Magyar Hírek, 1987 (40. évfolyam, 1-23. szám)
1987-07-25 / 15. szám
The Budapest Academy of Music Institutionalised musical education began in Hungary only in the thirties of the last century. Béla III, King of Hungary took steps to further musical education in Hungary, when he sent Elvinus one of his clerics, to Paris to study polyphony in 1191 A. D., and Hungarian musicians, for a long time went abroad to study. Some suggest that the writing of the Old-Hungarian Lamentation of Mary could have been the examination piece of Elvinus. In the forties of the last century Ferenc Liszt recommended the organization of institutional music training in Hungary, yet the establishment of the Academy of Music took place only some four decades later. A private school, the Hangászegyesület — Zenede founded in 1839 by the Pest-Budai Hangászegyesület (Musicians’ Association), which was the predecessor of the Nemzeti Zenede (National Oonservatorium) could be regarded the forerunner of the Academy. Antal Csengery moved in 1869 that a government sponsored institution be established, and the foundation of the “Országos Zene- és Énekakadémia” (National Academy of Music and Singing) was subsequently urged by numerous eminent figures. During the parliamentary debate on December 8th 1873 Csengery said: “How many people must now go abroad to obtain a higher education in music Í If they found the (kind of) education, that can be established only though national efforts here then they would stay and the funds which also go abroad to support them each year would stay here. The capital of the national would benefit.” In spite of all of the enthusiastic support and arguments, 73 of the 143 members of parliament voted against. When the draft was debated again on February 8th 1875, the Hungarian Parliament passed an Etet to establish the Academy of Music. Liszt appointed as President Francis Joseph appointed Ferenc Liszt as President of the National Hungarian Academy of Music on the 21st of March 1875, and the Hungarian ministry appointed the director, Ferenc Erkel, the teachers, Hébert Volkmann and Kornél Ábrányi the Elder, and the assistart teEicher, Sándor Nikolits. Until 1907 the conservatorium operated in a building, which still stands on the corner of Sugár út (now Népköztársság útja) and Vörösmarty utca. Ferenc Liszt took part in teaching and management after February 1876. An apartment weis furnished in the building designed and executed with particular care for his use. Today this house is the Liszt Ferenc Museum and the Institute of Musicology. Since the building soon proved to be small and outdated, the government purchased a block of land on the comer of Gyár and Király utca from the National Fund of the Institute for the Blind for 544,000 Crowns, and commissioned Flóris Korb and Kálmán Grieg, to design the new Academy of Music.) Szilárd Zielinski and Zsigmond Jemnitz were responsible for the civil engineering aspect. The I>alatial building of the Academy of Music was built between November 1904 and May 1907, in approximately two and a half years. The forms and colours of Art Nouveau The building in those days rose above the smaller and more modest adjoining buildings with its “forceful, heavy and imposing” facade and originality. Since then, the city has grown above it, yet the view of the sixty meters long main facade fronting the square has not lost anything of its effect. Ferenc Liszt’s bust is on the balcony of the second floor, the work of Alajos Strobl. The portraits in bronze of Ferenc Erkel and Robert Volkmann look down between double columns on either side of the entrance. A critic writing about the palace in a tone of admiration becomes embarrassed when trying to define the style of the building. We can agree that it is not a conventional work, and it does not adhere to any of the historic styles, but contradicting him we now must regard it as a work of mature art nouveau. This opinion finds confirmation as one enters the vestibule, the finish of which lines up the favourite colours and forms of art nouveau. There are iridescent majolica pieces, gold mosaic work, fountains, complete with spouts of shells. The passages flanking the principal auditorium with a capacity of 1,200, from which eight doors give access to the auditorium itself, continue from the vestibule. An organ with 800 stop-registers, built in a German workshop, since concert organs were not made in Hungary in the early years of this century, dominates the platform end of the principal auditorium. The organ has been rebuilt since then, thus its original front alone is now part of the scene. The ornaments of the organ together with the reliefs of the auditorium are the work of Ede Teles and István Gróh. The gallery of the principal auditorium is reached through the first floor foyer decorated by Aladár Körösiéi KriesCh’s wall paintings, and stainedglass w»rk by Miksa Róth. The 450 seat small auditorium is reached from there. Originally the small auditorium had a stage suitable for operatic performances, an orchestra pit and a loft. Later, however, this function was discontinued, and the auditorium in its present form is used only for chamber music recitals and sometimes for literary functions. The upper floors of the building house the lecture rooms and offices. The cupola hall, where the fencing and dancing practices were held once for students of the opera department, and which is now used for choir practice and organ practice, is EUicessible from the third floor. This is the centre which, for more than eighty years - lately together with sections operating in other Hungarian cities — has been and still is the place where Hungarian musicians and music teachers study. LÁSZLÓ PUSZTASZERI EXCAVATIONS The work of archeologists has always thrilled me. Without it our image of the past would be meagre indeed and unrealiable. They sometimes work for years without any spectacular results at other times fortune smiles on them unexpectedly. Recently the excavations of the royal cemetery in the Székesfehérvár park with its ancient ruins, and the identification of the remains of kings of the House of Árpád, and of members of their family, created a considerable stir. The central figuies of the latest sensation are archeologists of the Miskolc Herman Ottó Museum. They found a burial ground dating back to the time of the Hungarian conquest near the village of Karos in Bodrogköz. In one of the graves there must iiavebeen a man of high rank, for a beautiful sabre was found there beside a sabretache. A wooden saddle was recovered in a condition of perfect preservation. The Gorsium excavations also produced much. The already excavated Roman walls, wells and ornamental objects are shown in park-like surroundings. The current excavations tell more and more of the life the Romans once lived there. Their homes were equipped with underfloor heating. Fountains ornamented the atrium of the houses. They were dog fanciers too, since bones of some 40 canine breeds have been found. A human skeleton *was found in one of the wells. The examination of the remains re- o vealed an ancient homicide. The bones were those of a murder victim who was evidently killed before he was thrown into the well. Archeological excavations in Hungary are arranged by the Institute of Archeology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The Hungarian National Museum, the Budapest Museum of History and the universities. The Institute of Archeology carries out major operations. One of their projects is the exploration of the Kis-30
