Ödön Pártos
Encyclopedia
Ödön Pártos [alternate English transcription: Oedeon Partos; Hungarian original: Pártos Ödön, Hebrew: עֵדֶן פרטוש (Eden Partosh)] (October 1, 1907 in Budapest
– July 6, 1977 in Tel Aviv
), was a Hungarian-Israeli violist
and composer
. A recipient of the Israel Prize
, he taught and served as director of the Rubin Academy of Musichttp://www.tau.ac.il/arts/music/Eindex.html in Tel Aviv
.
, together with Antal Doráti
and Mátyás Seiber
, studied the violin
with Jenő Hubay
and composition with Zoltán Kodály
. Upon completing his studies, he was accepted to the position of Principal Violinist in an orchestra in Lucerne
, after which he played in other European orchestras, among them, in Berlin
. In 1934, following Hitler’s ascendance to power, Partos returned to his birthplace, Budapest, where he was Principal Violinist in the Budapest Symphony Orchestra|city’s symphony orchestra.
In 1936, Bronisław Huberman founded the Palestine Orchestra (now: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
), for which he recruited Jewish musicians cast out of Europe's orchestras. Huberman sought to include Partos, though the latter's take-up of the post was delayed due to a prior commitment - a contract with the government of the USSR through which Partos taught violin and composition in the Conservatory of Baku, Azerbaijan
. In 1937, Partos left the USSR, after having refused to join the Communist Party
during the period of the Moscow Trials. He returned to Budapest, where he served as the orchestra’s Principal Violinist along with making concert tours of European countries.
At that time, Bronisław Huberman invited Partos to a meeting in Florence
, where he offered him the position of Principal Violist in the Palestine Orchestra. Declining attractive offers from South America (notably, Peru
), Partos immigrated to British-Mandated Palestine
in 1938.
Between the years 1938–1956, Partos was the principal of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
's viola section, as well as playing numerous solo performances in Israel and abroad. In 1946, together with cellist László Vincze
, he founded the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music (now: Buchmann-Mehta School of Music) in Tel Aviv, and in 1959 was instrumental in founding the Thelma Yellin High Schoolhttp://www.thelma-yellin.co.il/?o=English of Art in Tel Aviv. In 1951, Partos was appointed director of the Rubin Academy, a position he was to hold until his death (although the state of his health during his last five years of life prevented him from taking an active part in the Academy's administration, a position filled by Prof. Arie Vardi
who succeeded him as director there).
Ödön Partos is regarded as among the most important Israeli composers. He was awarded the Israel Prize
in 1954, the first honoree in the field of music
.
Among the notable students of Partos: Cecylia Arzewski, Dvora Bartonov, Menahem Breuer, Ilan Gronich, Rivka Golani
, Yehoshua Lakner
http://www.composer.ch/Biografie/Seite1.htm, Avraham Sternklar and Noa Blasshttp://english.noablass.com/.
Budapest
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...
– July 6, 1977 in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
), was a Hungarian-Israeli violist
Violist
-Notable violists:A* Julia Rebekka Adler * Sir Hugh Allen , conductor* Kris Allen * Johann Andreas Amon * Paul Angerer , composer* Steven Ansell * Atar Arad * Cecil Aronowitz...
and 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...
. A recipient of the Israel Prize
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, he taught and served as director of the Rubin Academy of Musichttp://www.tau.ac.il/arts/music/Eindex.html in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
.
Biography
Partos was born in Budapest (at that time, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of MusicFranz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
, together with Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti
Antal Doráti, KBE was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1947.-Biography:...
and Mátyás Seiber
Mátyás Seiber
Mátyás György Seiber was a Hungarian-born composer who lived and worked in England from 1935 onward.-Career:Seiber was born in Budapest, 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...
, studied the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
with Jenő Hubay
Jeno Hubay
Eugen Huber , better known by his Hungarian name Jenő Hubay , was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher.-Early life:Eugen Huber was born into a German family of musicians in Pest, Hungary...
and composition 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....
. Upon completing his studies, he was accepted to the position of Principal Violinist in an orchestra in Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
, after which he played in other European orchestras, among them, in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1934, following Hitler’s ascendance to power, Partos returned to his birthplace, Budapest, where he was Principal Violinist in the Budapest Symphony Orchestra|city’s symphony orchestra.
In 1936, Bronisław Huberman founded the Palestine Orchestra (now: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
), for which he recruited Jewish musicians cast out of Europe's orchestras. Huberman sought to include Partos, though the latter's take-up of the post was delayed due to a prior commitment - a contract with the government of the USSR through which Partos taught violin and composition in the Conservatory of Baku, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. In 1937, Partos left the USSR, after having refused to join the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
during the period of the Moscow Trials. He returned to Budapest, where he served as the orchestra’s Principal Violinist along with making concert tours of European countries.
At that time, Bronisław Huberman invited Partos to a meeting in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, where he offered him the position of Principal Violist in the Palestine Orchestra. Declining attractive offers from South America (notably, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
), Partos immigrated to British-Mandated Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
in 1938.
Between the years 1938–1956, Partos was the principal of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphony orchestra in Israel. It was originally known as the Palestine Orchestra, and in Hebrew as התזמורת הסימפונית הארץ ישראלית The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit...
's viola section, as well as playing numerous solo performances in Israel and abroad. In 1946, together with cellist László Vincze
László Vincze
László Vincze is a Hungarian sprint canoer who competed in the late 1980s. He won a silver medal in the K-4 10000 m event at the 1989 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Plovdiv.-References:**...
, he founded the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music (now: Buchmann-Mehta School of Music) in Tel Aviv, and in 1959 was instrumental in founding the Thelma Yellin High Schoolhttp://www.thelma-yellin.co.il/?o=English of Art in Tel Aviv. In 1951, Partos was appointed director of the Rubin Academy, a position he was to hold until his death (although the state of his health during his last five years of life prevented him from taking an active part in the Academy's administration, a position filled by Prof. Arie Vardi
Arie Vardi
Arie Vardi is an Israeli classical pianist and piano pedagogue.He is currently teaching at the Buhmann-Mehta Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hanover and at the Bowdoin International Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine...
who succeeded him as director there).
Ödön Partos is regarded as among the most important Israeli composers. He was awarded the Israel Prize
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
in 1954, the first honoree in the field of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
.
Among the notable students of Partos: Cecylia Arzewski, Dvora Bartonov, Menahem Breuer, Ilan Gronich, Rivka Golani
Rivka Golani
Rivka Golani is an Israeli viola player.She has performed as soloist with orchestras including the Boston Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Hong Kong Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan,...
, Yehoshua Lakner
Yehoshua Lakner
Yehoshua Lakner was a composer of contemporary classical music...
http://www.composer.ch/Biografie/Seite1.htm, Avraham Sternklar and Noa Blasshttp://english.noablass.com/.
Further reading
Avner Bahat, Eden Partosh: Chayav ve-yetsirato. Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1984 (in Hebrew)General references
- Lyman, Darryl. Great Jews in Music, J. D. Publishers, 1986.
- Tischler, Alice. A descriptive bibliography of art music by Israeli composers, Harmonie Park Press, 1988.
- Weingarten, Elmar; Traber, Habakuk. Verdrängte Musik. Berliner Komponisten im Exil, Argon Verlag, 1987.
External links
- Biography, Israel Music Institute http://www.imi.org.il/composerInfo.asp?num=121
- Jewish Music Festival at the Hungarian Cultural Centre, London http://www.hungary.org.uk/English/focus/2000/jewishmusicfestival/jewish_music_festival_body.htm
- The American Symphony Orchestra will perform the US Premiere of Ein gev, Symphonic Fantasy (1952) in 2009 http://www.americansymphony.org
Note
- This article is based on a translation of the article in the Hebrew Wikipedia; retrieved May 15, 2006.