Szervánszky, Woodwind Quintet No. 1 (1st movement)
Hungarian composers have been well represented in the Friday Performance Picks this year. We have featured Kodály, Bartók, and just a couple of weeks ago Ligeti. Liszt has appeared here several times, although not in 2017. Today I want to add another Hungarian composer to the list, one that you may not be familiar with: Endre (Andrew) Szervánszky (1911-1977).
Szervánszky was influenced by Bartók and Kodály and wrote in a similar style, making liberal use of Hungarian folk tunes and rhythms. In the years after World War II, his music also reflected the artistic constraints imposed by communism. Later in the late 1950s and early 1960s he turned to more modern techniques and became an important figure in setting a new direction for Hungarian music.
He studied clarinet performance at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and joined the faculty after the war, remaining there until his death in 1977. His first woodwind quintet dates from 1953. Its accessibility and use of folk tunes follows the artistic guidelines imposed at the time
Szervánszky was given the “Righteous Among the Nations” award by the State of Israel in recognition of his efforts to save Jews from the Nazis.
All four movements of the quintet can be heard here.
