EGON KEMÉNY, composer (Vienna, 13 October 1905 – Budapest, 23 July 1969)

EGON KEMÉNY, composer (Vienna, 13 October 1905 – Budapest, 23 July 1969)

He spent his childhood in the Imperial City. His father was a respected chief surgeon for decades. In 1910, after retraining as a dentist, he moved with his family to Košice and opened a private practice. He was the one who first discovered the absolute pitch of his 6 years old son Egon, who was then about to become a composer.
Until 1923, his musical studies – piano, violin, music theory, orchestration – were supervised by Dezső Kövér, director of the Košice City School of Music.
1925: after graduating from the Košice High School, he completed four semesters at the Medical Faculty of the University of Vienna with distinction, while at the same time took an entrance exam with Prof. Dr. Franz Schmidt, the distinguished director of the Academy of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, who, on account of his excellence, enrolled him in to the senior class and guided him throughout his studies at the Academy of Music.

Career and major works

On the advice of his family friend, the composer Imre Kálmán, he turned down the post of repetiteur at the Vienna State Opera to pursue a career in light music for a living.
1926: his works Andacht, Arie and Chanson d'amour were performed with great success at soirées in Košice, then he moved to Budapest, where he worked until the end of his life.
1927: he began his theatrical career at the Budapest Operetta Theatre: after the piano performance of his first modern dance piece (Honolulu) – he was an excellent pianist –, the 22 years old composer was hired by director Ernő Szabolcs as a repetiteur and by director Sándor Faludi as an assistant conductor.
1928: he became a principal conductor of the theatre. He was the best friend of composer and conductor Paul Abraham, and was also his musical collaborator for six and a half years.
1929: Egon Kemény’s 3 Kikelet Street – operetta from Pest, Budapest Operetta Theatre – already demonstrated his excellent talent.
1930–1933: in Leipzig and Berlin, he was Paul Abraham’s secretary and orchestral arranger, but did not compose any works of his own.
1934–1948: the most notable of his patriotic works are the Hungarian Suite, Tisza (symphonic poem) and Fata Morgana (a compilation of folk songs for symphony orchestra).

Egon Kemény became the pioneer of Gershwinian symphonic light music in Hungary.
1936: he arranged the Rákóczi March for piano quintet, symphony orchestra and chamber orchestra.
1940: The sound film Grocery Store, with Egon Kemény’s music, hit a box office record after its premiere.
1940–41: he arranged works of Béla Bartók, Ernő Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály, Leó Weiner for chamber orchestra on behalf of Rózsavölgyi and Co.
1934–1968: his first premier on Hungarian Radio (Radio Budapest I.): orchestral jazz paraphrase Fantasia for the folk song ‘On the Rippling Lake Balaton’ (1934).

Radio history novelties in the works of Egon Kemény
1937: composer of the first radio singspiel, the Lilacs of Schönbrunn.
1940: renowned opera singers first made their debut in the light music genre by performing works set to music by Egon Kemény on the radio.
1949: composer of a new radio genre, the first radio operetta Maypole.
1955: In his singspiel Hatvani’s Students, both vocal and prose roles were for the first time played on the radio by an opera singer, József Simándy, and an actor, Ferenc Bessenyei.

Radio operettas and radio singspiels:
1949: Maypole; Perhaps the Stars; 1950: Lucky Journey; 1955: Hatvani’s Students; 1957: Carnival in Komárom; 1959: Miss Krisztina; 1960: Free Hearts; 1965: The Faraway Beloved.
His symphonic works, operettas, singspiels, song cycles, child choral works and musical radio plays were regularly broadcast by Hungarian Radio for decades.
Since 2012, his works have been broadcast on Dankó Radio’s programmes Far and Away and That One is the Pretty One.

Operetta premiers

Budapest Operetta Theatre:
1929: 3 Kikelet Street; 1946: Black Lilac; 1956: Somewhere in the South.

National Theatres:
1929: 3 Kikelet Street – Košice; 1961: Miss Krisztina – Miskolc

Abroad:
1957: the beginning of the Somewhere in the South’s series of success.

From 1927 his scores were also published in the prestigious Golden Christmas Albums of Rózsavölgyi and Co., and later by the Hungarian Music Publisher. In addition to his own works, he was also commissioned to orchestrate works by his fellow composers (1928–1942). He was a member of the Association of Hungarian Songwriters, Composers and Music Publishers; the Association of Stage Authors; and founding member of the Association of Hungarian Musicians.
Egon Kemény’s music resonated with the elegance the musician was characterised by in his personal life. He carefully cultivated the Austrian and German musical traditions and the Hungarian musical heritage. He composed more than 300 successfully performed works and, as a talented master of Hungarian light music, he earned great recognition.
He has been awarded twice the prestigious Ferenc Erkel Prize for his achievements in music.
On the 50th anniversary of his death, a CD series was launched entitled EGON KEMÉNY’S OEUVRE, and several publications discussed his works.