MOSONYI MIHÁLY: TRANSCRIPTIONS AND MARCHES FOR PIANO

Akkord A-1047 Budapest, 2003

EPILOGUE

 

Biography: The native village of Mihály Mosonyi, Boldogasszony (Frauenkirchen in German) was already a well-known place of pilgrimage in the 14th century; since 1921 it has belonged to the Austrian Burgenland.[1] The composer was born on 4 September 1815 and baptised Michael Brand after his German-speaking grandfather and father.[2] As the fourth child of a poor village furrier, he soon had to earn a living. At the age of fourteen he was already sacristan at Magyaróvár. A few years later he enrolled at the teachers’ training college of Pozsony (now Bratislava, Slovakia). At the age of twenty he obtained a job as a tutor to the children of Count Péter Pejachevich and his wife, Countess Franciska Esterházy at Rétfalu near Eszék (Osijek, Croatia) in Slavonia. There he laid the foundation of his later independent existence and improved on his musical skills through zealous self-education. In 1842 he moved to Pest[3] where he lived as a music teacher for the rest of his life. He got married at the age of thirty-one. As a member of the National Guard, he took part in the 1848–49 Independence War. His wife died in 1851. His personal bereavement and the nation’s tragedy caused a crisis both in his life and creative work.

In his first stylistic period (1837–49) his musical idiom inherited from Beethoven and Schubert was gradually penetrated with elements of German romanticism. His good sense of proportion and form-creating skills manifested already in his very first works. In this period he wrote three masses, two symphonies, an overture, a piano concerto, a sonata for piano duet, a string sextet, seven string quartets, two piano trios, several choruses and arrangements. At the time of his moving to Pest, Hungarian elements appeared sheldom in his music. In his second stylistic period (1853–57) his music became increasingly individual and modern, enriched with Schumannian features. His fourth mass, a dozen of songs, some choruses and works for piano as well as arrangements date from this period. His personal acquaintance with Liszt, the failure of his romantic German opera (Kaiser Max auf der Martinswand) and the success of his Hungarian fantasia for piano with the title Pusztai élet (Puszta Life) all led to another change of his style.[4]

The Hungarian music of the time was based on the verbunkos. This style roots in the so-called Werbung, the recruiting of soldiers with music as practised during the reign of Maria Theresia. Apart from György Antal Csermák (1774[?]–1822), the early verbunkos masters had no command of music theory. They were virtuoso violinists of exceptional abilities with a natural genius for shaping melodies and improvisation like János Bihari (1764–1827) and János Lavotta (1764–1820). After the death of the trained musicians Márk Rózsavölgyi (1789–1848) and Béni Egressy (1814–1851) the verbunkos as a genre had no outstanding figures. Although the general Hungarian musical idiom had developed, it had no musically trained, committed representatives ready to renew it. Then in 1857 Michael Brand, a German composer of Pest achieved overwhelming success with his verbunkos fantasia entitled Puszta Life.[5]

His change of style was a conscious decision. In 1859, after a year of preparation he appeared with a new name on the scene as Mihály Mosonyi, Hungarian composer and writer on music. He composed his two Hungarian operas (Szép Ilonka [Pretty Helen] 1861, Álmos 1862), his fifth mass, three cantatas and four symphonic poems. Numerous songs, sacred and secular choruses, piano pieces and arrangements of lasting value date from this period.[6]

Mosonyi’s work as a writer on music, moreover, as a general educator of the public unfolded in Zenészeti Lapok, the first significant music journal in Hungarian language. Almost all his compositions included in the present edition appeared there. Its editor-in-chief and owner was Kornél Ábrányi sen. (1822–1903), a writer on music, composer, pianist and teacher. He was assisted by the editorial board: the music publisher Gyula Rózsavölgyi (1822–1861) and the music historian, critic, ethnomusicologist, teacher and writer István Bartalus (1821–1899). Mosonyi, the third member of the editorial board was the most versatile as far as genres are concerned since he wrote leading articles, feuilletons, essays on music policy, analysis, critics and reviews. To make up for the missing Hungarian music education network, he started a stepwise progressing series of lessons in harmony. In addition, he published for pedagogical purposes some of the young composers’ first attempts at composition sent to the editorial office both in their original and corrected versions, and arranged the ones meriting his attention in his own works as well. He participated in the editorial work of the review with unbroken zeal from its foundation on 3 October 1860 to 1866.[7]

