Dohnányi: The Complete Solo Piano Music, Vol. 1

Featuring

Martin Roscoe
Ernö Dohnányi

Did you know?

1/7

Composer Biography

Dohnányi taught an entire generation of great Hungarian musicians, including Géza Anda, György Cziffra, Annie Fischer, and Sir Georg Solti.

Composer Biography

Dohnányi's final solo piano composition, Three Singular Pieces Op 44, was written in Tallahassee, Florida, where he had emigrated to accept a professorship at The Florida State University.

Composition History

Dohnányi's Four Rhapsodies Op 11, dedicated to his piano teacher István Thomán, can be considered a sonata in four movements, though Dohnányi chose not to call it a sonata due to its looser structure.

Historical Context

Dohnányi disbanded the Budapest Philharmonic and resigned from the Liszt Academy in protest against anti-Semitic laws that forbade employing Jewish musicians.

Compositional Technique

Dohnányi's Winterreigen Op 13, subtitled 'Ten Bagatelles', contains musical references to other composers like Schubert, Beethoven, and especially Schumann, whose 'Papillons' melody is used in the first piece.

Composer Biography

Ernő Dohnányi was a prolific musician who served as director general of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, and music director of the Hungarian Radio.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Dohnányi insisted his Rhapsodies were not Hungarian in the sense of Liszt's works, stating his themes were original and any perceived Hungarian style was due to his own nationality.