Losonczy Andor
piano
Place of Birth
Budapest
Date of Birth
1932
Andor Losonczy (2 June 1932 Budapest - 8 January 2018 Salzburg)
Andor Losonoczy was born in Budapest in the 2nd of June, 1932 as the son of the composer and conductor Dezső Losonczy.
At the Pécs Conservatory he was a pupill of Jenő Takács (piano) and Rezső Sugár (composition) from 1948. In 1950 he took up piano studies with Renée Sándor at the Budapest Conservatory. In 1952 he was admitted to Budapest Music Academy, where he studied composition from Endre Szervánszky. He was influenced in the 1950s by the modern music of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. After graduating in 1955, he was a piano soloist of the state concert agency Filharmónia in Budapest.
He received a lot of prizes, and he took part in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1958. In 1960 he and Bruno Canino received the shared second prize for piano at the Kranichstein Music Prize in Darmstadt. After Gábor Gabos (1958), he was the second Hungarian to receive the prestigious piano award.
Losonczy played during his solo career numerous - more than 100 - works by contemporary composers such as Klaus Ager, Sylvano Bussotti, Henryk Górecki, Heinz Holliger, Josef Maria Horvath, György Kurtág, György Ligeti, Boguslaw Schaeffer, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Jenő Takács (eg.: György Kurtág's Eight Piano Pieces op. 3 in 1960 and in 1974 he first performed the 15th piece, Valse-Impromptu (Hommage à Franz Liszt), of the piano cycle Klänge und Farben op. 95 by Jenő Takács).
From the 1980s he performed regularly in the chamber music hall of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. He played at several music festivals; there are recordings as a pianist and composer with European broadcasters (including NDR, HR, BR, ORF, RAI, Swiss and Hungarian broadcasters). He recorded the entire piano works by Arnold Schönberg.
He and his future wife Klára Kupor (also a student of Jenő Takács) emigrated to Austria during a music competition in 1960. There he began his career as a university lecturer. He worked from 1986 until his retirement in 1998 as a full university professor for piano with special emphasis on contemporary music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Mozarteum in Salzburg. Losonczy gave courses in live electronics and experimental music. In addition, he lectured on romantic music. He also translated works from Hungarian into German. His students included e.g. Michael Neunteufel, Werner Raditschnig and Biliana Tzinlikova as well as Wolfgang Niessner as a private student.
Between 1959 and 1966 he was a participant five times in the New Music Institute Darmstadt Summer Course, where he was taught by Eduard Steuermann and György Ligeti. He took part in the seminar for Electronic Music - Composition and Realization, which was headed by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1961. The central composers of the Second Viennese School, namely Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg, shaped his musical development.
Productive activity in the field of electroacoustic music enabled him during his assistantship at the Salzburg Studio for Electronic Music. For the school year 1962/63 he became a member of the electroacoustic department of the Mozarteum. In 1972 Losonczy took over the work area Electronic Composition at the Institute for Basic Musical Research. Together with Josef Maria Horváth, Irmfried Radauer and Gerhard Wimberger he founded the Cooperative for Computer Music in 1976.
He took on Austrian citizenship in 1961. His works from Hungary before 1960 and his electronic and computer music have been lost with a few exceptions. His oeuvre as a composer amounts to more than 70 pieces from different genres (including stage works, orchestral music and instrumental concerts, solo pieces as well as choral and vocal music). The main focus of his work was the field of instrumental music, especially chamber music. Performances of his compositions found e.g. at the Darmstadt Summer Courses (1966), at the Styrian Autumn (1974, 1977, 1983), at the Warsaw Autumn (1975), at the International Gaudeamus Music Week (1981), at the Prague Spring (1996), at the Festival L'art pour l'Aar (2008) and at musica aperta concert series (2008, 2013). Performers were the Aspects New Music Ensemble, the Austrian Ensemble for New Music and the Ensemble Sortisatio.
He published his own works, Edition 7 at the Universal Edition in Vienna, which focuses on new music. Individual works by Losonczy are preserved in the sheet music archive of the IGNM section Austria.
Losonczy died in his home Salzburg in the 8th of January, 2018 after a serious illness.
Prizes:
1955: Second prize at the Warsaw International Piano Competition
1956: Franz Liszt Prize ("Liszt Ferenc-díj")
1960: Kranichsteiner Music Prize ( second prize for piano shared with Bruno Canino ) at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt
1974: Composition Prize of the ORF Musikprotokoll in Styrian Autumn (for sentence fragments)
1979: Prize for Music from the Federal Ministry for Education and the Arts (for Black Box)
1979: Austrian state scholarship for composers
1986: International Prize “Le Muse” in Florence
1998: Gold Medal of Merit of the State of Salzburg
2004: Great Art Prize of the State of Salzburg for Music
see also: Losonczy Andor - composer
Andor Losonoczy was born in Budapest in the 2nd of June, 1932 as the son of the composer and conductor Dezső Losonczy.