In February 1870 a conference to discuss the matter of the planned Academy of Music in Pest was convened to which Mosonyi was also invited. However, he did not live to see the opening of the Academy on 14 November  1875 although he could have become a pillar of this music institution. He died of pneumonia at the age of fifty-six on 31 October 1870.[8]

 

The Description of the Works. The album leaf entitled Leopold Komá­romy’s Invitation Card was written in 1860. This piece is an excellent proof of Mosonyi’s sense of humour and exceptional musical skills. The work has no key in the traditional sense of the word: it is constructed according to a kind of romantic “atonality” in strict four-part texture on a special bass progression. If one reads together the bass notes with the letters Mosonyi wrote in (though not everywhere), the humorous German text of the invitation to a party can be read (see in the German text). The manuscript has neither tempo nor character markings; nevertheless, they are defined by the fanfare opening which evokes the Grand Galop chromatique (1838) by Ferenc Liszt (1811–1886). In bar 7 even the Rákóczi motive crops up – diabolus in musica – in tritone relationship with the fanfare (b–f).[9] The National Széchényi Library acquired the manuscript of this short occasional work in 1959[10]; the piece is first printed in the present edition.

The piano arrangement of Egressy’s Appeal has not been kept in evidence by musicology so far. It was published in Zenészeti Lapok (I/16, 16 January 1861, 125–126) as an illustration to the composer’s lessons in harmony. Mosonyi transposed the D major key of the original chorus to E flat major, simplified the piano writing and made it thereby more solemn. He turned bar 19 into an interrupted cadence changing thereby the closing of the work. The Appeal, a poem by Mi­hály Vörösmarty (1800–1855) was set to music in 1843 by Béni Eg­ressy (1814–1851, a composer, actor, tenorist, translator, and the most successful Hungarian librettist to this day), and has been one of the musical prayers of the Hungarian nation ever since.[11]

The melody of The Old Rákóczy Song appeared in Zenészeti Lapok (II/17, 23 January 1862, 130) as a supplement to the writing of László Hajdu (1817[8?]–1880), solicitor of Túrkeve. Hajdu’s writing was the most interesting contribution to the debate about the identity of the unknown composer of the Rákóczi March. He argued persuasively that the most probable source of the melody of the Rákóczi March was the so-called Transylvanian Rákóczi Song. Hajdu noted down one of its forms while still a law student in Debrecen (1832–37), as played by the Gypsy clarinettist Mihály Boka but omitted the superfluous ornaments deriving from the improvisational manner of performance. Mosonyi must have been very much interested in this publication because he harmonised the melody  unchanged, adding merely some trills, the missing repeat signs and the da capo marking. This harmonised version was not printed in Zenészeti Lapok. In 1976 the National Széchényi Library got into possession of the autograph manuscript dated 27 September 1863[12]. It is printed here for the first time.

The Herdman’s Song[13] was published in the 30 October 1862 issue of Zenészeti Lapok (III/5, 33–34). The two melodies underlying the composition were sent in to the editors by László Hajdu again explicitly with the aim of having them harmonised by Mosonyi who readily complied with Hajdu’s request. Mosonyi made the melody livelier and strove for simple and at the same time modern, original harmonies corresponding to the taste of the time. Simplicity is the very feature that turns Mosonyi’s miniature to a modern piece, the forerunner of certain 20th-century folksong arrangements. The score does not contain voice parts (and can therefore be included among the piano pieces in the catalogue of his works), and the words of the songs were printed after the music. The opening lines run as: “For slow. / I do not mind that I was born a peasant / For I could become a herdsman, […] &c. / For fast. / My sweetheart is the innkeeper’s daughter / No gold or silver mine is worth as much as her. […] &c.” The “friss” (fast) melody can be found in the collection of examples (No. 298) edited by Lajos Vargyas to Zoltán Kodály’s publication entitled The Hungarian Folk Music. The opening words of the first strophe are: „I have no dearer guest”. As regards the 2nd–5th strophes, Kodály made reference to the play entitled Csikós (Horse-herder) which was first performed at the National Theatre on 23 January 1847, its text was written by Ede Szigligeti (1814–1878), the compiler of the incidental music was József Szerdahelyi (1804–1851). The fifth interpolated item of the play is the song of the protagonist Andris which agrees musically with the melody published by Kodály and with the fast section of Mosonyi’s Gujásnóta. As a matter of fact, the text of the interpolated song shows similarity with the words of the slow section of Gujásnóta, not the fast one. This example demonstrates that the words of the folk songs and popular melodies alternated and changed freely in use.[14]

