1. Life and career

2. Compositions
    Original works  Transcriptions 

3. References

Theodor Szántó, also seen as Tivadar Szántó (3 June 1877^[1][1][2]{{spaced ndash}}7 January 1934) was a Hungarian Jewish^[4] pianist and composer.

Life and career

Szántó was born in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His family name was originally Smulevic, of Jewish and Slavic origin.^[5] His musical studies were in Vienna and Budapest, and with Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin 1898-1901.^[3] He resided in Paris from 1905, Switzerland from 1914, and Budapest from 1921 until his death there in 1934.^[4]

Szántó contributed substantially to the rewriting of the piano part of the third and final version of Frederick Delius’s Piano Concerto in C minor, and he introduced this version at a Prom Concert in London on 22 October 1907 under Henry Wood.^[5] For these services, Delius dedicated the Concerto to Szántó.^[4] He also played the work at the Proms in 1912, 1913 and 1921.^[6] This final version has become the standard version, but Delius's original conception has also been recorded.^[7]

Theodor Szántó was an early champion of the music of Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók.^[8] It was his playing of Bartók's Romanian Dance in 1914 that introduced Arthur Hartmann to the music of that composer.^[9] For his part, however, Bartók had little respect for Szántó.^[10]

He exhibited an interest in the music of Japan by writing at least three works using Japanese influences (an opera, an orchestral suite, and a piano suite).^[4][8]

He also made some piano transcriptions of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Igor Stravinsky, which reveal a virtuoso technique. His complete piano works ^[11][12] are recorded by the composer and virtuoso pianist Artur Cimirro for the cd label Acte Prealable

Szanto was considered an important piano teacher.^[13] His students included Berta Alves de Sousa in Paris.

Szántó was awarded the Legion of Honour.^[10]

Compositions

Original works

Szántó's own original compositions include:

• Violin Sonata, 1906
• Land and Sea Symphony, 1909
• Contrasts, piano suite, 1912^[14]
• 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^[15] (This work has been recorded by Noriko Ogawa^[16])
• Taifun: A Japanese Tragedy in Three Acts^[17][18] an opera on a Japanese subject, set to a libretto by Menyhert Lengyel based on his play Typhoon; the opera was premiered in Mannheim 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^[19]

Transcriptions

• Johann Sebastian Bach: About a dozen transcriptions,^[8] including:
  • Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542, 1904^[20] (This has been recorded by Cyprien Katsaris^[21] and Marc-André Hamelin^[22])
  • Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV 543,1912^[23]
  • Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546, 1914^[24]
  • Passacaglia in C minor, BWV 582, 1932^[25]
  • 4 Organ Chorale Preludes, c. 1900^[26]
  • Aus der Tiefe rufe ich
  • Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 649
  • Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod
  • Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr, BWV 663
• Igor Stravinsky:
  • Suite of five pieces from Petrushka, 1922^[27]
  • "Fète populaire de la semaine grasse"
  • "Chez Petrouchka"
  • "Chez le maure"
  • "Danse de la ballerina"
  • "Danse russe"
  • "Marche chinoise" from Le Rossignol^[8][28]

References

• Jozien Bensing
• Jozi Stars
• Joziwood
• Jozka Jaburkova
• Jozka Veselska
• Joz Norris
• Jozo Matošić
• Jozo Stanic
• Jozo Stanić
• Jozsa Berc
• Jozsa Langos
• Jozsa, Richard
• Jozsef Acs (author)
• Jozsef Acs (musician)
• Jozsef Acs (painter)
• Jozsef Acs (sculptor)
• Jozsef Apro
• Jozsef Bakai
• Jozsef Bokor
• Jozsef Boros
• Jozsef Csicsvari
• Jozsef de Revay
• Jozsef Doncsecz
• Jozsef Fabinyi
• Jozsef Ficsor