Gyula Beliczay (1835-1893)
- Messe in F-Dur, Op.50 (1867) (live recording)
Performers: STELLA kamarakórus; Caritas Collectio Kamarazenekar; Juhász Irén (conductor)
Further info: Masses–F major
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Hungarian composer, pianist, and music writer. His grandfather was a
Lutheran pastor, and his father was a wealthy timber merchant. Beliczay
began his studies in Komárom, where his musical talent was recognized by
church choirmaster Gyula Csáder. From the age of 12, he attended the
Lutheran lyceum in Pozsony. Excelling in mathematics, his father
initially intended him for an engineering career. While in Pozsony, he
also studied piano with Josef Kumlik. Fulfilling his father's wishes, he
earned an engineering degree from the Vienna Polytechnic between 1851
and 1857. In 1856, he also obtained a choirmaster's diploma in Vienna.
From 1858, he worked as an engineer for the Tiszavidéki Vaspályatársaság
(Tisza Railway Company), then based in Vienna. He simultaneously taught
at one of the city's conservatories. During his time in Vienna, his
composition teachers included Jozef Hofmann, Franz Krenn, and Gustav
Nottebohm, and he furthered his piano studies with Carl Czerny and Anton
Halm. In the spring of 1871, when the railway company relocated its
headquarters to Pest, he moved with it. From 1872, he served as the
chief architectural engineer for the Hungarian Royal State Railways. In
1879, he married Anna Tarczalovits (1853–1933), one of his students. In
1888, invited by Ödön Mihalovich, he became a music theory professor at
the National Academy of Music in a post he held the rest of his life.
Beliczay's musical output included orchestral works, chamber music,
piano pieces, sacred music, choral compositions, and songs. Among his
writings is 'A zene elemei' (Budapest, 1891). He embraced the Romantic
style of Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, though his uniquely
Hungarian compositions were primarily his variations, four-hand piano
pieces, and songs. He was recognized as the most renowned Hungarian
composer abroad during the last third of the 19th century.
