# Miklos Rozsa



## Tapkaara

Miklos Rozsa already had a promising career as a composer in the concert hall when he started writing movie scores in the mid-1930s. By the end of that decade, he was working on the most expensive movie being made in England, and by the end of the decade that followed, he was under contract to the biggest studio in Hollywood. 

Born into a well-to-do family in Budapest, Rozsa's musical sensibilities were shaped by his contact with the Magyar peasants who lived around his father's summer estate. As a boy he could read music before he could read words, and proved a natural musician, taking up the violin at age six. His earliest influences as a student were Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, who were regarded as dangerous radicals at the time. After studying at the Leipzig Conservatory, Rozsa embarked on a career as a composer and saw early success with his Variations On a Hungarian Peasant Song and his Theme, Variations and Finale — the latter entered the repertory of several major conductors, including Bruno Walter, in the mid-1930s, and Rozsa received encouragement in his career from none other than Richard Strauss. He began writing music for films at the inspiration and suggestion of his friend Arthur Honegger — Rozsa needed the income, and he liked the idea of writing music that would get performed and recorded quickly. Rozsa established himself as a film composer at London Films, the British studio founded by his fellow Hungarian Alexander Korda, and after impressing Korda with his work on thrillers like Knight Without Armor (1937), the producer chose Rozsa as the composer for his Arabian Nights fantasy film The Thief of Baghdad (1940). The latter proved too ambitious and expensive to finish in England once the war broke out, and the production was moved to Hollywood, and Rozsa with it. He spent the next eight years as a successful freelance composer, winning his first Oscar with his score for Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), which broke new ground in movie music with its use of the electronic instrument the theremin (and also yielded a popular piece of light classical music with the Spellbound Concerto). He became known for his ability to score crime movies, particularly the category now known as film noir, psychologically oriented tales of personal and criminal disorder, including The Killers (1946) and The Naked City (1947). In 1948, after winning his second Oscar (for A Double Life), Rozsa joined MGM, then the biggest studio in Hollywood, where he earned a third Oscar (for Ben-Hur (1959)) and a brace of nominations; his music graced some of the biggest movies of the era, including epics like Quo Vadis (1949) and costume adventure yarns such as Ivanhoe (1952), and serious topical dramas like The Red Danube (1949). Rozsa continued writing for the concert hall, although as a post-Romantic composer whose work was rooted in tonality, he found himself out of favor with the critics as early as 1943, when his Theme, Variations and Finale was performed by the New York Philharmonic. That didn't stop the performances or prevent commissions from coming in; he wrote his Violin Concerto for Jascha Heifetz, and into the 1960s and 1970s was writing concertos for piano, cello, and viola that were performed and recorded by such soloists as Leonard Pennario and Janos Starker. Rozsa remained active into the 1980s, composing music for a new generation of filmmakers, including Alain Resnais. At the time of his death in 1995, his concert and film music were in the process of being rediscovered and newly recorded.

Taken from the All Music Guide

This is a composer I do not know well, but I am really beginning to like. I only have two Naxos recordings of him but I find his music to be very appealing and dramatic.

Anyne else know/like him?


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## Mirror Image

Never heard of him, but his music probably lacks individuality.

Edit: I heard the first movement from his "Violin Concerto" and found it to be harmonically stale. Not very interesting music.


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## bexterlee

Chandos has released Volume One of a brand new mini-Series, Rosza Orchestral Works. Here they highlight rarer works in the catalogue.


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## Taneyev

(dedicated to Mirror Image)
Violin concerto
Cello concerto
Kaleidoscope for flute and piano
North Hungarian songs and dances for violin and piano
Sonata for solo flute
Sonata for solo violin
Duo for violin and piano.
All very interesting works


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> Never heard of him, but his music probably lacks individuality.
> 
> Edit: I heard the first movement from his "Violin Concerto" and found it to be harmonically stale. Not very interesting music.


Hahaha, you're just saying that because I said that about Tveitt! Only difference is I have heard several works of Tveitt, you've only heard on movement from one work of Rozsa.

I think he deserves to be heard in whole.

Andthe Violin Concerto harmonically stale? I actually find it pretty adventurous in that department.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> Hahaha, you're just saying that because I said that about Tveitt! Only difference is I have heard several works of Tveitt, you've only heard on movement from one work of Rozsa.
> 
> I think he deserves to be heard in whole.
> 
> Andthe Violin Concerto harmonically stale? I actually find it pretty adventurous in that department.


Okay, okay...yes I was just saying that because you said that about Tveitt. I'll have to listen to some Rozsa.


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## Tapkaara

Yeah, Rozsa is pretty good. A "post-romantic" who embrached a sort of gentle modernism. Tonal works with great orchestration and exciting drive.


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## World Violist

Tapkaara said:


> Yeah, Rozsa is pretty good. A "post-romantic" who embrached a sort of gentle modernism. Tonal works with great orchestration and exciting drive.


That could be a decent enough appraisal of Rozsa... though some of his other works get a little less tonally stable. A piece I know very well is by Rozsa, "Introduction and Allegro" for solo viola. It's downright violent in places, while some moments are extraordinarily serene.

I've heard of his viola concerto... and that it's really really difficult. I'll need to check it out anyway. His viola music, at any rate, needs to enter the standard repertoire in my opinion.


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## Tapkaara

World Violist said:


> That could be a decent enough appraisal of Rozsa... though some of his other works get a little less tonally stable. A piece I know very well is by Rozsa, "Introduction and Allegro" for solo viola. It's downright violent in places, while some moments are extraordinarily serene.
> 
> I've heard of his viola concerto... and that it's really really difficult. I'll need to check it out anyway. His viola music, at any rate, needs to enter the standard repertoire in my opinion.


I have not heard all of Rozsa, so perhaps there are other works that are less stable in the tonality department that I have yet to hear. But tonally unstable is different from atonal, and Rozsa appears to stick to tonality more than he echews it. At least so far...

The Viola Concert is one of the Naxos discs sI have and it's super. I'd love for you to hear it, Violist, since you yourself play the instrument in question!


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## Sid James

Thanks Tapkaara, for making this thread. I've thought about doing this in the past, but wasn't sure how seriously people would take Rozsa, who I imagine is often dismissed by serious classical fans...

I've also got the Naxos cd with his _Viola Concerto _& _Hungarian Serenade_. The concerto is a pretty dark work, with shades of Bartok. Lots of Hungarian folklore. I find it very engaging. It should definitely be better known, especially since the _Viola Concerto _repertoire is not a very crowded field. The _Hungarian Serenade_, an earlier work, is much lighter, more in the vein of Kodaly's _Hary Janos_.

I also have his _String Quartet_. Again lots of Hungarian folklore & shades of Bartok. I agree that, at times, this music sounds like it's at the edges of tonality. It's probably one of my favourite C20th string quartets.

All in all, he was not only a great film composer (I especially like the _Spellbound Concerto _from the movie of the same name), but quite a good 'serious' classical composer as well. His style can be compared with other modernist neoromantics like Barber & Walton.


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## Tapkaara

Andre said:


> Thanks Tapkaara, for making this thread. I've thought about doing this in the past, but wasn't sure how seriously people would take Rozsa, who I imagine is often dismissed by serious classical fans...
> 
> I've also got the Naxos cd with his _Viola Concerto _& _Hungarian Serenade_. The concerto is a pretty dark work, with shades of Bartok. Lots of Hungarian folklore. I find it very engaging. It should definitely be better known, especially since the _Viola Concerto _repertoire is not a very crowded field. The _Hungarian Serenade_, an earlier work, is much lighter, more in the vein of Kodaly's _Hary Janos_.
> 
> I also have his _String Quartet_. Again lots of Hungarian folklore & shades of Bartok. I agree that, at times, this music sounds like it's at the edges of tonality. It's probably one of my favourite C20th string quartets.
> 
> All in all, he was not only a great film composer (I especially like the _Spellbound Concerto _from the movie of the same name), but quite a good 'serious' classical composer as well. His style can be compared with other modernist neoromantics like Barber & Walton.


There are certainly shades of Bartok in Rozsa.

The String Quartet sounds like a good one. I will have to seek it out.

I suggest the disc with the Violin Concerto and the Symphony Concertante for Violin and Cello. Also fairly dark works with great moment of rhythmic drive.

Why shouldn't people take Rozsa seriously as a composer? Because he wrote for films? I once said in another thread that this has always puzzled me. Film music is "incidental music" of the 20th century. Composers who composed music for staged plays before the days of the moving picture are not put down for writing play music. It's an interesting double standard.


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## Sid James

Tapkaara said:


> Why shouldn't people take Rozsa seriously as a composer? Because he wrote for films? I once said in another thread that this has always puzzled me. Film music is "incidental music" of the 20th century. Composers who composed music for staged plays before the days of the moving picture are not put down for writing play music. It's an interesting double standard.


I think that, even around here, there's quite a bit of elitism & snobbism. Like, a while back, I made a thread about George Gershwin & some members reacted very negatively, saying to effect that he was nothing more than a composer of show tunes. This is ridiculous, because he composed many serious works as well. The same can be said of Rozsa, he had two types of output - film and 'serious' music. But that's not a problem for me, escpecially considering how all that I've heard of him is of excellent quality.

I also find it interesting how, even though he moved first to Western Europe then to the USA, his concert music always retained an essentially Hungarian flavour. At the same time, his film scores sounded more 'international' for want of a better term. So I suppose he was conscious about dividing his output stylistically in this way...


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## Mirror Image

Andre said:


> I think that, even around here, there's quite a bit of elitism & snobbism. Like, a while back, I made a thread about George Gershwin & some members reacted very negatively, saying to effect that he was nothing more than a composer of show tunes. This is ridiculous, because he composed many serious works as well.


Anyone who says that Gershwin wrote nothing but show tunes obviously hasn't listened to his "Piano Concerto," "Rhapsody in Blue," "An American in Paris," "Cuban Overture," or "Porgy and Bess."


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## Tapkaara

Andre said:


> I think that, even around here, there's quite a bit of elitism & snobbism. Like, a while back, I made a thread about George Gershwin & some members reacted very negatively, saying to effect that he was nothing more than a composer of show tunes. This is ridiculous, because he composed many serious works as well. The same can be said of Rozsa, he had two types of output - film and 'serious' music. But that's not a problem for me, escpecially considering how all that I've heard of him is of excellent quality.
> 
> I also find it interesting how, even though he moved first to Western Europe then to the USA, his concert music always retained an essentially Hungarian flavour. At the same time, his film scores sounded more 'international' for want of a better term. So I suppose he was conscious about dividing his output stylistically in this way...


Well, I may be able to understand the negative sentiment for Gershwin. I, personally, cannot stand Gershwin. His light and jazzy style does not appeal to me in the slightest. So, I can, I admit, understand his lack of popularity around here. I think it hase to do more with his STYLE vs. whether or not he wrote for films or the concert hall, and he did both.

Rozsa's style is more "traditional" in the sense it sounds like serious concert hall music more than show tuney (to coin a phrase). With the similarities to Bartok and perhaps Kodaly, this is more "sure ground" for the average classical fan. At least this applies to me.

Notwithstanding, regardless of the composer's style, the fact that they write (or wrote) for films should not have anything to do with their classical "street cred." Some of my favorite composers wrote for films (Khachaturain, Shostakovich, Ifukube, Kilar, etc.) but they are all clearly great concert hall composers, too. Again, they supplied incidental music to one of our newst forms of media. Who knows...perhaps even Mozart would have written for films had he been given the chance. And had he, I doubt that would affect the general opinion of his concert output. He was, after all, the genius to end all geniuses.


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> Well, I may be able to understand the negative sentiment for Gershwin. I, personally, cannot stand Gershwin. His light and jazzy style does not appeal to me in the slightest. So, I can, I admit, understand his lack of popularity around here. I think it hase to do more with his STYLE vs. whether or not he wrote for films or the concert hall, and he did both.


Yeah, we know you dislike anything remotely jazzy.  I think you made that perfectly clear a week or so ago when you blirted out "I hate jazz!"

I'm just curious where your dislike for jazz comes from? Did you get bullied in school by somebody who loved jazz music?


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## Tapkaara

Mirror Image said:


> Yeah, we know you dislike anything remotely jazzy.  I think you made that perfectly clear a week or so ago when you blirted out "I hate jazz!"
> 
> I'm just curious where your dislike for jazz comes from? Did you get bullied in school by somebody who loved jazz music?


I just don't like the way it sounds.

Now mind you, this applies mostly to modern jazz, or I guess anything after the 1940s. I actually like the "hot jazz" of the 1920s and 1930s quite a bit. There a lot of Dixieland influence there, and it's a great sound. And ragtime is great too, but I am not sure if that is really considered jazz or a part of jazz. Maybe an influence. But the modern stuff with all the improvisation and such just sounds meandering to me and I cannot get into it. Of course, I have nothing against people who do like it!


