Mátyás Seiber
Encyclopedia
Mátyás György Seiber (ˈmaːcaːʃ ˈʃaibɛr; 4 May 190524 September 1960) was a Hungarian
-born composer
who lived and worked in England
from 1935 onward.
, and studied there with Zoltán Kodály
, with whom he toured Hungary collecting folk songs. In 1928, he became director of the jazz
department at the Hoch Conservatory
in Frankfurt
, which offered the first academic jazz courses anywhere. After they were closed by the Nazis in 1933, Seiber left Germany and settled in London. He became a British subject in 1935. From 1942, he was on the staff of Morley College
in London
, where he became a respected teacher of composition
. Several of his students went on to become eminent musicians themselves, including Peter Racine Fricker
, Don Banks
, Anthony Milner
, Hugh Wood
and Wally Stott (who later became Angela Morley
).
He was killed in a car accident
in Kruger National Park
, while on a lecture tour of South Africa
.
and Schoenberg
. His output includes Ulysses (1947), a cantata
on words by James Joyce
; scores to animated films, including Animal Farm
(1954); a setting of the Scottish "poet and tragedian" William McGonagall's work, The Famous Tay Whale
(written for the second of Gerard Hoffnung
's music festivals); three string quartets; and choral
arrangements of Hungarian and Yugoslav
folk songs. He also wrote one opera, Eva spielt mit Puppen (1934), and two operettas, A Palágyi Pekek and Balaton.
Seiber used a pseudonym for his jazz works and popular music: G. S. Mathis or George Mathis (a rearrangement of his name using Anglicised forms), under which name he wrote for John Dankworth
. He was awarded the Ivor Novello Prize
for the song, "By the Fountains of Rome", which was a hit in 1956 in the UK Single Charts, making it to the Top Twenty. (The lyrics were by Norman Newell
, and it was sung by David Hughes
).
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-born composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
who lived and worked in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1935 onward.
Career
Seiber was born in BudapestBudapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, and studied there with Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
, with whom he toured Hungary collecting folk songs. In 1928, he became director of the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
department at the Hoch Conservatory
Hoch Conservatory
Dr. Hoch’s Konservatorium - Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on September 22, 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for music and the arts was established for all age groups. ...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, which offered the first academic jazz courses anywhere. After they were closed by the Nazis in 1933, Seiber left Germany and settled in London. He became a British subject in 1935. From 1942, he was on the staff of Morley College
Morley College
Morley College is an adult education college in London, England. It was founded in the 1880s and has a student population of 10,806 adult students...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where he became a respected teacher of composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. Several of his students went on to become eminent musicians themselves, including Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker
Peter Racine Fricker was an English composer who lived in the United States for the last thirty years of his life....
, Don Banks
Don Banks
Donald Oscar Banks was an Australian composer of concert, jazz, and commercial music.He initially studied at the University of Melbourne, then moved to London where he studied with Mátyás Seiber...
, Anthony Milner
Anthony Milner
Anthony Milner was a British composer, teacher and conductor.Milner was born in Bristol, and educated at Douai School, Woolhampton, Berkshire. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied piano with Herbert Fryer and theory with R. O. Morris...
, Hugh Wood
Hugh Wood
Hugh Wood is a British composer.- Biography :While Wood was brought up in a musical family, it was only after graduating in History from Oxford that he decided to dedicate his energies to composition; and he moved to London in 1954 to study with William Lloyd Webber, Anthony Milner, Iain Hamilton,...
and Wally Stott (who later became Angela Morley
Angela Morley
Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....
).
He was killed in a car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
in Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park
Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers and extends from north to south and from east to west.To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is...
, while on a lecture tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Music
Seiber's music is eclectic in style, showing the influences of jazz, BartókBéla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
and Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
. His output includes Ulysses (1947), a cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
on words by James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
; scores to animated films, including Animal Farm
Animal Farm (1954 film)
Animal Farm is a 1954 British animated film by Halas and Batchelor, based on the book of the same name by George Orwell. It was the first British animated feature released worldwide, though Handling Ships was the first British animated feature ever made...
(1954); a setting of the Scottish "poet and tragedian" William McGonagall's work, The Famous Tay Whale
The Famous Tay Whale
"The Famous Tay Whale" is a poem by William Topaz McGonagall about a humpback whale hunted and killed in 1883 in the Firth of Tay near Dundee, Scotland, then the UK's main whaling port. The Tay whale came to public prominence when it was subject to a public dissection by Sir John Struthers and...
(written for the second of Gerard Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works.- Early years :Born in Berlin, and named Gerhard, he was the only child of a well-to-do Jewish couple, Hildegard and Ludwig Hoffnung...
's music festivals); three string quartets; and choral
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
arrangements of Hungarian and Yugoslav
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
folk songs. He also wrote one opera, Eva spielt mit Puppen (1934), and two operettas, A Palágyi Pekek and Balaton.
Seiber used a pseudonym for his jazz works and popular music: G. S. Mathis or George Mathis (a rearrangement of his name using Anglicised forms), under which name he wrote for John Dankworth
John Dankworth
Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...
. He was awarded the Ivor Novello Prize
Ivor Novello
David Ivor Davies , better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh composer, singer and actor who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. Born into a musical family, his first successes were as a songwriter...
for the song, "By the Fountains of Rome", which was a hit in 1956 in the UK Single Charts, making it to the Top Twenty. (The lyrics were by Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...
, and it was sung by David Hughes
David Hughes (tenor)
David Hughes was an English-born popular singer of Welsh extraction who became an opera singer.-The popular tenor:...
).
Alternate name spellings
When searching for Seiber, it should be noted that there are articles with references to Seiber as Seyber and Mathis as Matthis.Sources
- Karolyi, OttoOttó KárolyiOttó Károlyi , having studied in Budapest, Vienna, and London, is a musicologist and the Senior Lecturer of Music at the University of Stirling, Scotland.-Bibliography:*. Introducing Modern Music. ISBN 978-0140131147....
. Modern British music. The second British musical renaissance. From Elgar to P. Maxwell Davies, Associated University Presses, 1994. - Leach, Gerald. British composer profiles. A biographical dictionary and chronology of past British composers 1800-1979, British Music Society, 1980.
- Lyman, Darryl. Great Jews in Music, J. D. Publishers, 1986.
- Sadie, Stanley. The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians, Macmillan, 1980.
- Wood, Hugh; Cooke, Mervyn. Seiber, Mátyás (György), Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy
External links
- Mátyás Seiber 2005 centenary website
- Index of Complete Works of Mátyás Seiber
- Suppressed Music
- The early reception of Jazz in Germany: Mátyás Seiber and the Jazz Orchester of the Hoch Conservatory in a radio recording from 1931
- The first jazz theory class, ever, wasn't offered in the United States—it was at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, Germany