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in: 1907 births, 1995 deaths

Miklós Rózsa

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Miklós Rózsa (Budapest, april 18, 1907 – Hollywood, 27 July 1995) was an American composer, music teacher, musicologist and conductor of Hungarian birth. For certain works he used the pseudonym: Nic Tomay.

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[hide]*1 early life

Life Course[Edit][]

Rózsa received a 5-year-old age violin and viola lessons from his uncle Lajos Berkovits in his hometown. Berkovits was a member of the Orchestra of the Royal Hungarian opera. Of his mother, who was a colleague of Béla Bartók had been at the Conservatory in Budapest, he learned to play the piano. He was President of the public and composing performing in public. The family had a home of their own in inhabited by the Palóc Hungarians, North of Budapest. There he came with music of the rural population (farmers and Gypsies) in contact. Rózsa and collected melodies. At the age of 7 he wrote his first small pieces.

From 1925 to 1929 he attended the school of music and theatre Felix Mendelssohn to Leipzig and studied composition with Hermann Grabner, as well as to the University of Leipzig musicology at Theodor Kroyer. In 1929, his North Hungarian peasant songs and dancesfor violin and Orchestra, op. 5a premiere.

In the spring of 1931 Rózsa traveled to Paris, where he was introduced to Arthur Honegger, Charles-Marie Widor and Pierre Monteux. In 1932 he lived in Paris. Was going to be hot next year theme, variations and Finale, op. 13 in Duisburg in Premiere. This work was in the ensuing 3 years over 60 times throughout Europe .

For the film company Pathé Nathan wrote Rózsa film music and numerous fanfares under his pseudonym Nic Tomay.

Between 1935 and 1939 Rózsa constantly shuttled between Paris and London. His first stay in London began a happy coincidence. Shortly after his arrival, he was commissioned to write the music for a Hungarian ballet production. The ballet, entitled Hungaria, became two years successfully in London. He came to a residence permit, Rózsa was a student at the Trinity College of Music of Max Reger.

When the French Director Jacques Feyder came to London in 1936, he went along with Rózsa to the ballet performance of Hungaria and asked the young composer, the music for his film Knights without Armour . In the movie studio of the Hungarian Alexander Korda were the contracts signed. Rózsa later wrote In his autobiography, that when his musical double life started. A Double Life was also the title of this autobiography, published in 1982, because his work on the one hand for the film, and on the other hand, conceived for the concert hall as musical double life.

In 1937 and 1938 he was with the staff of his hometown Budapest.

In summer 1940, he emigrated to the United States; He lived in Hollywood. The film music for The Jungle Book was his first composition in the new world. In 1943 he conducted his first concert with the famous Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

From 1945 he taught at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. One of his students was Jerry Goldsmith.

For the film music to Spellbound (1945) and A Double Life (1947), he became in short time twice with the Academy Award . He was the composer for MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios) from 1949 to 1962. His best known composition in this genre is the film music for the film Ben-Hur from 1959. For this he received his third Oscar (Academy Award).

Compositions[Edit][]

Works for Orchestra[Edit][]

  • 1929 Rhapsody, for cello and Orchestra, op. 3
  • 1929 variations on a Hungarian peasant song, for violin and Orchestra, op. 4
  • 1929 North Hungarian peasant songs and dancesfor violin and Orchestra, op. 5a
  • 1930 Rev.1993 Symphony, op. 6, revision C. Palmer, as op. 6a;
  • 1930 Scherzo, op. 11
  • 1932 , Rev.1932 Serenadefor small Orchestra, op. 10, revision as op. 25;
  • 1933 Rev.1943 theme, variations and Finale, op. 13a
  • 1943 Rev.1957 Concert, for strings, op. 17
  • 1946 , Hungarian serenadefor small Orchestra, op. 25
  • 1947 Kaleidoscope, op. 19
  • 1948 3 Hungarian sketches, op. 14
  • 1952 the daughter of the wine grower, 12 variations on a French folk song, op. 23
  • 1956 Concerto for violin and Orchestra, op. 24
  • 1957 Overture for a symphonic concert, op. 26
  • 1959 Background to Violence-suite (from the films: "Brute Force", "The Naked City" & "The Killers")
  • Notturno Ungherese 1964 , op. 28
  • 1966 Sinfonia Concertante, op. 29
  • 1967 Piano Concerto, op. 31
  • 1971 Cello Concerto, op. 32
  • 1972 Historia Tripartita, op. 33
  • 1979 Viola Concerto, op. 37
  • 1984 Spellbound Concerto, for 2 pianos and Orchestra
  • 1984 New England Concerto, for 2 pianos and Orchestra (from the movies: Lydia and Time out of Mind)
  • 1992 , Andantefor String Orchestra, op. 22a