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## Mirror Image

Tapkaara said:


> I just don't like the way it sounds.
> 
> Now mind you, this applies mostly to modern jazz, or I guess anything after the 1940s. I actually like the "hot jazz" of the 1920s and 1930s quite a bit. There a lot of Dixieland influence there, and it's a great sound. And ragtime is great too, but I am not sure if that is really considered jazz or a part of jazz. Maybe an influence. But the modern stuff with all the improvisation and such just sounds meandering to me and I cannot get into it. Of course, I have nothing against people who do like it!


Well there you go, you just don't like the improvisation of modern jazz like bebop, hard-bop, cool jazz, etc. That's perfectly okay and legitimate with me. It's very hard for many classical listeners to appreciate the spontaneity of improvisation. I guess many classical listeners seem to think things like "Why is this saxophonist soloing?"

I'm not into early jazz. I only like jazz around 1948-1962. This, for me, was when jazz truly began to become it's own music. I also enjoy big band too.

Anyway, getting back on topic. This thread has been derailed too much.


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## Sid James

Talking about Rosza, a great film (as well as classical) composer, brings up memories of other composers of that era like Korngold, Waxman & Steiner. I've recently been listening to Steiner's soundtrack to _Gone With The Wind _& it's excellent! Shades of composers like Tchaikovsky & Sibelius in this score. I think that these guys deserve alot more credit than they have currently got, although labels like Naxos are doing a good job of issuing modern recordings of their great film music...

& you're right, Tapkaara, many serious classical composers produced great film scores too. Like, as you say, Shostakovich, but also the man who influenced Rozsa, Honegger. His _Les Miserables _ soundtrack is just superb, at least as good as his symphonies...


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## Tapkaara

Andre said:


> Talking about Rosza, a great film (as well as classical) composer, brings up memories of other composers of that era like Korngold, Waxman & Steiner. I've recently been listening to Steiner's soundtrack to _Gone With The Wind _& it's excellent! Shades of composers like Tchaikovsky & Sibelius in this score. I think that these guys deserve alot more credit than they have currently got, although labels like Naxos are doing a good job of issuing modern recordings of their great film music...
> 
> & you're right, Tapkaara, many serious classical composers produced great film scores too. Like, as you say, Shostakovich, but also the man who influenced Rozsa, Honegger. His _Les Miserables _ soundtrack is just superb, at least as good as his symphonies...


I love Steiner's King Kong score. There is an EXCELLENT recording of it on Marco Polo (the version I have) that was later recycled into the Naxos Film Classics series. I am less familiar with his work on Gone with the Wind, but that famous sweeping main theme is just goregous!

As far as Rozsa goes, I have heard his film scores in the context of the films they were apart of. It's been a few years, but I've seen Ben-Hur. I need to hear the scores seperate from the films, though, to really take them in. I do not remember any notably Magyar influence in Ben-Hur, though. Probably by design.


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## Gregg Nestor

New to this site, but I've recorded Rózsa extensively. Two new CD releases are out, check the following links:
http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/mirocomuforg.html

and

http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/youmurethtoo.html

The following is a two-part interview to tie in with the CD release

http://blofeldscat.livejournal.com/76821.html

http://blofeldscat.livejournal.com/77078.html

Enjoy

GREGG NESTOR


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## Hendrikus

Miklos Rozsa is of course the best kept secret of the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st. Regardless of that fact performers and orchestras are still finding their way to his concert and film music. There is an active Miklos Rozsa society with a superb and very informative website with loads of music samples, a complete list of works with links to the sheet music, a concert performances page which shows that his music is indeed alive and well and a page list of current soloists and groups including his work in their repertoire. www.miklosrozsa.org.


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## Tapkaara

Hendrikus said:


> Miklos Rozsa is of course the best kept secret of the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st. Regardless of that fact performers and orchestras are still finding their way to his concert and film music. There is an active Miklos Rozsa society with a superb and very informative website with loads of music samples, a complete list of works with links to the sheet music, a concert performances page which shows that his music is indeed alive and well and a page list of current soloists and groups including his work in their repertoire. www.miklosrozsa.org.


I would say he's ONE of their best kept secrets! (There are others...) 