The Sacrificial March from the Opera Álmos was published in December 1862 by Rózsavölgyi és Társa[15]. This arrangement retains little from the loftiness and the majesty of the twenty-third scene of the third act: once performed, care should be taken to bring them into relief. Although Mosonyi completed the score of Álmos on 4 October 1862, the first performance of the work was given in 1934 only. This opera is the most precious romantic representation in music of the Hungarian Conquest.[16]

The Rákóczy March[17] appeared in Zenészeti Lapok in two parts: the Marcia on 22 January 1863 (III/17, 129–130), the Trio on 29 January (III/18, 139–140). László Hajdu argued in a lengthy article that the composer of the Rákóczi march must have been János Bihari and not the military band master Miklós Scholl (1778–1822) under whose name the march was first printed around 1820. He further expounded that the asymmetry of the periods of the Rákóczi march resulted from Bihari’s improvisatory performance and the German notator’s inexperience in the style. With the help of the music of the Transylvanian Rákóczi song, Hajdu constructed a march melody of regular musical periods consisting of eight bars each. Mosonyi was fascinated by the boldness of the idea: he harmonised Haj­du’s melody, suggesting changes in the melody in two places only. This excellent arrangement did not find a wide distribution, because it did not appear in music trade as printed music. It is perhaps due to the fact that in 1863 either the censor did not authorized its publication or the publisher was unwilling to print it.

The Banderium March was printed in August 1867 also by Rózsavölgyi és Társa. On its cover an engraving can be found depicting a cavalry trooper holding a flag in his hand. The Italian word bandiera means flag; by extension, banderium stands for a troop of people fighting under the same flag. A Hungarian nobleman who could set up a cavalry troop of more than fifty soldiers at the insurrection of the nobility was entitled to go to war under his own flag. The last Hungarian insurrection of the nobility was in 1809. In Mosonyi’s time banderium was the name of cavalry troops in a civilian or military parade. Mosonyi composed the Banderium March for the third National Chorus Festival organized in Arad (Oradea in Romania since 1920) between 9 and 13 August 1867[18].

The March of Colonel Hertelendy at Ulm (1805) was printed in 1869 by Rózsavölgyi. The march was written for male voices with piano accompaniment, whereas its trio was composed for piano. The work is the arrangement of Mosonyi’s own composition with orchestra[19], its piano part seem to be an effective piece for performance separately as well. Gábor Hertelendy (1742–1826) who came from a family of the lesser nobility had a splendid military career rising from infantryman to lieutenant general.[20] When capturing Ulm on 20 October 1805, Napoleon defeated the Austrian general Mack[21] and took about twenty-five thousand prisoners of war. However, colonel Hertelendy and the Palatinus hussars under his command managed to break through the French lines. The march immortalised this feat of arms, condensing the brave commander’s encouraging words to his soldiers to rhymed dactylic lines (see the Hungarian description of works). While the melody of the march is not Mosonyi’s own, the trio is his invention, with several borrowed motives from the Rákóczy song. The music was dedicated to “His Lordship Count Pál Festetits, president of the music lovers’ association of Pest”. Mosonyi shouldered the duties of conductor of the association for a short while but as soon as he found a suitable successor to the post in the person of the Kapellmeister, composer and pianist Károly Thern (1817–1886), he immediately renounced it[22].