Works for wind Orchestra[Edit][]

  • 1951 "triumphal March" from the film music to "Quo Vadis", for concert band
  • 1959 Spellbound concertofor two pianos and band-operation: t. r. Bennett
  • Fantasy, 1982 for brass, timpani and organ
  • El Cid, concert March
  • Concert Overture, for Orchestra, op. 26
  • Overture from the film music to "Ben Hur", for concert band
  • «Parade Of The Charioteers» from the movie "Ben Hur"

Music Theatre[Edit][]

Ballets[Edit][]

Music for films[Edit][]

Legend[Edit][]

  • (UN): nominated for an Oscar
  • (O): winner of an Oscar

Publications[Edit][]

  • The Music of the Movies, AFI Seminar, February 15, 1984 (8: 00 pm.). Tape recording of the seminar is held at the AFI/Louis b. Mayer Library (Los Angeles)
  • A Double Life. The Autobiography of Miklós Rózsa, Composer in the Golden Years of Hollywood, Tunbridge Wells [...]: Midas Books [...] 1982.-Repr. New York: Wynwood Press 1989., 224 p., ISBN 0-85936-209-4
  • Eletem történeteiből . (Von den Geschichten Macdonald Laird), Budapest: Zeneműkiadó 1980. 177 p., ISBN 963-330-354-0

Bibliography[Edit][]

