Csíky Boldizsár
Composer
Place of Birth
Marosvásárhely (Tirgu Mures)
Date of Birth
1937
Boldizsár Csíky, a Hungarian composer, teacher and musicologist, was born on October 3, 1937, in Marosvásárhely.
In Marosvásárhely, he attended the Farkas Bolyai High School (1954) and the High School of the Arts (1955). He graduated from the Gheorghe Dima Music Conservatory in Cluj-Napoca in 1961. From 1961 to 1990, he served as artistic secretary of the Târgu Mureș State Philharmonic; he was its director from 1990 to 1997 and its advisor from 1997 to 2000. From 2006 to 2013, he was a professor of harmony, counterpoint, musical form, and chamber music at the Faculty of Music Education of the University of Arts in Târgu Mureș. He has been a member of the Romanian Composers’ and Musicologists’ Union since 1968 and a member of the Hungarian Composers’ Union since 1994.
His essays, reviews, and interviews have been published in specialized journals and magazines in Romania and Hungary (e.g. Utunk; Korunk; Új Élet). He conducted research on the history of musical life in Târgu Mureș; his study, titled “Orchestral Music in Târgu Mureș”, was published in the collection Essays in Musicology (1977). His orchestral works include an adaptation of Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos’s historical songs; his vocal-symphonic work The Torchbearers, based on a text by Zoltán Veress; his cantata October, based on a poem by Pál Bodor; his chamber opera Ilona Görög, a ballad adaptation; and he is currently working on a vocal-symphonic work based on the Barcsai Ballad. His folk song suites, Csángó and Szilágyság dance suites, and folk choral works provide the artistic foundation for his settings of poems by Hungarian classics and contemporary writers (Arany, Ady, Attila József, Sándor Weöres), as well as by Hungarian poets (Zoltán Hajdu, Imre Horváth, Zoltán Márki, Domokos Szilágyi). His symphonic poem The Mountain was premiered in Târgu Mureș on the occasion of the 1979 Music Days. His essay, titled “Orchestral Music in Marosvásárhely”, was published in the collection Essays on Musicology (1977).
A concert was held in his honor on November 17, 2007, at the Óbuda Social Club to celebrate his 70th birthday.
Awards:
1986 – Béla Bartók–Ditta Pásztory Award
1980 – George Enescu Award from the Romanian Academy
1999 – Dániel Berzsenyi Award from the Hungarian Berzsenyi Society
2002 – Ferenc Erkel Award from the Hungarian Cultural Administration
2003 – Honoris Causa Civitate Donatus – Honorary Citizen of Târgu Mureș
2013 – Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit
2021 — Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hungarian Academy of Arts
Additional Recognitions:
Award of Excellence and the “Fibula de la Suseni” Distinction from the Mureș Prefecture
Award of Excellence from the Târgu Mureș City Hall
Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, France
In Marosvásárhely, he attended the Farkas Bolyai High School (1954) and the High School of the Arts (1955). He graduated from the Gheorghe Dima Music Conservatory in Cluj-Napoca in 1961. From 1961 to 1990, he served as artistic secretary of the Târgu Mureș State Philharmonic; he was its director from 1990 to 1997 and its advisor from 1997 to 2000. From 2006 to 2013, he was a professor of harmony, counterpoint, musical form, and chamber music at the Faculty of Music Education of the University of Arts in Târgu Mureș. He has been a member of the Romanian Composers’ and Musicologists’ Union since 1968 and a member of the Hungarian Composers’ Union since 1994.
His essays, reviews, and interviews have been published in specialized journals and magazines in Romania and Hungary (e.g. Utunk; Korunk; Új Élet). He conducted research on the history of musical life in Târgu Mureș; his study, titled “Orchestral Music in Târgu Mureș”, was published in the collection Essays in Musicology (1977). His orchestral works include an adaptation of Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos’s historical songs; his vocal-symphonic work The Torchbearers, based on a text by Zoltán Veress; his cantata October, based on a poem by Pál Bodor; his chamber opera Ilona Görög, a ballad adaptation; and he is currently working on a vocal-symphonic work based on the Barcsai Ballad. His folk song suites, Csángó and Szilágyság dance suites, and folk choral works provide the artistic foundation for his settings of poems by Hungarian classics and contemporary writers (Arany, Ady, Attila József, Sándor Weöres), as well as by Hungarian poets (Zoltán Hajdu, Imre Horváth, Zoltán Márki, Domokos Szilágyi). His symphonic poem The Mountain was premiered in Târgu Mureș on the occasion of the 1979 Music Days. His essay, titled “Orchestral Music in Marosvásárhely”, was published in the collection Essays on Musicology (1977).
A concert was held in his honor on November 17, 2007, at the Óbuda Social Club to celebrate his 70th birthday.
Awards:
1986 – Béla Bartók–Ditta Pásztory Award
1980 – George Enescu Award from the Romanian Academy
1999 – Dániel Berzsenyi Award from the Hungarian Berzsenyi Society
2002 – Ferenc Erkel Award from the Hungarian Cultural Administration
2003 – Honoris Causa Civitate Donatus – Honorary Citizen of Târgu Mureș
2013 – Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit
2021 — Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hungarian Academy of Arts
Additional Recognitions:
Award of Excellence and the “Fibula de la Suseni” Distinction from the Mureș Prefecture
Award of Excellence from the Târgu Mureș City Hall
Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow, France
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Evening at the Székely - Transylvanian Hungarian folk songs arranged by Boldizsár Csíky, József Birtalan and Albert Winkler
(Este a székelyeknél - Erdélyi magyar népdalok Csíky Boldizsár, Birtalan József és Winkler Albert feldolgozásában ) |
Hungaria | SSX-943 | LP | |
| 1975 | Orchestră de cameră fără dirijor a Filarmonicii din Tîrgu-Mureș | Electrecord | STM-ECE 01154 | LP |
| 1978 | Zoltán Aladár: Simfonia Nr.2 / Csiky Boldizsár: Preludiu, Coral-fugā Şi Postludiu / Szabó Csaba: Printre Schije De Sticlā | Electrecord | STM-ECE 01504 | LP |