
A composer with ties to the Sunshine State will get long overdue recognition this week.
When classical music buffs think of Florida, they generally focus on Frederick Delius who spent time outside of Jacksonville in a failed attempt to raise oranges. Delius’ time in the Sunshine State eventually led to the “Florida Suite” which evokes the sunrise, the St. Johns River, African-American workers and a quiet evening.
While he no longer is as prominent as he was in the middle of the last century when the likes of Thomas Beecham championed his music, Delius remains somewhat well-known, though part of the credit there comes from Ken Russell’s charming film biography “Song of Summer” and British pop star Kate Bush having a minor hit with “Delius.” Visitors in Tallahassee can still hear parts of Delius’ “Florida Suite” when they tour the Old Capitol.
But Delius was not the only great composer who called Florida home for a small period of time. Hungarian composer Ernő Dohnányi -- better known in English as Ernst von Dohnanyi -- taught at Florida State during the last decade of his life and he is buried in Tallahassee.
On Friday, representatives of the Hungarian government will honor Dohnanyi with a marker at his home in Tallahassee.
“This brick home belonged to the renowned Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and professor, Ernő Dohnanyi,” the marker will read. “Born in 1877, Dohnanyi grew up in Pozsony (now Bratislava). At age 11, he gave his first public performance. Later, he studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, earning recognition all over Europe including from legendary composer Johannes Brahms. During the early 20th century, Dohnanyi taught and performed internationally before returning to Budapest in 1915. While there, he held numerous prestigious positions including director of the Philharmonic Orchestra Society, and chief director of the Academy of Music. He fled Hungary in 1944. Political fallout following the end of World War II in 1945 severely damaged Dohnanyi’s reputation. In 1949, he received an offer to teach at Florida State University from Dr. Karl Kuersteiner, dean of the School of Music. Dohnanyi and his wife, Ilona, moved into this house in 1951. In Tallahassee, he continued to compose, producing many of his most significant works, including his Stabat Mater and American Rhapsody. Thirty years after his death in 1960, the Hungarian government awarded Dohnanyi the Kossuth Prize, their highest civilian honor.”
Much of Dohnanyi’s music like the “Symphony No. 1 in D minor," “Ruralia Hungarica," “Variations on a Nursery Tune,” “American Rhapsody" and the “Serenade for String Trio” remain somewhat popular. But, as the marker notes, Dohnanyi’s reputation took a hit during World War II as he led the Budapest Academy during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. When the Soviets took over in 1944, Dohnanyi fled to Austria which was also under Nazi control.
But there is plenty of evidence that Dohnanyi did what he could against the Nazi regime, protecting Jewish musicians in Hungary. In her “Ernst von Dohnanyi: A Song of Life,” the composer’s widow made the case that he had been active in trying to save members of the Jewish community while scholar James Grymes has given papers praising his role in resisting the Holocaust. The composer’s greatest contribution in battling the Nazi regime might have been his son Hans von Dohnanyi, a jurist who was very active in the resistance, including taking part in an assassination attempt against Adolph Hitler and working with and protecting the great theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In the last month of Nazi control, Hitler ordered the execution of both Hans von Dohnanyi and Bonhoeffer. Hans von Dohnanyi rightfully has been honored by Israel as one of the Righteous Among the Nations and marked on the Holocaust remembrance wall at Yad Vashem.
The damage had been done to Ernst von Dohnanyi’s reputation, though, and he struggled at first after coming to America before finding his perch at Florida State. During the last decade of his life, he remained a popular pianist and he explored American folk music.
The event on Friday will feature Hungarian officials, musicians, scholars and Sara Nodine, the curator of the FSU College of Music’s Dohnanyi Collection.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN. Kevin’s favorite piece from Dohnanyi is below: