Dávid Gyula
Composer
Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1913
May 6, 1913 Budapest - March 14, 1977 Budapest
Like so many Hungarian composers of his generation Gyula Dávid studied under Zoltán Kodály (between 1933 and 1938). While studyng composition he also attained a high degree of proficiency on the violin. Encouraged by Kodály in the 1930s he collected hundreds of Hungarian folksongs. After completing his studies he became an orchestral viola player and from 1938 composed incidental music for the stage, for more than a hundred plays. Between 1945 and 1949 he was musical director at the Budapest National Theatre, and between 1950 and 1956, the artistic and musical manager of several Hungarian ensembles. From 1950 to 1964 he taught at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and from 1964 at the Bartók Béla Conservatory. From 1967 until his death he was again at the Academy. A significant aspect of teaching was his basic work in the teaching of chamber music for wind instruments. In 1949 he became the first Hungarian composer to write a wind quintet, thus creating a genre which plays an important role in the new Hungarian music.
In style and timbre Dávid�s works have added individual hues to the typically Hungarian tenor of the generation of composers who followed Bartók and Kodály. Folksong, popular music and the spirit of the Hungarian musical tradition permeate his works, although he refrains from quoting folk material directly. Albeit his attention was transferred to other means of expression around 1960 he preserved his musical quallties and the freshness of his earlier compositions. His works are chiefly forms. Another determinant, as he repeatedly stressed, is his wariness of all kinds of dogmatism. He invariably kept the performers of his compositions in mind, and most of what he wrote seems to be tailor-made for the performers he selected, giving maximum consideration to their talents.
Like so many Hungarian composers of his generation Gyula Dávid studied under Zoltán Kodály (between 1933 and 1938). While studyng composition he also attained a high degree of proficiency on the violin. Encouraged by Kodály in the 1930s he collected hundreds of Hungarian folksongs. After completing his studies he became an orchestral viola player and from 1938 composed incidental music for the stage, for more than a hundred plays. Between 1945 and 1949 he was musical director at the Budapest National Theatre, and between 1950 and 1956, the artistic and musical manager of several Hungarian ensembles. From 1950 to 1964 he taught at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and from 1964 at the Bartók Béla Conservatory. From 1967 until his death he was again at the Academy. A significant aspect of teaching was his basic work in the teaching of chamber music for wind instruments. In 1949 he became the first Hungarian composer to write a wind quintet, thus creating a genre which plays an important role in the new Hungarian music.
In style and timbre Dávid�s works have added individual hues to the typically Hungarian tenor of the generation of composers who followed Bartók and Kodály. Folksong, popular music and the spirit of the Hungarian musical tradition permeate his works, although he refrains from quoting folk material directly. Albeit his attention was transferred to other means of expression around 1960 he preserved his musical quallties and the freshness of his earlier compositions. His works are chiefly forms. Another determinant, as he repeatedly stressed, is his wariness of all kinds of dogmatism. He invariably kept the performers of his compositions in mind, and most of what he wrote seems to be tailor-made for the performers he selected, giving maximum consideration to their talents.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 |
Mai magyar zene
(Hungarian Contemporary Music) |
Hungaroton | LPX 1227 | LP |
| 1973 |
Zeneművek a főváros egyesítésének 100. évfordulójára
(Compositions to Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Unification of Budapest) |
Hungaroton | SLPX 11699 | LP |
| 1983 |
Dávid Gyula: Brácsaverseny; Hegedűverseny; Sinfonietta
(Dávid, Gyula: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra; Concerto for Violin and Orchestra; Sinfonietta) |
Hungaroton | SLPX 12452 |
Own LP |
| 2001 |
Versenyművek
(Concertos) |
Hungaroton | HCD 31989 |
| Title | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| (The Versailles Impromptu and) The Imaginary Invalid | Music for the theater | 1942 |
| Songs from ´48 | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 0 |
| The Civiliser | Music for the theater | 1945 |
| The Swaggering Soldier | Music for the theater | 1946 |
| The Gardener´s Dog | Music for the theater | 1954 |
| Tempefői the Dreamer | Music for the theater | 1948 |
| The School for Wives | Music for the theater | 0 |
| The Flaming of the Rose | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1966 |
| Road of Freedom | Music for the theater | 1950 |
| Alcestis | Music for the theater | 1961 |
| Amphitryon | Music for the theater | 1957 |
| Androcles and the Lion | Music for the theater | 1947 |
| Antigone | Music for the theater | 1949 |
| Antony and Cleopatra | Music for the theater | 1946 |
| On Mother´s Day | Solo voice(s) a cappella | 1958 |
| Arany Lacinak | Choir a cappella | 1961 |
| The Tragedy of Man | Music for the theater | 1939 |
| My Rose | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1953 |
| Mrs. Karnyó | Music for the theater | 1943 |
| The Middle Class Gentleman | Music for the theater | 1950 |
| Ballet Music/In the Reeds | Ballet / Choreographic work | 1948 |
| Happiness | Music for radio drama | 1951 |
| Funny Zoology | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| Concerto | Concerto | 1950 |
| Bánk bán | Music for the theater | 1950 |
| Folk Songs from Bátaszék | Solo voice(s) with chamber orchestra | 0 |
| Brave Captains | Music for radio drama | 1951 |
| Peace Loan Chastushka | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1952 |
| Concerto - per violino e orchestra | Concerto | 0 |
| Concerto grosso | Concerto | 1963 |
| Concerto per corno e orchestra / Concerto for Horn and Orchestra | Concerto | 1970 |
| The Shoemaker´s Prodigious Wife | Music for the theater | 1959 |
| George Dandin | Music for the theater | 1948 |
| Song | Choir and orchestra | 1958 |
| Song about the Red Flag | Solo voice(s) a cappella | 1963 |
| Danton´s Death | Music for radio drama | 1956 |
| Drum and dance | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1961 |
| George Dandin | Music for the theater | 1947 |
| Dunapentele | Film music | 1951 |
| Transdanubian Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 1962 |
| Dózsa | Music for the theater | 1955 |
| A Pair of Shoes | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| To A Spring Almond Tree | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1956 |
| One Night at Arany Bogár | Music for radio drama | 1962 |
| Look Back in Anger | Music for the theater | 1960 |
| Transylvanian and Csángó Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 0 |
| Falu végén ég a fatűz (Folk Song Bouquet) | Solo voice(s), choir & chamber ensemble | 0 |
| White Haired Girl | Music for radio drama | 1958 |
| Cloudless Sky - Song about someone who learned to fly | Solo voice(s), choir & orchestra | 1964 |
| Love´s Labour´s Lost | Music for radio drama | 1948 |
| The Marriage of Figaro | Music for the theater | 1945 |
| Rich Harvest | Film music | 1952 |
| Come on over for dinner | Solo voice(s) with orchestra | 1950 |
| Elegy | Male choir | 1963 |
| Elegy / October Song "For the memory of the martyrs" | Symphony orchestra | 1945 |
| The Poor Man Wins | Solo voice(s), choir & orchestra | 0 |
| Hamlet | Music for the theater | 1960 |
| Concerto for Violin and Orchestra | Concerto | 1965 |
| Parade-March of the Home Guards | Wind orchestra | 1951 |
| Three Berzsenyi-Songs | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1939 |
| Three Korean Songs | Choir and orchestra | 1952 |
| Three Orchestral Songs | Solo voice(s) with orchestra | 1939 |
| Wind Quintet No. 1 | Ensemble | 1949 |
| Wind Quintet, No. 2 "Serenade" | Chamber Music | 1955 |
| Symphony, No. 2 | Symphony orchestra | 1958 |
| String Quartet No. 2 | Chamber Music | 1973 |
| Richard III | Music for the theater | 1947 |
| Wind Quintet, No. 3 | Chamber Music | 1964 |
| Symphony, No. 3 | Symphony orchestra | 1960 |
| String Quartet No. 3 | Chamber Music | 1976 |
| Wind Quintet, No. 4 | Chamber Music | 1968 |
| Symphony, No. 4 | Symphony orchestra | 1970 |
| March of the Young Workers | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 0 |
| March | Chamber Music | 1953 |
| God, Emperor, Peasant | Music for the theater | 1945 |
| Christmas Dance-Play | Music for the theater | 1940 |
