Jenö Hubay was born in Budapest, Hungary, on September 15, 1858. His
father, a professor of the violin at the Budapest Conservatory, gave him
his first violin lessons. Jenö made his public debut as violinist when
he was eleven, then completed his violin studies with Joachim in Berlin
and with Vieuxtemps in Belgium. In 1886 he was appointed professor of
the violin at the Budapest Conservatory, and from 1919 to 1934 he was
its director. Hubay was one of Europe’s most eminent violinists, violin
teachers, and performers of chamber music, the last with the Hubay
Quartet which he founded. He died in Vienna on March 12, 1937.
Hubay was the composer of several operas, four symphonies, four violin
concertos, and many pieces for the violin. He was at his best when he
drew both his inspiration and materials from Hungarian folk music.
Perhaps his best known work is a set of fourteen pieces for violin and
orchestra collectively known as _Scènes de la Csárda_, or _Hungarian
Czardas Scenes_. The czardas is a popular Hungarian folk dance in duple
time characterized by quick syncopations, and exploiting alternating
slow and rapid passages. These _Scènes_ are often presented as
orchestral compositions. The fourth, _Hejre Kati_, is the most popular
of the group, a piece of music electrifying for its rhythmic momentum.
The second, known as _Hungarian Rhapsody_, and the fifth, _Waves of
Balaton_, are also familiar. Besides their rhythmic vitality these
compositions are of interest for their sensual melodies, and dramatic
contrasts of tempo and mood.
From Hubay’s most famous opera, _The Violin Maker of Cremona_, comes a
sensitively lyrical “Intermezzo,” for orchestra. Hubay wrote this
one-act opera in 1894, and it was introduced in Budapest the same year.
The text by Francois Coppé and Henri Beauclair concerns a violin-making
contest in Ferrari, Italy, in which the prize is the beautiful girl,
Giannina. A hunchback, Filippo, makes the best violin, but he generously
permits Giannina to marry Sandro, the man she really loves. A
transcription of the “Intermezzo” for violin and piano is popular in the
repertory and bears the title of the opera. The Intermezzo had also been
adapted by Stoll as a composition for voice and orchestra under the name
“Lonely Night.”