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

by the Hungarian government in 1958.

References

External links

Tatrai
on AllMusic * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatrai, Vilmos Hungarian classical violinists 20th-century violinists Hungarian male classical violinists Concertmasters Hungarian music educators Academic staff of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music Artists of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic Musicians from Budapest 1912 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Hungarian male musicians