| Songs from Karád | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 0 |
| Folk Song Bouquet from Karád | Solo voice(s) with ensemble | 0 |
| Marching Song / Guard | Choir and chamber ensemble | 1952 |
| The Marriage of Mihály Kocsonya | Music for the theater | 1948 |
| Salute to Kodály (Variations on a theme by Kodály) | Symphony orchestra | 1962 |
| Greeting of Kodály - Variations on a Kodály-Theme (9th variation) | Symphony orchestra | 1964 |
| Korean Folk Songs | Choir and orchestra | 1953 |
| The Mad | Music for the theater | 1943 |
| The Affected Young Ladies | Music for the theater | 1948 |
| Two Dialogues | Instrumental solo | 1943 |
| Servant of Two Lords | Music for the theater | 1958 |
| Laudatio | Mixed choir | 1970 |
| Concerto for Horn and Orchestra | !to be determined | 1970 |
| Dwell happily... | Solo voice(s) with orchestra | 1956 |
| Lirai Himnusz a "Pinyó"-hoz | Male choir | 1965 |
| Lotharingia | Music for the theater | 1957 |
| Hole in the Biography | Music for the theater | 1958 |
| Hungarian Electra | Music for the theater | 1949 |
| Mandragora | Music for the theater | 1957 |
| Medgyessy Ferenc | Film music | 1958 |
| The Bear | Music for the theater | 1945 |
| When Roses Started to Blossom | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1963 |
| Miniatures | Ensemble | 1968 |
| Like the sunshine | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1950 |
| Mirandolina | Music for the theater | 1956 |
| Monsieur de Pourceaugnac | Music for the theater | 1943 |
| May Song | Male choir | 0 |
| Nero - Slave Song | Music for the theater | 1942 |
| Overture | Symphony orchestra | 1965 |
| Four Pieces for Homogeneous Choir | Choir and orchestra | 0 |
| Four Songs from Fourthy-eight | Solo voice(s) with orchestra | 1954 |
| Folk Music | Ensemble | 0 |
| Odysseus and Nausicaä | Music for the theater | 1946 |
| To October | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 0 |
| Othello | Music for the theater | 1954 |
| Pezzo per viola con pianoforte accompagnato | Chamber Music | 1974 |
| Preludio per flauto e pianoforte | Chamber Music | 1964 |
| Quartetto per archi | Chamber Music | 1962 |
| Policeman Song | Choir and orchestra | 1952 |
| We Dream of You, Our Country | Choir and solo instrument(s) | 1966 |
| Scapin the Schemer | Music for radio drama | 1944 |
| Serenade for Wind Quintet | Chamber Music | 0 |
| Sinfonietta | Chamber orchestra | 1960 |
| Much Ado About Nothing | Music for the theater | 1960 |
| Sonata per violino e pianoforte | Chamber Music | 1968 |
| Sonata per violino solo | Instrumental solo | 1971 |
| Afternoon of the Free Youth | Ballet / Choreographic work | 1949 |
| On the Road of Freedom | Symphony orchestra | 0 |
| Saint Joan | Music for the theater | 1945 |
| Dances from Szentmárton | Ensemble | 0 |
| Sonatina for Viola and Piano | Chamber Music | 1971 |
| Sonata | Chamber Music | 1954 |
| Sonata for Piano | Instrumental solo | 1955 |
| Székely and Csángó Folk Songs | Solo voice(s) with chamber orchestra | 1955 |
| Theatermusik / Theatre Music | Chamber orchestra | 1955 |
| Sánta Scherzo | Symphony orchestra | 1962 |
| Study for 3 Wind Instruments | Chamber Music | 1959 |
| Spring Song | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1953 |
| Poem of Spring Lovers | Mixed choir | 1959 |
| Tristan | Music for the theater | 1957 |
| Dance-play I-V. | Ballet / Choreographic work | 1949 |
| Tűvétevők | Music for the theater | 1954 |
| Volpone | Music for the theater | 1953 |
| Changes | Mixed choir | 1964 |
| Sketches for Wind Trio | Chamber Music | 1947 |
| Sketches for Piano | Instrumental solo | 1958 |
| Blood Wedding | Music for the theater | 1957 |
| Twelfth Night | Music for the theater | 1947 |
| Weöres-duets | Solo voice(s) a cappella | 1956 |
| Piano Trio | Chamber Music | 1972 |
| Symphony [No. 1] | Symphony orchestra | 1948 |
| 4th of April | Solo voice(s) with solo instrument(s) | 1952 |
| 4th of April - March Song | Choir and orchestra | 1950 |
| With Burning Words | Choir and orchestra | 1969 |
| Five Csokonai-Songs | Solo voice(s) with chamber orchestra | 1955 |
| Five a capella choirs on Attila József´s poems | Choir a cappella | 1959 |
| Five Songs from Upland | Solo voice(s) with chamber orchestra | 1955 |
| For New hungarians | Mixed choir | 1957 |
| Pioneer Mocker | Choir and orchestra | 1962 |
| Festive Overture | Symphony orchestra | 1972 |
| Festive Overture | !to be determined | 1972 |