I actually tried registering for that forum today and had trouble. It kept saying I already had used my email to set up an account, which is not true. Not sure why it kept rejecting my email addresses...and I tried a few.


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## Hendrikus

The Miklos Rozsa forum, though linked from the Rozsa website, is a separate service provided by Yuku. Perhaps if you log in direct to to the Yuku address it's possible your registration process might be simplified. Try http://miklosrozsa.yuku.com


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## Tapkaara

Saw this online and thought it was interesting:

In his autobiography Rozsa calls himself "an unashamed champion of tonality." As he put it, "Tonality means line; line means melody; melody means song; and song, especially folk song, is the essence of music, because it is the natural, spontaneous and primordial expression of human emotion." (Rózsa recalled attending a Los Angeles performance of his Sonata for Two Violins in the 1940s and noticing Arnold Schoenberg wince at every tonal turn of the music.)

I think it's a great quote!


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## Sid James

Altough Rozsa was definitely a tonal composer compared to the atonals like Schoenberg, I hear him pushing the limits of tonality in his _String Quartet_. The instruments even imitate the Hungarian national instrument, the cimbalom, in one of the movements. This, for me, seems to presage some of the sounds generated by contemporary composers, such as Gubaidulina. So Rozsa was definitely not a conservative, as perhaps that interesting quote suggests...


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## jurianbai

Brought up Naxos Rozsa Violin concerto. Now this I will labelled as a very fine 20th century Violin concerto. Wonderfully crafted composition. No shame to his tonality philosophy.
A sure favorite for me now. Will need to get his quartet as well.


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## World Violist

jurianbai said:


> Brought up Naxos Rozsa Violin concerto. Now this I will labelled as a very fine 20th century Violin concerto. Wonderfully crafted composition. No shame to his tonality philosophy.
> A sure favorite for me now. Will need to get his quartet as well.


Find the viola concerto also if you haven't already. One of my favorites! Also on a very good Naxos recording.


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## jurianbai

most probably will do, too busy with the violin repertoire now. I imagine I will love that viola. 

Back to the composer and generally music soundtrack for pre 70s movie. Sound to me the soundtrack in this era is done more deep and seriously. maybe because the movie need to depends strong to the music because their limited visual technology? as opposed to today movie.


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## Sid James

Tapkaara said:


> Sid: I am fairly familiar with Rozsa and I do not know if any instance where he played around with 12-note music.


I remember reading in a book on music that I have that Rozsa had one composition using the serial (12-note) technique, but in a "tonal" way/context (like Bartok did, eg. in his 2nd violin concerto). I'll have to dig the book out, bear with me, I'll be back here to "report," my memory may well be "muddy" on this, but we'll see...



> In fact, he was quite opposed to it, creating an organization called Pro Musica Sana to promote the continuation of music with tonality, among other things.


Yes, reading your earlier post above on this thread talking to this, it seems he was anti-atonal or whatever. But as I have seen/heard, many composers didn't practice what they preached. Bartok, Bernstein, Hovhaness all towed the "anti-atonal" line in what they said at various points, but just look at a number of their works (as well as hear them, of course) & they don't hava a key assigned. So I'm wary of what people said, although Rozsa setting up that organisation went further than that.



> ...Do you know of something I do not??


As I said, I'll have to check that book/source & get back to you here.

*BTW* - have you heard about THIS new release of some of Rozsa's film musics? I may get it myself, it's kind of on the "back-burner." Looks interesting, do you agree?...


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## Tapkaara

Yes, I'd be quite curious to know if Rozsa dabbled in 12-tone music, though I feel very strongly that he did not. I am open to being surprised!

There are so many CDs I need to get. I do have a recording of Rozsa conducting his own film works so I don't think I will need this anytime soon, but I'll keep an eye on it. If you get it, tell me what you think.


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## Sid James

I checked my books. You're right, my memory was incorrect. It must have been another, possibly Hungarian, composer of c20th. It could have even been the Greek, Skalkottas? I don't know, I read quite a lot on music, and it often gets all mixed up. In any case, I think my thoughts kind of stand, Rozsa said he didn't like "atonality" but still, I have his _Viola Concerto _on Naxos, & there's no key assigned to it. It's simply called "Viola Concerto." Not in B minor or something like that. I'm kind of saddened how a number of composers of the c20th dissed the newer techniques, but at the same time used them to some degree. One would have thought they would have advocated or at least just had a "live and let live" approach to this, rather than getting involved in the various harmful and useless ideological battles that went around. But maybe I'm judging from now, 2011, when these dogmatic/ideological battles are over, it's all just academic/history. Thank goodness it's all over, we can just go on & enjoy whatever we wish, without having to justify it to various factions or camps of the musical community. If anything, pluralism reigns supreme now, not any specific "dogma." But I suppose guys like Rozsa were too close to this to kind of detach themselves fully, they had to join the fray, on one "side" or another...


