Description

pp. xv, 491 pp. Foreward by Brian Lorne Harris; duotone historical and contemporary photographs of leading composers/musicians of the 20th century, programs of significant premières; appendices; notes; bibliography; index. A vivid biographical account of one of the most prominent violinists of the 20th century, the Hungarian virtuoso and chamber player, Zoltán Székely (1903-2001). Although in the latter part of his long, distinguished career, Székely was best known for his leadership of the Hungarian String Quartet, throughout his life he inspired and promoted the music of a wide range of contemporary composers, including Béla Bartók, with whom he had a close and extended friendship, Kodály, Ravel, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Dohnányi, Honegger, Hindemith, Schoenberg, Milhaud, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Meticulously researched and sensitively written by a cellist and pedagogue who knew Székely and the Hungarian Quartet intimately, the book includes previously unpublished Bartók letters and Székely’s detailed first-hand accounts of Bartók’s performance preferences, set in the rich context of concert life of Europe and the greater international stage.