Dezso d'Antalffy (born Dezső Antalffy-Zsiross;Names in Hungarian usually begin with the surname (Antalffy-Zsiross Dezső). To Germans, he was Desider von Antalffy, and Désiré d'Antalffy in France; in the United States he was known as Dezso d'Antalffy, as can be seen in the autograph of the cover of "Madrigal". 24July 188529April 1945) was a Hungarian organist and composer. He was one of the most significant performing artists of his time."This year's round of organ concerts was today enriched by the recital of Prof. D. D'Antalffy. This artist again confirmed his long recognised virtuosity by his performance of works by Bach, Schumann and others, in a well-rounded program, whose technical and interpretative excellence once more brought him the tumultuous plaudits of a crowded house." —Journal, March 20, 1920
"Prof. D'Antalffy, of the Royal Academy, today gave his third organ recital this season. The great artistry, technical finesse, and virtuosity of this young performer compelled the vigorous applause of his audience." —Pester Lloyd, March, 1919
"Before a packed hall, D'Antalffy gave his first organ concert of the season. The merit of his performance has long been recognized. He again proved his technical command and the sureness of his musical perception, expressed through the medium of romantic, neo-impressionistic style." —Journal, November, 1918
"At today's Philharmonic concert, the Hall of the Academy was so inadequate that the concert must be repeated on Sunday. It is easy to understand the large size of the audience who desired to attend when two such popular artists as Josef Lhevinne and D. D'Antalffy were the joint recitalists. Mr. D'Antalffy opened the program with consummate artistry giving admirable interpretation of Handel's Organ Concerto in A major." —Magyarország, March 27, 1917 Letters, Diary, Photo Album, Notes of Dezso d'Antalffy He composed pieces for orchestra, chamber orchestra, choir, piano and organ which were published by Schirmer, Ricordi, Leduc, Salabert, Steingräber, Breitkopf and Universal.Judith d'Antalffy's biography about her father
Early life Dezso d'Antalffy was born into a musical family in Nagybecskerek, Banat, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary, (present-day Zrenjanin, Serbia). His mother, a pianist, recognized his musical talent when he was four. At the age of seven, d'Antalffy's piano instruction was taken over by Ferenc Ripka. When he turned ten, Herr Ödön supervised his musical progress.Curriculum vitae of Dezso d'Antalffy As a secondary-school student he practiced eight hours a day, which gave him a firm basis for his technique.
Academy of Music
Study
D'Antallfy moved to Budapest in 1902, where he attended the faculty of law at the Hungarian Royal University according to his father's wishes, and studied the organ and composed music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. For four years he was the student of Hans Koessler, who taught many Hungarian composers including Kodály, Bartók and Weiner. D'Antallfy graduated in 1906.
He studied composition at the Academy of Music in Berlin, a musical centre at the time, and had classes with Hungarian violinist and composer Joseph Joachim. D'Antallfy was a conductor at the Cologne Opera House in 1907 and 1908. In 1909, he continued his studies in Leipzig and Bologna.
Teaching A decade in Budapest began with his return in 1909, when d’Antalffy composed most of his organ pieces. When his teacher retired in 1909, he became an organ teacher at the Academy of Music and received tenure in 1912. In 1919, d’Antalffy began teaching composition. His first solo concert in January 1911 was a success, and he received a wreath from his fellow musicians. The concert featured a wide range of music, from the early Baroque (Frescobaldi) to contemporary music (including his own pieces). He married Dalma Arkay in March 1911 and fathered his only daughter, Judith d'Antalffy, in 1912.
Until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, d’Antalffy continued composing. He began performing abroad, and his expertise in organ-building was recognized. He was recruited when war broke out, and remained in Großwardein (or Nagyvárad) for two years. In 1916 d’Antalffy began working again, giving charity performances in Budapest, Transylvania and elsewhere in the country. At the height of his career in 1917, he was the chief organist at St. Stephan's Basilica in Budapest (playing the largest organ in the country, built by József AngsterHe served as chief organist and choirmaster of the St. Stephen's Cathedral, playing their IV/64 Angster organ (1905). in 1905.
Study abroad
In Leipzig, he studied composition with organist Max Reger. His organ teacher was Karl Straube, virtuoso organist of St. Thomas Church. Leipzig was an organ hotbed at the time, and its effects can be heard in d'Antalffy's works. Reger's combination of the tradition of Bach with Liszt and Brahms was part of his mindset when he seasoned traditional themes and melodies with impressionist, Debussy-like harmonies. Enrico Bossi, his teacher of interpretation and methodology in Bologna, had a similar influence since Bossi's works centred around the organ. Although Reger used liturgical genres such as the chorale and fugue, Bossi primarily composed concert pieces and D'Antalffy did the latter as well. Bossi's impact on d'Antalffy as a teacher became tangible in 1911, when he wrote his two-volume Organ Tutor (a detailed, versatile course book in Hungarian, focusing on the pupil's technical development with a variety of exercises).