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## Hendrikus

I was under the impression that the only time Rózsa dabbled in 12 tone was with underscoring for Satan in 'King of Kings'


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## Tapkaara

Sid James said:


> I checked my books. You're right, my memory was incorrect. It must have been another, possibly Hungarian, composer of c20th. It could have even been the Greek, Skalkottas? I don't know, I read quite a lot on music, and it often gets all mixed up. In any case, I think my thoughts kind of stand, Rozsa said he didn't like "atonality" but still, I have his _Viola Concerto _on Naxos, & there's no key assigned to it. It's simply called "Viola Concerto." Not in B minor or something like that. I'm kind of saddened how a number of composers of the c20th dissed the newer techniques, but at the same time used them to some degree. One would have thought they would have advocated or at least just had a "live and let live" approach to this, rather than getting involved in the various harmful and useless ideological battles that went around. But maybe I'm judging from now, 2011, when these dogmatic/ideological battles are over, it's all just academic/history. Thank goodness it's all over, we can just go on & enjoy whatever we wish, without having to justify it to various factions or camps of the musical community. If anything, pluralism reigns supreme now, not any specific "dogma." But I suppose guys like Rozsa were too close to this to kind of detach themselves fully, they had to join the fray, on one "side" or another...


I don't think the reason why Rozsa did not assign keys to his work because of an inherent tonal ambiguity, although there may have been some of that. I just do not think it was his practice to do so. I do agree that there is some free-form playing around with tonality in some of his works, but they do remain tonal, ultimately, and it was is intention to keep them that way. I like Rozsa's work quite a bit but I am still not familiar enough with it; I feel I need to know it better before I can make more definitive commentary.

As for being saddened with composers who put down newer techniques, I suppose that says a lot about you: you have a very open mind when it comes to music! I have no trouble, personally, with composers like Rozsa who protested such things and stayed true to what they felt was musically descent although the popular wave in music might have said otherwise. Now that I think about it, just about all of the composers I consider to be favorite were called "reactionary" and even ridiculed for staying put in the world of "old fashioned music." Indeed, Sibelius and Ifukube refused to delve into the avant-gard and the were both heavily criticzed for it.

But if avant-gardists want to criticize them or anyone else for staying where they did, that if fair game, too. I think artists should stand up for what they believe in, vehemently if need be, and abandon a passive, populist approach. An artist has to stand for something. And indeed, any art is and should be open to criticism, postive and negative.


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## kv466

Miklos Rosza is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers in moderm time not only for some of his beautifully played orchestral and piano pieces...then, there's the theremin...it is without a doubt the most interesting instrument I own and my favorite to play...it is awesome and haunting and you can pretty much do anything you want with it granted you have all the midi patches you want but even at it's most basic, it is an honest instrument that captures our emotions just as efficiently as an acoustic instrument. Only discovered this composer recently thanks to ya'll and I'm looking forward to hearing some more stuff of his.


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## Tapkaara

kv466 said:


> Miklos Rosza is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers in moderm time not only for some of his beautifully played orchestral and piano pieces...then, there's the theremin...it is without a doubt the most interesting instrument I own and my favorite to play...it is awesome and haunting and you can pretty much do anything you want with it granted you have all the midi patches you want but even at it's most basic, it is an honest instrument that captures our emotions just as efficiently as an acoustic instrument. Only discovered this composer recently thanks to ya'll and I'm looking forward to hearing some more stuff of his.


Hahaha, again, unless I am missing something, Rozsa did not compose for the theremin. Perhaps you are thinking of his close colleague and contemporary Bernard Herrmann? Herrmann used electronic instruemts qite a bit, notably the theremin, in film scores such as for The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Anyhow, Rozsa's compositions are quite beautiful and exciting and I am happy to know others in this forum appreciate him!


