Seiber Mátyás
Composer
Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1905
1905 May 4, Budapest - 1960 September 24, Kruger National Park (South-Africa)
Mátyás Seiber grew up in Budapest. After attending the gymnasium, where he was regarded as outstanding in Mathematics and Latin, he progressed to the Music Academy to study with Kodály. He developed his interest in medieval plainchant, and built on the research of Kodály and Bartók, providing vocal setting of many nations' folksongs. He had a gift for languages. Many choirs benefited over the years from these lifelong interests.
While still in Hungary, he entered his 1925 Wind Sextet in a composition competition with Kodály and Bartók on the jury. The opponents to the "progressive" music he personified did not allow him to win; furious, Bartók resigned from the jury.
In 1927 he left Hungary, and started lecturing in Frankfurt, with a reference from Kodály. There he inaugurated the first academic study of Jazz. In the mid-thirties, the Nazi disapproval of Jazz and Jews (however secular) entailed emigration.
After a period travelling as part of a ship's string quartet, playing his first instrument, the cello, he settled in London in the early 1930's. He taught musical appreciation at Morley College, at the invitation of Michael Tippett. Later, but while still at Morley College, he trained his own choir, The Dorian Singers, who disbanded only on his death.
He also became renowned for his teaching of composition, from home in Caterham, where he moved after marriage in 1947 to Lilla Bauer, another Hungarian émigré, a Ballet Jooss dancer. She trained with Laban, then lectured at Goldsmith's College.
Seiber's reputation as a teacher-composer attracted pupils from all over Europe, including Hugh Wood, Tony Gilbert, Peter Racine Fricker, (who regarded him as the foremost teacher of the century), Ingvar Lidholm, Hinner Bauch, and from Australia, Don Banks. Seiber's works were performed at Cheltenham, at Venice, and other national and international Music Festivals. He was a founder member of the Society for Promotion of New Music, actively pursuing this throughout his life. He did much to bring Bartók's work to public notice in Britain. His life and work linked and developed many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartók and Kodály, to Schoenberg and Serial Music, to jazz, folksong, film and lighter music, (rewarded by an Ivor Novello Prize for 'By The Fountains of Rome'). A late collaboration with John Dankworth produced the 'Improvisations for Jazz Band and Orchestra'. His friendships and work associations embraced many soloists including Tibor Varga, Norbert Brainin, guitarists Julian Bream and John Williams, percussionist Jimmy Blades, folksinger Bert Lloyd, and Peter Pears. He also composed film music for his friends, the progressive animation couple Halas & Batchelor, the best known being 'Animal Farm'. Other film scores included 'A Town like Alice'. Some of his lighter music, especially dance accompaniments and for the accordion was published under the George S. Mathis pseudonym.
He was tragically killed in a car accident in South Africa while on a lecture tour in 1960. Kodály and Ligeti both composed pieces in memoriam. His widow continues to live in the same house in Caterham, in Surrey; his daughter lives in Cambridge.
Mátyás Seiber grew up in Budapest. After attending the gymnasium, where he was regarded as outstanding in Mathematics and Latin, he progressed to the Music Academy to study with Kodály. He developed his interest in medieval plainchant, and built on the research of Kodály and Bartók, providing vocal setting of many nations' folksongs. He had a gift for languages. Many choirs benefited over the years from these lifelong interests.
While still in Hungary, he entered his 1925 Wind Sextet in a composition competition with Kodály and Bartók on the jury. The opponents to the "progressive" music he personified did not allow him to win; furious, Bartók resigned from the jury.
In 1927 he left Hungary, and started lecturing in Frankfurt, with a reference from Kodály. There he inaugurated the first academic study of Jazz. In the mid-thirties, the Nazi disapproval of Jazz and Jews (however secular) entailed emigration.
After a period travelling as part of a ship's string quartet, playing his first instrument, the cello, he settled in London in the early 1930's. He taught musical appreciation at Morley College, at the invitation of Michael Tippett. Later, but while still at Morley College, he trained his own choir, The Dorian Singers, who disbanded only on his death.
He also became renowned for his teaching of composition, from home in Caterham, where he moved after marriage in 1947 to Lilla Bauer, another Hungarian émigré, a Ballet Jooss dancer. She trained with Laban, then lectured at Goldsmith's College.
Seiber's reputation as a teacher-composer attracted pupils from all over Europe, including Hugh Wood, Tony Gilbert, Peter Racine Fricker, (who regarded him as the foremost teacher of the century), Ingvar Lidholm, Hinner Bauch, and from Australia, Don Banks. Seiber's works were performed at Cheltenham, at Venice, and other national and international Music Festivals. He was a founder member of the Society for Promotion of New Music, actively pursuing this throughout his life. He did much to bring Bartók's work to public notice in Britain. His life and work linked and developed many diverse musical influences, from the Hungarian tradition of Bartók and Kodály, to Schoenberg and Serial Music, to jazz, folksong, film and lighter music, (rewarded by an Ivor Novello Prize for 'By The Fountains of Rome'). A late collaboration with John Dankworth produced the 'Improvisations for Jazz Band and Orchestra'. His friendships and work associations embraced many soloists including Tibor Varga, Norbert Brainin, guitarists Julian Bream and John Williams, percussionist Jimmy Blades, folksinger Bert Lloyd, and Peter Pears. He also composed film music for his friends, the progressive animation couple Halas & Batchelor, the best known being 'Animal Farm'. Other film scores included 'A Town like Alice'. Some of his lighter music, especially dance accompaniments and for the accordion was published under the George S. Mathis pseudonym.
He was tragically killed in a car accident in South Africa while on a lecture tour in 1960. Kodály and Ligeti both composed pieces in memoriam. His widow continues to live in the same house in Caterham, in Surrey; his daughter lives in Cambridge.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Saltus Hungaricus | Bayer Records | BR 100 340 | |
| 2005 |
Seiber Mátyás: A költészethez / Kamaraművek és dalok
(Seiber, Mátyás: "To Poetry" / Chamber Works and Songs) |
Hungaroton | HCD 32405 |
Own |
| 2005 |
Seiber Mátyás: Kamaraművek
(Seiber, Mátyás: Chamber Works) |
Hungaroton | HCD 32405 | |
| 2008 |
A közelmúlt magyar fuvolája
(The Near Past of the Hungarian Flute) |
Hungaroton | HCD 32578 | |
| 2013 | Violin and Cello Music - Kodály, Seiber, Rózsa, Székely, Ligeti, Bartók | SWR Classic | CD93.301 |
| Title | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| »Silence« Marsch | Choir and chamber ensemble | 1944 |
| 12 Russian Folk Songs | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1949 |
| 2 Madrigale / 2 Madrigals | Mixed choir | 1929 |
| 3 Graces | Mixed choir | 1958 |
| 6 Yugoslav Folk Songs | Mixed choir | 1942 |
| 77 Breaks | Chamber Music | 1931 |
| A Dialogue between Miss Molly and her Mother about a Hoop | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1948 |
| A Short Vision | Film music | 1956 |
| A Town Like Alice | Film music | 1956 |
| The Diamond | Film music | 1954 |
| The Bakers of Palágy | Opera | 1943 |
| Prelude and Fugue in A minor | Instrumental solo | 0 |
| Abu Builds a Dam | Film music | 1944 |
| Abu and the Poisoned Well | Film music | 1943 |
| Abu´s Dungeon | Film music | 1943 |
| Abu´s Harvest | Film music | 1943 |
| Alle Leut´ sind ausgegangen | Female choir | 1930 |
| Andantino pastorale | Chamber Music | 1949 |
| Animal Farm | Film music | 1954 |
| Animal, Vegetable, Mineral | Film music | 1957 |
| Arabian Music | Music for radio drama | 1945 |
| As Old as the Hills | Film music | 1950 |
| Az hol én elmegyek | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1935 |
| Balaton | Opera | 1944 |
| Besardo Suite [No. 1] | Orchestral work | 1940 |
| Besardo Suite [No. 2] | String orchestra | 1942 |
| Puppet Theatre | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1924 |
| Canone a due | Chamber Music | 1928 |
| Cantata Secularis | Choir and orchestra | 1951 |
| Chansons populaires français / French Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1948 |
| Charley Junior´s Schooldays | Film music | 1949 |
| Charley´s March of Time | Film music | 1948 |
| Chase a Crooked Shadow | Film music | 1958 |
| Check to Song! | Film music | 1951 |
| Chor der Bergführer | Male choir | 1932 |
| Choral Suite from Faust | Solo voice(s), choir & orchestra | 1949 |
| Christmas Crackers | Music for radio drama | 1950 |
| Combined Operations | Film music | 1946 |
| Compost Heaps | Film music | 1943 |
| Concert Piece | Chamber Music | 1954 |
| Concertino | Concerto | 1951 |
| Croydon Suite | Symphony orchestra | 1960 |
| Song (without Text) | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1925 |
| Songs to Pódium | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1943 |
| Songs to Pódium | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1944 |
| Songs to Pódium | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1944 |
| Dance Suite | Instrumental solo | 0 |
| Dance Suite | Chamber Music | 0 |
| David’s Lament | Solo voice(s), choir & solo instrument(s) | 1955 |
| Der Absturtz | Music for the theater | 0 |
| Der Absturz | Music for the theater | 1932 |
| Der Alte Wurm | Music for the theater | 1944 |
| Der Song vom Bridge | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1931 |
| Der Song vom Nas Everhull | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1931 |
| Die vertauschten Manuskripte | Music for radio drama | 1929 |
| Digging for Victory | Film music | 1942 |
| Divertimento | Chamber Music | 1926 |
| Down a Long Way | Film music | 1954 |
| Easy Dances | Chamber Music | 1932 |
| Elegy | Orchestral work | 1953 |
| Eva Spielt mit Puppen | Music for the theater | 1934 |
| Export! Export! Export! | Film music | 1946 |
| Fantasia | Chamber Music | 1945 |
| Fantasia Concertante | Concerto | 1944 |
| Fantasia del Polo Sud | Film music | 1953 |
| Fantasia on Strobel | Orchestral work | 1958 |
| Farmer Charley | Film music | 1949 |
| Faust | Music for radio drama | 1949 |
| Faust-Suite | Solo voice(s), choir & orchestra | 1949 |
| Fior d´Agosto | Film music | 1950 |
| For Better for Worse | Film music | 1959 |
| Four Greek Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1942 |
| Four Hungarian Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1936 |
| Four Hungarian Folk Songs | Chamber Music | 1931 |
| Four Medieval French Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1945 |
| France 1940-43 | Incidental music | 1946 |
| Geburtstagsgruss an Heinrich Strobel | Orchestral work | 1958 |
| Good King Wenceslas | Film music | 1946 |
| Graces | Mixed choir | 1958 |
| Graham Sutherland | Film music | 1953 |
| Habatales | Film music | 1959 |
| Hey! Amin (No. 2) | Film music | 1958 |
| The Hortobágy Mirage | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1943 |
| Three Nonsense Songs | Mixed choir | 0 |
| Three Hungarian Folk Songs | Mixed choir | 1927 |
| Three Hungarian Folk Songs | Instrumental solo | 1923 |
| Three Hungarian Folk Songs | Choir a cappella | 1931 |
| Dreistimmige Inventionen / Three-part Inventnions | Instrumental solo | 1923 |
| Idylle and Dance | Symphony orchestra | 1945 |
| Improvisations | Orchestral work | 1959 |
| Improvisation | Chamber Music | 1957 |
| In Time of Pestilence | Film music | 1951 |
| Indian Fantasy | Chamber Music | 1945 |
| Introduction and Allegro | Chamber Music | 0 |
| Introduction and Allegro | Chamber Music | 0 |
| Jazz für Jungs | Chamber Music | 1930 |
| Jazzolette No. 1 | Chamber Music | 1929 |
| Jazzolette No. 2 | Chamber Music | 1932 |
| Job with a Future | Film music | 1945 |
| John Gilpin | Film music | 1951 |
| John Gilpin´s Ride | Symphony orchestra | 1960 |
| Johnny Miner | Music for radio drama | 1947 |
| Yugoslav Folk-Songs | Solo voice(s) a cappella | 1942 |
| Jungle Warfare | Film music | 1943 |
| Jungle Welfare | Film music | 1946 |
| Soldiers´ Songs | Male choir | 1937 |
| Little Suite for Children | Instrumental solo | 1923 |
| Kleine Suite aus »Leonce und Lena« / Little Suite from »Leonce and Lena« | Ensemble | 1931 |
| Kurze Stücke | Chamber Music | 1933 |
| Zweistimmige Inventionen / Two-part inventions | Instrumental solo | 1923 |
| La Gitana | Symphony orchestra | 1944 |
| La Scarpa innamorata | Film music | 1952 |
| Le Bossu (Chanson populaire d’Auvergne) | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1946 |
| Le Caneton débile | Film music | 1954 |
| Leonce und Lena | Music for the theater | 1931 |
| Lyrical Quartet | !to be determined | 0 |
| Marching Song | Male choir | 1951 |
| Mass | Choir with solo voice(s) | 1950 |
| Meeting Point | Film music | 1958 |
| Miscela Leone | Film music | 1952 |
| Missa brevis | Choir with solo voice(s) | 1924 |
| Modern Guide to Health | Film music | 1946 |
| Moment of Danger | Film music | 1959 |
| Mordvin Lullaby | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1947 |
| Mordvin Lullaby | String orchestra | 0 |
| More Nonsense | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 1958 |
| Morgensternlieder | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1929 |
| Mosca’s song from »Volpone« | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1946 |
| Mr. Kolynos | Film music | 1954 |
| May Song | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1945 |
| National Savings Cartoon | Film music | 1950 |
| Nel Regno di Vanda | Film music | 1951 |
| New Town | Film music | 1948 |
| No commemorating Stone | Music for radio drama | 1954 |
| Notturno | String orchestra | 1944 |
| Eight Besard Dances | Instrumental solo | 1956 |
| O Sudden Wind ... | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1945 |
| Old Scottish Air | Chamber Music | 1950 |
| Old Wives´ Tales | Film music | 1946 |
| Partisan Song | Symphony orchestra | 1950 |
| Passo Maestoso | Instrumental solo | 1943 |
| Pastorale | Chamber Music | 1941 |
| Pastorale and Burlesque | String orchestra | 1942 |
| Patapan | Choir and chamber orchestra | 1960 |
| Pattern for Progress | Film music | 1947 |
| Periods | Instrumental solo | 0 |
| Permutazioni a Cinque | Chamber Music | 1958 |
| Petőfi Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1924 |
| Pezzo | Instrumental solo | 1950 |
| Phantasy | Chamber Music | 1941 |
| Prima Colazione | Film music | 0 |
| Quartetto N. 1 / String Quartet No. 1 | Chamber Music | 1924 |
| Quartetto N. 2 / String Quartet No. 2 | Chamber Music | 1934 |
| Quartetto lirico (Quartetto N. 3 / String Quartet No. 3) | Chamber Music | 1951 |
| Quatre Chansons populaires Francaises / Four French Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with chamber orchestra | 0 |
| Radio Music to E.C.A. [Europe calling America] | Orchestral work | 1950 |
| Recitativo and ARia | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1944 |
| Renaissance Dance Suite | Symphony orchestra | 1959 |
| Rhythmic Development | Chamber Music | 1956 |
| Rhythmische Studien / Rhythmical Studies | Instrumental solo | 1933 |
| Robbery Under Arms | Film music | 1957 |
| Robinson Charley | Film music | 1948 |
| Sarabande and Gigue in Old Style | Chamber Music | 1922 |
| Scherzando capriccioso | Instrumental solo | 1944 |
| Service | Film music | 1952 |
| Funeral Song | Instrumental solo | 1923 |
| Sirmio | Mixed choir | 0 |
| Six Little Jungle Boys | Film music | 1946 |
| Snip and Snap | Film music | 1960 |
| Sonata da Camera | Chamber Music | 1925 |
| Song Cycle to Poetry | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1953 |
| Song of the Jaguar | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1945 |
| Song vom Zuhaus | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1931 |
| Songs of he British Isles | Ensemble | 1960 |
| Serenade for Six Wind Instruments | Chamber Music | 1925 |
| Tankers | Film music | 1950 |
| The Candlemaker | Film music | 1957 |
| The Cat and the Moon | Music for radio drama | 1953 |
| The Christmas Child | Music for radio drama | 1948 |
| The Christmas Visitor | Film music | 1958 |
| The Death of Hector | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| The Diamond | Film music | 1954 |
| The Earth in Labour | Film music | 1950 |
| The Energy Picture (B.P.) | Film music | 1959 |
| The Fake | Film music | 1953 |
| The Famous Tay Whale | Stage work | 1958 |
| The Figurehead | Film music | 1950 |
| The First 99 | Film music | 1958 |
| The Game of Chess | Music for radio drama | 1959 |
| The Invitation | Ballet / Choreographic work | 1960 |
| The Jungle in Retreat | Music for radio drama | 1952 |
| The Keys of Heaven | Film music | 1946 |
| The Mark of the Hawk | Film music | 1957 |
| The Marvellous Shoemaker’s Wife | Music for radio drama | 1954 |
| The Mouthwatch | Film music | 1950 |
| The Owl and the Pussycat | Film music | 1952 |
| The Owl and the Pussycat | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1957 |
| The Pythoness | Film music | 1951 |
| The Saga of Grettir the Strong | Music for radio drama | 1947 |
| The Shaking of the Sheets | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1948 |
| The Shoemaker and the Hatter | Film music | 1950 |
| The Story of the Ballet | Music for radio drama | 1945 |
| The Tale of a Child | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| The Thief of Baghdad (Arabic version) | Film music | 1945 |
| The Trojan Women | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| The Woodbine Story | Film music | 1959 |
| The two wicked Sisters | Music for radio drama | 1948 |
| Thomy | Film music | 1952 |
| Three Fragments | Solo voice(s), choir & chamber ensemble | 1957 |
| Three Hungarian Children’s Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1931 |
| Three Nonsense Songs | Choir a cappella | 1956 |
| A Three-cornered Fanfare | Wind orchestra | 1959 |
| Time has brought me hither | Music for radio drama | 1953 |
| To Your Health | Film music | 1956 |
| Tommy´s double Trouble | Film music | 1944 |
| Transylvanian Rhapsody | Symphony orchestra | 1941 |
| Tre pezzi | Concerto | 1956 |
| Twa Corbies | Film music | 1951 |
| Two Ady-Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1923 |
| Two Arne Songs | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 1950 |
| Two Arne Songs | Choir a cappella | 1950 |
| Two Old French Ballads | Solo voice(s) with orchestra | 1959 |
| Two Songs from Goethe´s Faust | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1949 |
| Ulysses | Solo voice(s), choir & orchestra | 1947 |
| Vier Etüden / Four Studies | Chamber Music | 1953 |
| Violin Sonata | Chamber Music | 1960 |
| Virginia Stomp | Other | 1929 |
| Vom Himmel Hoch | Mixed choir | 1932 |
| We´ve Come a Long Way | Film music | 1951 |
| What´s Cooking? | Film music | 1947 |
| Winter Garden | Film music | 1951 |
| Woyzeck | Music for radio drama | 1946 |
| Your Very Good Health | Film music | 1947 |
| Orchestral Suite from "The Invitation" | Symphony orchestra | 1960 |
| Zwei Schweinekarbonaden | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1931 |
| Prelude and Fugue in A minor | Instrumental solo | 0 |
| Transcription - Cyril Scott: The Jungle | Symphony orchestra | 0 |
| Transcription - W.A. Mozart: Menuette and Gigue (KV 355 and KV 574) | Chamber orchestra | 1958 |