At the Pécs Conservatory he was a pupill of Jenő Takács (piano) and Rezső Sugár (composition) from 1948. In 1950 he took up piano studies with Renée Sándor at the Budapest Conservatory. In 1952 he was admitted to Budapest Music Academy, where he studied composition from Endre Szervánszky. He was influenced in the 1950s by the modern music of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. After graduating in 1955, he was a piano soloist of the state concert agency Filharmónia in Budapest.
He received a lot of prizes, and he took part in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1958. In 1960 he and Bruno Canino received the shared second prize for piano at the Kranichstein Music Prize in Darmstadt. After Gábor Gabos (1958), he was the second Hungarian to receive the prestigious piano award.
Losonczy played during his solo career numerous - more than 100 - works by contemporary composers such as Klaus Ager, Sylvano Bussotti, Henryk Górecki, Heinz Holliger, Josef Maria Horvath, György Kurtág, György Ligeti, Boguslaw Schaeffer, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Jenő Takács (eg.: György Kurtág's Eight Piano Pieces op. 3 in 1960 and in 1974 he first performed the 15th piece, Valse-Impromptu (Hommage à Franz Liszt), of the piano cycle Klänge und Farben op. 95 by Jenő Takács).
From the 1980s he performed regularly in the chamber music hall of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg. He played at several music festivals; there are recordings as a pianist and composer with European broadcasters (including NDR, HR, BR, ORF, RAI, Swiss and Hungarian broadcasters). He recorded the entire piano works by Arnold Schönberg.
He and his future wife Klára Kupor (also a student of Jenő Takács) emigrated to Austria during a music competition in 1960. There he began his career as a university lecturer. He worked from 1986 until his retirement in 1998 as a full university professor for piano with special emphasis on contemporary music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Mozarteum in Salzburg. Losonczy gave courses in live electronics and experimental music. In addition, he lectured on romantic music. He also translated works from Hungarian into German. His students included e.g. Michael Neunteufel, Werner Raditschnig and Biliana Tzinlikova as well as Wolfgang Niessner as a private student.
Between 1959 and 1966 he was a participant five times in the New Music Institute Darmstadt Summer Course, where he was taught by Eduard Steuermann and György Ligeti. He took part in the seminar for Electronic Music - Composition and Realization, which was headed by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1961. The central composers of the Second Viennese School, namely Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg, shaped his musical development.
Productive activity in the field of electroacoustic music enabled him during his assistantship at the Salzburg Studio for Electronic Music. For the school year 1962/63 he became a member of the electroacoustic department of the Mozarteum. In 1972 Losonczy took over the work area Electronic Composition at the Institute for Basic Musical Research. Together with Josef Maria Horváth, Irmfried Radauer and Gerhard Wimberger he founded the Cooperative for Computer Music in 1976.
He took on Austrian citizenship in 1961. His works from Hungary before 1960 and his electronic and computer music have been lost with a few exceptions. His oeuvre as a composer amounts to more than 70 pieces from different genres (including stage works, orchestral music and instrumental concerts, solo pieces as well as choral and vocal music). The main focus of his work was the field of instrumental music, especially chamber music. Performances of his compositions found e.g. at the Darmstadt Summer Courses (1966), at the Styrian Autumn (1974, 1977, 1983), at the Warsaw Autumn (1975), at the International Gaudeamus Music Week (1981), at the Prague Spring (1996), at the Festival L'art pour l'Aar (2008) and at musica aperta concert series (2008, 2013). Performers were the Aspects New Music Ensemble, the Austrian Ensemble for New Music and the Ensemble Sortisatio.
He published his own works, Edition 7 at the Universal Edition in Vienna, which focuses on new music. Individual works by Losonczy are preserved in the sheet music archive of the IGNM section Austria.
Losonczy died in his home Salzburg in the 8th of January, 2018 after a serious illness.
Prizes:
1955: Second prize at the Warsaw International Piano Competition
1956: Franz Liszt Prize ("Liszt Ferenc-díj")
1960: Kranichsteiner Music Prize ( second prize for piano shared with Bruno Canino ) at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt
1974: Composition Prize of the ORF Musikprotokoll in Styrian Autumn (for sentence fragments)
1979: Prize for Music from the Federal Ministry for Education and the Arts (for Black Box)
1979: Austrian state scholarship for composers
1986: International Prize “Le Muse” in Florence
1998: Gold Medal of Merit of the State of Salzburg
2004: Great Art Prize of the State of Salzburg for Music
see also: Losonczy Andor - composer
| Year | Title | Publisher | Code | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 |
Bartók Béla: Szonáta két zongorára és ütőhangszerekre
(Béla Bartók: Sonata für zwei Klavier und Schlaginstrumente) |
Qualiton | HLP MK 1517 | LP |
| 1976 | Klaus Ager: Sondern die Sterne sinds | FSM | FSM 53 544 AUL | LP |
| 1983 | Gerhard Lampersberg: Gerhard Lampersberg | Insel Hombroich | K 186003 | LP |
| 1994 | Andor Losonczy & Oswald Sallaberger: Losonczy | LondonHALL | docu 15 |
Own |
| 2016 | Darmstadt Aural Documents - Box 4.: Pianists | NEOS | NEOS 11630 | 7 CDs |