Bartay, Andreas

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Bartay, Andreas

Bartay, Andreas, Hungarian composer, father of Ede Bartay; b. Széplak, April 7, 1799; d. Mainz, Oct. 4, 1854. He began his career as a civil servant. At the same time he was engaged in collecting Hungarian folk songs and became interested in music in general. In 1829 he became a director of the first Pest singing academy. In 1834 he publ. one of the earliest collections of Hungarian folk songs and also a Hungarian book on music theory, Magyar Apollo (1834). A militant patriot, he participated in the Hungarian struggle for independence of 1848; after its defeat he emigrated to France and eventually to Germany. He wrote three operas: Amelia, oder Das Weib am Konradstein (Pest, Dec. 16, 1837), Csel (The Ruse; Pest, April 29, 1839), and A magyarok Napolyban (The Hungarians in Naples; un-perf.).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire