Egon Kemény(1905-1969)
- Composer
- Soundtrack
EGON KEMÉNY (Vienna, 1905 - Budapest, 1969) was a Hungarian composer, a master of the noble light music of the 20th century in Hungary.
As a student of the Viennese Academy of Music, he accomplished his studies with Franz Schmidt (1925).
In 1953 and in 1955, he was awarded the prestigious Erkel Prize.
The first successes of Egon Kemény were achieved in Budapest in 1927, where he lived and composed to the end of his life and created the Hungarian style of Gershwin's symphonic light-music.
Between 1930 and 1933 he lived in Berlin, where as Paul Abrahams's best friend and for being also a genius in the field of music, he turned all his creative skills as Abraham's contractual orchestral arranger into the operettas.
During the 40 years of his career as a composer, his works reached all segments of the audience. His works, the little songs for kindergarteners and the works for children's choirs, as well as the works composed for adults - operettas, songs, song cycles, symphonic orchestral works, poems set to music, music to radio plays and film music - were well known, successful, popular, and played in a great number of performances.
His works were performed by the best Hungarian opera singers, operetta singers, and performers of his time. With his radio operetta "Maypole" ("Májusfa") was a new genre created in the history of the Magyar Rádió in 1949. His operetta "Somewhere in the South" ("Valahol Délen") was a box office hit for the Budapest Operetta Theatre (Fövárosi Operettszínház, in 1956), and it has been played Russian in Moscow, Sverdlovsk, St. Petersburg, and many other major theatres since 1957 in memorable performances, too.
It is worthy of note that he was an excellent pianist.
He also worked as a conductor and as a music associate at films (1927 - 1937).
He was one of the founding member of Hungarian Association of Musicians.