Biography
György Antal Csermák (Hradsin, Czech Republic, around 1774 - Veszprém, October 25, 1822) was a Hungarian composer.
Just like his childhood, his youth is shrouded in obscurity. According to some biographical sources, he worked as a violin teacher in Vienna around 1790 , and in 1795 he was the first violinist of the Hungarian National Theater Company in Pest-Buda . He also organized a concert in the theater that year. The following year, he parted ways with the theater - after that he lived in a hospitable noble manor for longer or shorter periods.
He fell in love with verbunk music when he heard János Bihari , the legendary Hungarian violin virtuoso of Gypsy origin, play as a guest of Antal Grassalkovich in Gödöllő .
Perhaps he became a traveling musician under the influence of those who lived the life of a comedian, so he roamed the whole country, taking the vebunko, which even carried political content at the time, from more modest bourgeois houses to noble castles in the countryside. In addition to his wanderings in Hungary, he traveled abroad many times to perform, some even assume that he also visited Russia .
The author dedicated the Eight Hungarian Dances, composed for string orchestra, to Count György Festetics, a prominent patron of science and art of his time . The work was created in 1810 . A part of this work is played by the clock of the Fire Tower in Veszprém .
He arrived in Veszprém after 1818 , where Ignác Ruzitska wrote down some of his dances and later published them in printed form. Antal Csermák created little resonance in his time; forgotten, he died in poverty in Veszprém in 1822 .
According to professional opinions, Antal Csermák, together with János Bihari and János Lavotta, is the most significant representative of verbunk music. It is a special merit that he attempted to elevate folk-based music to the rank of chamber music and program music. He was considered a pioneer in his efforts to transfer verbunk music to the art music form adopted in Europe, while keeping its fire.
The newspaper A Hasznos Mulatságy 1828 . The following article was published in the issue of February 28 with the title Memory of Csermák :
"The original Hungarian Notes of the famous musician Antal Csermák are not only known in the two Hungarian countries, but also abroad. He is for the Hungarian Musicians - and to the extent that the National Notes have an influence on the character of the Nation, it would be a great boast for the entire Hungarian Nation if he could take better care of himself in everything, especially when it comes to drink, and keep a greater measure… More of a veiled suit for Genie's weaker side to sow, as well as to cover up what is beautiful and great in it. Csermák died in Veszprém in great poverty and in a desolate state. Four years later, his admirers erected a stone Memorial Column over his grave in the Veszprém Cemetery…"
Ferenc Sziklay's historical novel Hangzatka (1924) is about him.
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