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## kv466

Tapkaara said:


> Hahaha, again, unless I am missing something, Rozsa did not compose for the theremin. Perhaps you are thinking of his close colleague and contemporary Bernard Herrmann? Herrmann used electronic instruemts qite a bit, notably the theremin, in film scores such as for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
> 
> Anyhow, Rozsa's compositions are quite beautiful and exciting and I am happy to know others in this forum appreciate him!


 




I hope, of course, that I don't have it wrong!!


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## Head_case

> Anyne else know/like him?


Who doesn't???! 

You must've seen the classic 'Ben Hur' film no?

It was Rozsa who penned the score.

Sorry - I'm not interested in anything other than chamber music most days). I have one of his flute sonata scores and his string quartet.

His string quartets shares the same shades as Lajtha; Kurtag; Bartok; Kodaly with strong folk inflections. I only know of the Flesch Quartet recordings which are very good imho. His flute music ....err...crikes. Why is it so difficult to play!


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## Tapkaara

You got me here! I have not heard this work all the way through, at least not to the theremin part. I have become more "in the know" about his non-film scores and this concerto is, by the way, really a piece of extended film music. I suppose this is the only...or one of the only...compositions where he uses the theremin, but I guess there could be others. To my knowledge he does not use it in any concert works.

But again, you got me!


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## Sid James

Tapkaara said:


> I don't think the reason why Rozsa did not assign keys to his work because of an inherent tonal ambiguity, although there may have been some of that. I just do not think it was his practice to do so. I do agree that there is some free-form playing around with tonality in some of his works, but they do remain tonal, ultimately, and it was is intention to keep them that way.


Yes, well, I was on the run when writing my earlier post. I was almost mixing up "atonality" with serialism. Rozsa was definitely not serial (12-note) as I corrected myself, but I think that the currents & eddies that were happening in modern music didn't pass Rozsa by (say from about 1890 onwards - the Naxos cd notes say Richard Strauss was pretty supportive of the young Rozsa, and Strauss in his younger days was highly innovative, although himself fell out with Schoenberg later due to the complete "split" with tonality). I'm also not sure if not assigning a key to work means it's strictly "atonal" (probably doesn't) but keep in mind that a number of British composers like Vaughan Williams, Bax, Rawsthorne, also didn't assign keys to many/some works, I've read someone describe them as "ambitonal" (ambigiously tonal). Anyway, I don't want to complicate things, just explain my thinking.


> As for being saddened with composers who put down newer techniques, I suppose that says a lot about you: you have a very open mind when it comes to music!...


Well thanks for the compliment. I would like to discuss this issue more but I've made a few threads about this, eg. the "rubbery logics" one, or "conservatives, radicals & all that." It's kind of outside the ambit of this thread, but yes, I think it's good for a composer to have strong opinions, values, whatever, it's just that the "turf wars" of the past didn't do any service to music in general, imo. It was a case of a "war" of ideologies, the main tactic was "divide and conquer." Now I'm glad that there's a lot of plurality around, and respect for this. Eg. our young musicians at conservatory study BOTH "modern" and "HIP" (period instruments) ways of playing. What they specialise in is up to them. But now, it's a matter of exposing people to all matters of knowledge, ideology/politics/dogmas are probably in the trash can of history, or at least I hope?

& re the _*Spellbound Concerto *_- I remember having a recording of it with theremin, but I also have (or had?) a recording with just piano, no theremin. I think Rozsa may have put the theremin in that as "optional." Hence Tapkaara not knowing about it, I think I had THIS Naxos recording, which if I remember correctly, did have the theremin...


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## JAS

Sid James said:


> & re the _*Spellbound Concerto *_- I remember having a recording of it with theremin, but I also have (or had?) a recording with just piano, no theremin. I think Rozsa may have put the theremin in that as "optional." Hence Tapkaara not knowing about it, I think I had THIS Naxos recording, which if I remember correctly, did have the theremin...


I realize that I am replying to an old post from someone who might not even be active on the forum these days, but . . . I thought I would mention that Rozsa also used the theremin in the scores for The Lost Weekend and The Red House. He comments in his autobiography that he was concerned about a one-time use was quickly becoming a cliche. The concert version of the Spellbound Concerto has been performed both with and without a theremin. It is reminiscent of the film, but not critical for the concerto (and it is an extra expense, for the instrument and a qualified performer when it is unlikely to be very useful for other pieces in the same concert).


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