Gyula Major (1858-1925)

[Alan Howe]

Thank you, Gareth.

[Mark Thomas]

I had quite forgotten about Major. This is all very tantalising, if only on paper.

[Gareth Vaughan]

and his Balaton symphonic poem Op.55.

Given that the Balaton symphonic poem is also listed elsewhere as Op. 55, I think the Hungarian State Library's designation of the Mazurka-Fantaisie for piano and orchestra as Op. 55 must be an error. The 2-piano versions of the 3 Fantaisies held in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin are catalogued as Op. 63, which accords with the list at IMSLP.

[eschiss1]

Hyperion and/or Hungaroton or someone.

[Reverie]

Here is a snippet from the Concert Symphonique (1894 ?) for piano and orchestra. It's from the start of the final movement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JazSKSYZ0QY&feature=youtu.be

[Gareth Vaughan]

Absolutely fascinating. Very, very good to be able to hear this attractive music properly at last. Thank you very much. I am hopeful that Hyperion will record the Concerto Symphonique and 2nd PC with (perhaps) one of the Concert Fantasies. Simon Perry is certainly aware of the music. We shall have to wait and see.

[Alan Howe]

Well, I thought this was absolutely fascinating - and original. Certainly one for the Hyperion RPC series, I'd've thought. Thanks! And I posted this at precisely the same time as Gareth!

[semloh]

What a great testament to everyone's dedication to UCs. This thread started almost six years ago and is still being followed-up. And, when commercial recordings eventually appear, no doubt they'll be announced here, and commented upon here. I love it! 

[Sharkkb8]

Some additional biographical info on Major: 

https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/en/product/major-gyula-2/

J. Gyula Major
(b. Košice, 13 December 1858 – d. Budapest, 30 January 1925)

Concerto symphonique for piano and orchestra, op. 12

Preface
Little is known of the life, music, and career of the Hungarian composer, pianist, and teacher Jakab Gyula Major, aka Julius Gyula Major, Jules Jacques Major, Julius J. Mayer, and James Julius Mayer. (With the Magyarization of Hungary in the latter half of the nineteenth century, he changed his name from Mayer to Major.) He was born on 13 December 1858 in Kashau, now known as Košice in present-day Slovakia, but part of Hungary at the time. From 1877 to 1881 he studied composition with Robert Volkmann and piano with Ferenc Erkel und Franz Liszt at the Budapest Academy of Music. In December 1876, and thus even before he had begun his studies, Liszt wrote to his former pupil Johann Nepomuk Dunkl, "Yesterday your protégé, the young pianist Mayer, played a couple of pieces to me, presentably and with understanding. Indeed, he seems highly talented and worthy of further support" (Franz Liszt, Briefe aus ungarischen Sammlungen 1835-1886, ed. Margit Prahács, Kassel, 1966). Liszt was as good as his word: he later accepted Major into his close circle of associates. Major also appeared as a pianist at the Liszt memorial concert of the Philharmonic Society on 25 October 1886 (Prahács, op. cit.).

Major lived and worked mainly in Budapest, where he taught at local music schools and teacher training institutes and founded a women's chorus that he headed for more than ten years. His fame as a pianist extended beyond the borders of Hungary. In 1904 and 1905 he was an active ethnomusicologist, conducting field research in Transylvania with the cultural anthropologist Béla Vikár. He died in Budapest at the age of sixty-seven.

Being a pupil of Volkmann, who cultivated the classical-romantic tradition alongside Schumann and Brahms, and Erkel, a founding father of Hungary's national music (and the composer of its national anthem), Major combines the German symphony with stylistic elements from Hungarian and Slavonic folk music. But he was less radical and rigorous in his assimilation of Hungary's folk music than Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. This explains the comment that Bartók, a fiery patriot who opposed the hegemony of German music, made to the pianist István Thomán: "Not only do I grant my permission for the performance, I'm also delighted that you've chosen my humble 'fledgling effort' [the violin sonata], although in your own interest I would advise you to play something more ingratiating. The full chorus of critics and half of the audience look forward to 'Major', while 'Bartók' finds a friendly reception only from three or four of his adherents!" (Translated from Béla Bartók, Briefe, ed. János Demény, vol. 1, Budapest, 1973).

Major, in his rhapsodies, symphonic poems, and vernacular operas, cloaked Hungarian melodies in late-romantic garb. Music in the style hongrois – so-called "gypsy music" – was en vogue throughout Europe since the days of Liszt, the best examples being Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies and Brahms's Hungarian Dances.

[pianoconcerto]

Regarding the date of the Concert symphonique, Op. 12, David E. Schneider in "Bartok, Hungary, and the Renewal of Tradition" (2006), p. 39, notes that the work was performed on 15 Feb. 1888, based on lists of programs of the Philharmonic Society included Béla Csuka's "Nine Decades in the Service of Hungarian Musical Art" [English translation of orig. Hungarian title], 1943).  I think that's why New Grove gives the date as "?1888".  The work was dedicated to the memory of Major's teacher, Robert Volkman, who died in 1883, so the late 1880s also seems appropriate.

[eschiss1]

Apologies for resurrecting on perhaps insufficient cause, but this dissertation about some of Major's works looks interesting - about his Bosnian-music-inspired works, specifically.

One sometimes finds some neat stuff made available on the web by people who've put some real work into it, imhonesto. I really appreciate this.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Eric, it promises to be a diverting read.

[Alan Howe]

Listening to the excerpt from the Concert Symphonique once again led me to wonder whether there's been any progress in getting this lovely music recorded...

[eschiss1]

Or modern performances, either. I see an announcement of a concert with his Op.71 Bosnian Rhapsody from back in 2018, but it would be nice to see more - admittedly, that would be easier if more of his music were available, of course, but it's been hard to find. Some libraries around the world have some of his chamber music, but not ones that loan it out much, I think (maybe the British Library has some of his works? If someone's interested in performing one of his piano works and they have something, this may be an avenue worth following up?)