Success in the United States
D'Antalffy arrived in New York on January 4, 1921,Four Famous Artist, In Concert and Entertainment, Milwaukee, Wis.Auditorium, Plankinton Hall, Tuesday, Jan'y 3. 8:15 p.m. Klara Kury Operett Primadonna-Budapest, Duci de Kerekjarto violin virtuoso, Dezso d'Antalffy organist-pianist, Gaspar Szanto tenor-Budapest OperaAmerikai Népszava 1921. szeptember 20;Cleveland- "Szabadság" 1921. szeptember;The south bend tribune;"Songstown" 16.1.1922;"The Pittsburgh Dispatch" 20.9.1921;The Pittsburgh Gazette Times 21.9.1921;Cleveland- "Szabadság" 1921. szeptember;"Songstown" 16.1.1922;Amerikai Magyar Népszava 1922. április 13;Amerikai Magyar Népszava 1922. május 1;Amerikai Magyar Újság 1922. május 2;"Előre" 1922. április 23;The Brooklyn Standard Union: Sunday, April 1922;The Morning Telegraph, Sunday, 30.4.1922;The Sun 1.5.1922;Musical Courier 4.5.1922;Musical America 6.5.1922;Bridgeport 7.6.1922;Cleveland- "Szabadság", Bridgeport 1922. június 10;The Lorain Evening Journal, 14.6.1922;Cleveland- "Szabadság", 15.6.1922 and appeared onstage as an accompanist on January 21. After the success of a concert with Duci Kerékjártó"If Paganini and Sarasate could be rolled into one, the combination would probably be such a demon of the violin as Duci de Kerekjarto" - N. Y. Mail, January 3. 1921 on the violin, they set off on a several-month tour.Cleveland Topics,26, februar,1921;Detroit Journal 15.4.1921;The Detroit News 16.4.1921 D'Antalffy and Kerékjártó traveled across the country—"half the continent", as he described it in a letter. In AprilAeolian Hall 34 West 43rd St.New York City, Saturday Aft, April 29th, at 3 o'clock, American Debut, joint recital Dezso d'Antalffy composer, organ virtuoso, Maria Samson lyric soprano, assisted by Louis Rozsa bariton, Metropolitan Opera House Schirmer was ready to produce six of his pieces, which were published the following spring. Invited by entrepreneur Samuel Roxy Rothafel,S. L. "Roxy" Rothafel hired d'Antalffy in 1927 as one of three organists (with Lew White and Casimir A. J. Parmentier) for the opening of the Roxy Theatre in New York. The Roxy had a V/34 Kimball with two other consoles, Op. 6889, and in the lobby, a III/14 Kimball, Op. 6888 (1927). d'Antalffy became the organist of the two-year-old Capitol Theatre,He also worked as organist at the Capitol Theatre, New York City, playing a IV/45 Estey, Op. 1710 (1919) (where he played a concert the following April establishing him as the "Dohnányi of the organ" in the press). The 4,000-seat Capitol Theatre, was a forerunner of the later cinema palaces.
In September 1922, d'Antalffy became an organ teacherd'Antalffy was invited by Georg Eastman to teach organ specifically "motion picture accompaniment" at the Eastman Music School in Rochester; he taught during 1922 and 1923. John Hammond (who recorded under the name of John Hassell) was hired during the same time for the same purpose. They both performed in nightly programs providing organ accompaniment at the Eastman Theatre playing the IV/135 Austin, Op.1010 (1923). at the Eastman School of MusicAlmanac of The Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester and, with John Hammond, an organist at the 3,000-seat Eastman Theatre.
In February 1924, d'Antalffy was asked to be the musical director of a series of performances. American producer Morris Gest brought The Miracle, a 1911 play by Kurt Vollmöller and directed by Max Reinhard in Germany, to the U.S. D'Antalffy was the organist, the choirmaster and the conductor of the three-act play. He met his daughter and returned to Budapest, where he accepted a teaching position at the Academy of Music after a three-and-a-half-year absence.
Budapest and the U.S.
Circumstances in Budapest were difficult. The organ of the Academy of Music was under reconstruction and temporarily unusable, making teaching and concerts impossible. D'Antalffy gave concerts in other towns, toured the United States in December 1924 to perform The Miracle and accepted lesser positions as a conductor and organist.
In 1925, d'Antalffy returned to teaching and giving concerts at the academy for a year. For the third time, he then joined The Miracle company for a series of 32 performances in Los Angeles in January and February 1927. Producer Morris Gest asked d'Antalffy to compose music for Hofmannstahl's play, Everyman. His stay in the U.S. was lengthened by an invitation to teach from Union Theological Seminary in New York, and shortly afterwards his Academy of Music contract expired. D'Antalffy taught freshmen composition, counterpoint, music-reading, transposition and orchestration from 1927 to 1929 at the seminary's new sacred-music school, which existed until 1973.
The Miracle company offered him work again at the beginning of 1929; Morris Gest was looking for a composer and conductor for a new production, The Freiburg Passion Play, directed by David Belasco (Gest's father-in-law, who had staged John Luther Long's short story "Madame Butterfly"). The play's 1900 London production influenced Giacomo Puccini, who did not understand English, to compose an operatic version. From April to June 1929 The Freiburg Passion Play was presented in the largest theatre of the time, the 5,300-seat Hippodrome Theatre in New York.
In 1927, impresario Samuel Roxy Rothafel invited d'Antalffy to join the staff of organists at his new Roxy Theatre in New York City; at the time, the Roxy was the country's most prestigious movie palace. After the onset of the Great Depression, d'Antalffy toured in Europe during the spring of 1930. He became involved in the film industry, recording the soundtrack music for Gaumont's The Miracle of the Wolves. D'Antalffy returned to Hungary, giving concerts in and outside Budapest, and was one of the first to play the newly built Angster organ in Szeged's Votive Church. It was the second-largest organ in Europe at the time, with five manuals and 136 stops.