Székely Zoltán
violin
Place of Birth
Kocs
Date of Birth
1903
8 December 1903 Kocs – 5 October 2001 Alberta (Canada)
Composer, violinist, leader of the Hungarian String Quartet, excellent interpreter of Bartók’s works.
He studied at the violin department of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy as pupil of Jenő Hubay, and then he took private composing lessons from Zoltán Kodály.
Kodály introduced the young talent to Béla Bartók, and later they co-operated so well that their relationship turned into friendship. On their first concert they played Claude Debussy’s sonata, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata and contemporary violin pieces.
Bartók dedicated his Violin concerto No. 2. to Zoltán Székely, which was introduced 1939 in Amsterdam with the Concertgebouw Orchestra (conducted by Willem Mengelberg). When the concerto was released, Bartók requested Székely to make the final articulation marks in the score of the violin part. (Claude Kenneson wrote a book about the legendary relationship of the two of them with the title Székely and Bartók: The Story of a Friendship, which was published 1994 in the United States.)
From 1922 he lived in the Netherlands. Between 1937 and 1972 he was first violinist of the Hungarian String Quartet. They gained international success with outstanding interpretation of works by Beethoven, Bartók and other contemporary composers. In 1940 he became the concert master of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Ten years later he moved to the United States. In the last years of his life he taught in the Banff School of Fine Arts, which is an art centre in Alberta, Canada.
He was an active composer as well; his string quartet, violin sonata, violin-cello duo and the violin-piano re-arrangement of Bartók’s Romanian Dances are his most excellent works.
He was honored with the Bartók-Pásztory Award in 1987.
Composer, violinist, leader of the Hungarian String Quartet, excellent interpreter of Bartók’s works.
He studied at the violin department of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy as pupil of Jenő Hubay, and then he took private composing lessons from Zoltán Kodály.
Kodály introduced the young talent to Béla Bartók, and later they co-operated so well that their relationship turned into friendship. On their first concert they played Claude Debussy’s sonata, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata and contemporary violin pieces.
Bartók dedicated his Violin concerto No. 2. to Zoltán Székely, which was introduced 1939 in Amsterdam with the Concertgebouw Orchestra (conducted by Willem Mengelberg). When the concerto was released, Bartók requested Székely to make the final articulation marks in the score of the violin part. (Claude Kenneson wrote a book about the legendary relationship of the two of them with the title Székely and Bartók: The Story of a Friendship, which was published 1994 in the United States.)
From 1922 he lived in the Netherlands. Between 1937 and 1972 he was first violinist of the Hungarian String Quartet. They gained international success with outstanding interpretation of works by Beethoven, Bartók and other contemporary composers. In 1940 he became the concert master of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Ten years later he moved to the United States. In the last years of his life he taught in the Banff School of Fine Arts, which is an art centre in Alberta, Canada.
He was an active composer as well; his string quartet, violin sonata, violin-cello duo and the violin-piano re-arrangement of Bartók’s Romanian Dances are his most excellent works.
He was honored with the Bartók-Pásztory Award in 1987.
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 |
Bartók Béla: Két rapszódia hegedűre és zongorára; Kontrasztok; Szólószonáta hegedűre
(Bartók, Béla: Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 1,2; Contrasts; Sonata for Solo Violin) |
Hungaroton | HCD 31038 |
Own |
| 2001 |
50 éves a Hungaroton - Vonósművészek (1951-2001)
(Fifty Years of Hungaroton - String Players) |
Hungaroton | HCD 32091-3 | 3 CDs |
| 2009 | Encores & More - Violin and Piano Recital: Friedemann and Peer (Polyakin, Liszt, Bartók, Hubay) | Solo Musica | SM130 | |
| 2010 | Violin and Piano Recital: Bartók, Brahms, Dvorak, Strauss II., Kreisler | Gramola Records | Gramola98903 | |
| 2016 | Bartók Béla: Violin and Piano Works | SWR Classic | SWR19003CD |