The Folksong arrangements[23] belong to Mosonyi’s large-scale transcriptions of which he published four in the course of 1860–61. The question arises whether it is justified to call the themes of these pieces folksongs. According to the 1954 statement of the International Folk Music Council it is completely grounded to use this title[24]. All melodies were printed in 1851 in a composite volume entitled 100 Hungarian Folksongs collected by Mihály Füredi and provided with piano accompaniment by Ignác Bognár (Nos. 53, 55; 45, 65; 10, 14, 21; 15, 70, and 104). Füredi was, however, the notator and not the composer of these melodies which meets the first criterion of folk music, i.e. oral transmission. As a matter of fact, Füredi published the most popular tunes of his time; they were became popular by the people in the first place (and not by Füredi). This satisfies the second criterion of folk music, i.e. selection. The seventh and ninth melodies first emerged in the incidental music to the comedy Tündérlak Magyarhonban (Fairy Castle in Hungary) by Johann Baptist Hirschfeld and Zsigmond Szentpétery back in 1829. Once again József Szerdahelyi was the compiler, not the composer of the music, meeting thereby the third criterion of folk music: continuity. Since these tunes survive in several notated and printed text and melodic variants, the fourth criterion is also fulfilled, i.e. variation.[25]

The Two Folksongs (the First Rhapsody in G minor) appeared as the first musical supplement to the 5 December 1860 issue (I/6) of Zenészeti Lapok (dated erroneously 5 November). The music was printed by the music publisher Rózsavölgyi. Mosonyi’s letter on pp. 71–72 of the review reveals that on selecting the songs for arrangement the composer was striving for powerful musical contrast. As a piano teacher he regarded it as his duty that the piece should not be too difficult technically. The grade of difficulty of the subsequent arrangements increases continuously: it is as if they were written as a continuation of the cycle Studies for Piano for the Development in the Performance of Hungarian Music. These pieces are, however, the composer’s par excellence studies by which Mosonyi wanted to illustrate how folksongs could be use of as thematic material to build different forms. The title Folksong may perhaps be pedagogic or illustrative, but not very typical. The editor of the present volume holds the view that these pieces clearly meet the requirements of rhapsody both with regard to form and technique and has therefore designated them so with pardonable arbitrariness for the sake of easier distinction. The opening lines of the two songs arranged in the G minor Rhapsody are as follows: 1. “The corps has been put out into the yard,” 2. “I am going to be a field-guard in the summer.”

The Two Folksongs (the Second Rhapsody in F minor) appeared as the second supplement to Zenészeti Lapok (I/26, 27 March 1861.). Their opening lines run as: 1. “Under the heaven, above the earth / No man is as lonely as I am.” 2. “From now on I do not mind, / What the world does cry.”

The Three Folksongs (the Third Rhapsody in A minor) appeared as the supplement No 3 to Zenészeti Lapok (I/40, 3 July 1861.). Their opening lines read: 1. “The weather is sad and so am I.” 2. “My mother keeps saying: / I should not get married so early.” 3. “Look into my eyes, sweetheart, / What do you read in them?”

The Three Folksongs (the Fourth Rhapsody in D minor) appeared as the fourth supplement to Zenészeti Lapok (I/53, 3 October 1861.). The words of the songs run as: 1. “I close my sad heart.” 2. “Mary, my Mary, I so much love your eyes.” 3. “My father was a well-to-do farmer, / Who really left me a lot; / The tether of six oxen, / And the handle of a pitchfork.”

New Year Present – Six Hungarian Melodies by Gáspár Bernát[26] appeared as an unnumbered supplement to Zenészeti Lapok (II/14, 2 January 1862.). Its inclusion was announced by a text printed in bold letters on the last page of the issue: “Enclosed to the present issue you find a Hungarian musical composition by Mihály Mosonyi”. Hence the title of the arrangement: it was sent to the subscribers as a present with the first issue of the new year.[27] Gáspár [Jasper] Bernát (1810–1873) was a lawyer who gave himself up to literature: his strange sketches of absurd humour – the so-called Jasperianism after his first name – earned him wide popularity all over the country. His six short piano pieces entitled Alföldi csárdások (Csárdás of the Plane) were printed around 1840 by Friedrich August Walzel, a lithographer resident in Pest. Unfortunately, the outer sheet of the only surviving copy with the last, sixth piece on it is missing. Nevertheless, Mosonyi’s arrangement method can be analysed. He turned the key order  C–C–C–a–C–(C?) into a more exciting one: C–G–C–a–C–F and extended the simple forms by extremely novel, witty codas. He transformed the sometimes too laboured accompaniment to make it more transparent but he hardly modified the melodic lines. He enriched the ornaments to a certain extent and lent variety to the second half of melodies given consistently with repeat signs by writing occasionally a double. Given the case that the original cycle was far above the average musical literature of the time, Mosonyi’s arrangement even enhanced its advantages considerably and turned it into a brilliant podium item. The work is dedicated to the Hungarian music-playing youth.

The Hungarian Music after the Csardas “Souvenirs from Galgócz” by János Palotási[28] was printed as the fifth supplement to Zenészeti Lapok (II/31, 1 May 1862.). János Pecsenyánszky (1821–1878) was a lawyer, notary and county archivist of Polish descent in Jászság, Hungary. His csárdás compositions spread and gained popularity through the Gypsy band of the leader Ferkó Patikárius (1827–1870). From 1859 on Pecsenyánszky published his dance pieces under the pseudonym Palotási. On 13 February 1861 Mihály Mosonyi published an open letter to him in Zenészeti Lapok asking him, among others, for permission to arrange his works which Palotási willingly acceded to[29]. Mosonyi selected the csárdás Souvenir of Galgócz which was first printed by József Treichlinger of Pest in 1853 under the plate number J.T.268 as a work by Károly Patikárius (?–1858)[30]. It had a simple form: ABBCDCD (slow), ABBABCDDCDEFFEFABB (fast). Mosonyi followed the same procedure as in the case of New Year Present: he did not change the sequence of the thematic material, nor did he modify the order of the key in this instance. On the other hand, he lent the form peculiarity  by interpolating reprises and extended the simple dance form to create a romantic sonata movement from.[31]

The Free Ideas by Ignácz Frank of Szabad[32] were printed by the Rózsavölgyi Company under the plate number G. N. 1032 late in the autumn of 1864. Ignác Frank (1825–?) studied simultaneously engineering and music in Vienna. In the 1848–49 Hungarian Independence War he fought as a second-lieutenant from beginning to end. After the defeat, he ran his father’s restaurant in Pápa and taught music theory to students of the local college and to Gypsy musicians. In 1863 he made a tour of Hungary with a new stringed harmonium by a Stuttgart instrument maker, then settled in Pest as a wine merchant. He hired the famous Komlókert restaurant and offered prizes for encouraging musical activities. In 1871 he opened the Grand café delicatesse[33]  but soon went bankrupt; he finished his life which was like a romance at the monastery of Máriabesnyõ. He was one of the most popular csárdás composers of the 19th century whose works are still regularly performed. Not only Liszt and Brahms made arrangements of his dances but Jules Massenet and Jenõ Hubay, founder of the Hungarian violin school as well. The composition Free Ideas is dedicated to Carl Tausig (1841–1871), Liszt’s favourite pupil whom Mosonyi handed over a laurel wreath as a token of his respect after his farewell concert given at the great hall of Európa Hotel of Pest on 3 April 1864[34].

 

The present edition contains all known and available piano arrangements by Mosonyi[35] except for his two large-scale opera transcriptions[36].

 

The performing problems of the verbunkos style are treated in detail in the epilogue to the new edition of Mosonyi’s Studies for Piano for Development in the Performance of Hungarian Music (Budapest, 1996).

In the present edition the editor’s additions are distinguished by grey colour. The critical notes can be found after the English translation.

I owe acknowledgements to the Music Collection of National Széchényi Library, Budapest for rendering available the two autograph manuscripts to the publisher. My acknowledgements are also due to the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Research Library for Music History (Budapest) that provided me with the photocopy of the first edition of the works published here.

I offer thanks to all my collaborators for their generous work with which they made the edition possible. Finally I extend my gratitude to all those who supported the publication with their financial contribution.

István Kassai

Budapest, Advent 1999.