  • Roland Mörchen: Imposing Klangspektren. Miklós Rózsa zum 100. Geburtstag, in: Film-Service 60.8, 2007, s. 42-44
  • Stéphane Chanudaud: Miklos Rozsa, in: Positif, 468, Fév. 2000, s. 97-101
  • James Southall: Miklos Rozsa at MGM, in: Film Score Monthly 5.2, 2000, s. 43-44
  • William Darby: American film music: major composers, techniques, trends, 1915-1990, Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999. 623 p., ISBN 978-0-7864-0753-8
  • Matthias Keller: Miklós Rózsa. Museum im Münchner Stadtmuseum Retrospektive, Film, Munich: Selbstverlag 1998
  • James Pavelek: Miklos Rozsa, in: soundtrack! The collector's Quarterly 17, Sept. 1998, s. 5-9
  • Bruce Eder: Miklos Rozsa, in: Films in Review 47, March/April 1996, s. 2-6 +
  • Miklos Rozsa-obituary, in: Notes 52: 1128 N4 1996
  • Miklos Rozsa-obituary, in: Choir & Organ 4: 4 N1 1996
  • Stewart Gordon: Other European Composers of the Twentieth Century, in: A History of Keyboard Literature. Music for the Piano and its Forerunners, New York: Schirmer Books, 1996, 566 p., ISBN 978-0-534-25197-0
  • Miklos Rozsa-obituary, in: Crescendo & Jazz Music 32: 34 N6 1995-1996
  • Miklos Rozsa-obituary, in: American Organist: 29: 59 Oct 1995
  • Doug Raynes: A filmography/discography or Miklos Rozsa, in: soundtrack! The collector's Quarterly 13, June 1994, s. 34-57
  • Wolfgang Suppan, Armin Suppan: Das Neue Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, 4. Auflage, Freiburg-Tiengen, Blasmusikverlag Schulz GmbH, 1994, ISBN 3-923058-07-1
  • Wolfgang Suppan: Das neue Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, 3. Auflage, Freiburg-Tiengen, Blasmusikverlag Schulz GmbH, 1988, ISBN 3-923058-04-7
  • Wolfgang Suppan: Lexikon des Blasmusikwesens, 2. erweiterte und ergänzte Auflage, Freiburg-Tiengen, Blasmusikverlag Fritz Schulz, 1976
  • Jacques-Emmanuel Fousnaquer, Claude Glayman, Christian Leble: Musiciens de notre temps depuis 1945, Paris: Editions Plume, 1992, 542 p., ISBN 2-908034-32-8
  • David m. Cummings, Dennis k. McIntire: International who's who in music and musician's directory (in the classical and light classical fields), Twelfth edition 1990/91, Cambridge, England: International Who's Who in Music, 1991. 1096 p., ISBN 0-948875-20-8
  • James l. Limbacher, h. Stephen Wright: Keeping score: film and television music, 1980-1988 (with additional coverage or 1921-1979), Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991. 928 p., ISBN 978-0-8108-2453-9
  • Sources for scores and parts: Syracuse University Library, The George Arents Research Library fo [sic] Special Collections-Miklos Rozsa Papers, Cue Sheet: 8: 57 N2 1991,
  • Paul e. Bierley, William h. Rehrig: The heritage encyclopedia of band music: composers and their music, Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1991, ISBN 0-918048-08-7
  • Christopher Palmer: The composer in Hollywood, London, New York: Marion Boyars Publishers, 1990. 346 p., ISBN 978-0-7145-2885-4
  • Kurtz Myers: Performer Index: Conductors, in: Index to record reviews 1984-1987: based on material originally published in "Notes", the quarterly journal of the Music Library Association between 1984 AND 1987, Boston, Massachusetts: G.K. Hall, 1989, 639 p., ISBN 978-0-8161-0482-6
  • Kurtz Myers: Performer Index: Conductors, in: Index to record reviews, 1978-1983: based on material originally published in "Notes", the quarterly journal of the Music Library Association, between 1978 and 1983, 1st Suppl., Boston, Massachusetts: G K Hall, December 1985, 873 p., ISBN 978-0-8161-0435-2
  • R.S. Brown: An interview with Miklos Rozsa, in: Fanfare 11: 406-14 N6 1988
  • Steven d. Wescott: A comprehensive bibliography of music for film and television, Detroit: Information Coordinatores, 1985, 432 p., ISBN 978-0-89990-027-8
  • Steven d. Wescott: Interview with Miklos Rozsa, 1/10/84.
  • Alain Lacombe: Hollywood rhapsody: l ' âge d'or de la musique de film à Hollywood, Concerne les musiciens de l ' âge d'or hollywoodien avec une discographie de cette période, Paris: Jobert Transatlantiques, 1983. 292 p.
  • François Vallerand: An Interview with Miklos Rozsa, 24 Images (Quebec), no. 12 (Apr. 1982)
  • Gian Carlo Bertolina: Miklós Rózsa e Billy Wilder: storia di una collaborazione, Film critica (Rome), Rivista mensile di Studi sul Cinema 33, Nov./Dic. 1982 (= 329/330), s. 594-602.
  • David Kraft, Richard Kraft: A Conversation with Miklós Rózsa and Carl Reiner, soundtrack collector's Newsletter, 1 (Sep. 1982), p. 13-22-soundtrack collector's Newsletter, 1 (Dec. 1982), p. 17-23.
  • Bertrand Borie: La Musique de Miklos Rozsa, Pesitif (Paris), Nos. 244-245 (July-Aug. 1981), p. 50-51.
  • Bertrand Borie: Miklos Rozsa: grandeur et passion, in: Revija za Film in Televizijo, Ekran: 74, 15.11.1978, s. 37-48
  • Dominique Rabourdin: Entretien avec Miklos Rozsa, Cinéma 80,258 [= C80], June 1980, s. 55-67
  • Olivier Eyquem, Jacques Saada: Rencontre avec Miklós Rózsa, in: Positif, 189, Janv. 1977, s. 49-56.
  • D. The film composer: Feli. 1. Miklós Rózsa, in: Films and Filming 23, May 1977, s. 20-24
  • H. Niogret: La musique de Miklós Rózsa, in: Positif, 189, Jan. 1977, s. 42-48
  • Roberto Pugliese: Due maestri hollywoodiani: Rózsa e Herrmann, in: Rivista mensile di Studi sul Cinema Film critic: 28, Dec. 1977, s. 379-89.
  • Christopher Palmer: Miklós Rózsa. A sketch of life and work., London/Wiesbaden: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1975

External links[Edit][]

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