Violinist and pedagogue János Négyesy died on 20 December at the
age of 75. For more than three decades he was a member of the music
faculty at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD), also
giving masterclasses worldwide. A leading advocate for contemporary
music, Négyesy (pictured) gave the premieres of many new
compositions, including works by John Cage, Georg Hajdu and Roger
Reynolds.
Born in Budapest in 1938, Négyesy studied with Ferenc Gábriel at
the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and later with Tibor Varga in
Detmold, Germany. He was concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Symphony
Orchestra from 1970 to 1974, when Lorin Maazel was its chief
conductor, and also performed as a soloist. In 1976 he gave a week
of performances at the Paris contemporary music institute IRCAM,
which resulted in a commission for him to write a book on violin
technique.
In 1979, having spent time living and working in Paris, Vienna and
New York, Négyesy was offered a teaching post at UCSD, specialising
in contemporary reportoire. In 1984 he gave the premiere of John
Cage’s notoriously difficult Freeman Etudes nos.1–16 – the composer
had stopped writing them in 1980 after their dedicatee, Paul
Zukofsky, stated they were unplayable. Négyesy gave the premieres
of nos.17–32 in 1991, releasing a recording of the complete Etudes
in 1995.
Among his other recordings were the first European recording of the
complete Violin and Piano Sonatas of Charles Ives with Cornelius
Cardew; the complete Bartôk Duos for Two Violins, performed with
his wife Päivikki Nykter; and a CD of works dedicated to him by
composers such as Attila Bozay, Isang Yun, Vinko Globokar, Robert
Wittinger and Carlos Farinas. Négyesy also supported UCSD students
by performing their own compositions, releasing a CD of their solo
works in 1996.
On 26 October 2013, János Négyesy performed at a soirée held to
mark his 75th birthday. Click below to watch the concert:
Subscribe to The Strad, or download our digital edition as part of a 30-day free trial.
Photo: János Négyesy in 2008. Courtesy Adam Siska
No comments yet