 

Translated by Erzsébet Mészáros

 

IRODALOM – LITERATUR – LITERATURE

Ábrányi K., id. (1872): Mosonyi Mihály élet és jellemrajza. Corvina. Pest.

Bónis F. (1960): Mosonyi Mihály. Gondolat. Budapest.

Bónis F. (1961): Mosonyi Mihály magyar operái.    In: Szabolcsi B., Bartha D. (szerk.):Zenetudományi tanulmányok az opera történetébõl. Akadémiai Kiadó. Budapest. Vol. 9.

Bónis F. (1962): Die ungarishen Opern Mihály Mosonyis. In: Studia musicologica. Tom. II.

Bónis F. (1989a): Mosonyiana I–III. In: Magyar Zene 2.

Bónis F. (1989b): Mosonyiana IV. In: Magyar Zene 3.

Bónis F. (1989c): Mosonyiana V. In: Magyar Zene 4.

Bónis F. (1995): Mosonyiana II [VI]. In: Magyar Zene 1.

Bónis F. (2000a): Mosonyi Mihály. Magyar zeneszerzõk. Mágus. Budapest. Vol. 10.

Bónis F. (2000b): Mozarttól Bartókig. Püski. Budapest.

Bónis F. (2001): Mihály Mosonyi. In: The New Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Macmillan. London. Vol. 17.

Bónis F. (2002): Mihály Mosonyi. Hungarian Composers. Mágus. Budapest. Vol. 10.

Gmasz, P., Gmasz, S. (o. J.): Chronik Stadtgemeinde Frauenkirchen. Frauenkirchen.

Gollowitzer, M. (1973): Adatok Mosonyi Mihály családjának történetéhez. In: Bónis F. (szerk.): Magyar zenetörténeti tanulmányok Mosonyi Mihály és Bartók Béla emlékére. Zenemûkiadó. Budapest.

Hoffer, P. P. (1961): Mihály Mosonyi. In: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart. Bärenreiter. Kassel. Vol. 9.

Káldor J. (1936): Michael Mosonyi. (Phil. Diss.). Dittert. Dresden.

Kassai I. (2001): Adalékok a Mosonyi-kutatáshoz. In: Bónis F. (szerk.): Magyar zenetörténeti tanulmányok Erkel Ferencrõl, Kodály Zoltánról és korukról. Püski. Budapest.

Kassai I. (2003): Utóhang/Nachwort/Epilogue. In: Mosonyi Mihály: Transcriptions for Piano. Kassai István (Private edition, distributed by Akkord. A-1047). Budapest.

Kassai I. (2005): Három dallamtörténeti adalék. In: Bónis F. (szerk.): Magyar zenetörténeti tanulmányok a nemzeti romantika világából. Püski. Budapest.

Legány D. (1994a): Mihály Mosonyi Symphony & Piano Concerto. Naxos Marco Polo. 8223539. CD notes.

Legány D. (1994b): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Works. Vol. 1. Naxos Marco Polo. 8223557. CD notes.

Legány D. (1994c): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Works. Vol. 2. Naxos Marco Polo. 8223558. CD notes.

Legány D. (1994d): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Works. Vol. 3. Naxos Marco Polo. 8223559. CD notes.

Legány D. (1998a): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Works. Vol. 4. Naxos Marco Polo. 8223560. CD notes.

Legány D. (1998b): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Works. Vol. 5. Naxos Marco Polo. 8225022. CD notes.

Legány D. (1999): Mihály Mosonyi Piano Trios. Naxos Marco Polo. 8225042. CD notes.

Mona I. (1989): Magyar zenemûkiadók és tevékenységük 1774–1867. MTA Zenetudományi Intézet. Budapest.

Nagy I. (1859): Magyarország családai. Ráth Mór. Pest. Tom. V.

Nagy I. (1862): Magyarország családai. Ráth Mór. Pest. Tom. IX.

Ságh J. (1879): Magyar zenészeti lexikon. A szerzõ kiadása. Pest.

Sárosi B. (1997): Meddig terjed a népies dal határa. In. Bónis F. (szerk.): Kodály emlékkönyv 1997. Püski. Budapest.