GMG Classical Music Forum

I'm not expecting this thread to get many replies, but here goes....


A pupil of d'Indy, Lajtha collaborated briefly with Bartok and Kodaly in their collections of Hungarian folk song. He served in WWII as an artillery officer, an experience which is reflected in some of his music. After the war, he was appointed Director of Music for Hungarian Radio. Lajtha has the distinction of being Hungary's greatest symphonist, as Kodaly only composed one symphony and Bartok only completed the scherzo of a projected early symphony. He composed the fateful number of nine symphonies, which have all (along with other orchestral works) been recorded by Marco Polo, to whom we owe great thanks for rescuing the music of this neglected master from total obscurity. Hungaroton has also contributed to Lajtha's cause by recording his Symphonies 4 and 9, as well as all ten of his excellent cycle of string quartets and other chamber works.

Lajtha's style is rather difficult to describe in words. To name some composers whom he is closest to stylistically, I would suggest Martinu, Kodaly, Ravel and perhaps Shostakovich, but Lajtha has his own voice, really. Bartok is less of an influence than might be expected, but he rears his head from time to time in Lajtha's music. Some of his works are somber and angry in mood, such as Symphonies 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8. The other symphonies and orchestral works are less dark and draw from the French school of composing in their rhapsodic and sometimes balletic feel. Orchestration was Lajtha's strong suit, without a doubt. Even in the darker works, Lajtha's masterful orchestration lends the music an almost magical, otherworldly feel, completely avoiding the "greyness" which pervades the music of some other lesser-known eastern European composers.

Lajtha's masterpieces are his Symphonies 8 and 9 IMO, especially the latter. No. 8 is a harrowingly dark work which really makes a big impact. It is also notable for beginning, unusually, with a scherzo! No. 9 couldn't be more different-its otherworldly feel, which I mentioned earlier, is quite haunting. You will be spellbound to the very last bar of this remarkable, original work. That said, I certainly don't want to leave the impression that the rest of Lajtha's output pales in comparison to these works. There is great variety in his output and there is something for everyone to be found, whether it be the lilting grace of his ballets or the angry defiance of some of the symphonies.

You need not worry about the quality of the performances on the Marco Polo Lajtha series, in case you have been turned off by the quality of some other performances on this label. Nicolas Pasquet and the Pécs Symphony Orchestra deliver dynamic accounts of Lajtha's music and are completely inside his idiom. One could perhaps wish for a little more polish from the Pécs players, but their utter conviction far surpasses any minor quibbles.

Fortunately, Lajtha has received the service he deserves on disc by both Marco Polo (orchestral works) and Hungaroton (chamber works). However, there are still a few orchestral works outstanding from Lajtha's discography: Divertissement, Symphony Les Soli for strings, harp and percussion, two Sinfoniettas for strings, the complete ballet Lysistrata (the suite was recorded by Marco Polo), the ballet Capriccio-Puppet Show, and Missa in dies tribulationis for chorus and orchestra.

I would strongly encourage anyone not familiar with this remarkable composer to please investigate his music :)

Hi kyjo, nice to read all those notes.

I had a recording of the Fourth symphony a few years ago and the work didn't really stay with me; if I can remember at all it probably conformed to your points about rhapsody... We can talk about some of his contemporaries greying out but it happens in other places too of course.

I have access to the Marco Polo recording of the Ninth and I'll give it my usual five listenings forthwith- always appreciate a recommendation!

The Fourth Symphony is among Lajtha's most joyous works; I find it a real breath of fresh air and a life-affirming work, an excellent contrast to the troubled Third Symphony with which it is coupled on the Marco Polo disc. Please do revisit this piece as well as give a listen to the Ninth, Lajtha's masterpiece :)

I've been hearing the Lajtha Ninth several times today, a serious conception with a fair sense of unity across its three movements. I find the presentation of material with its wide dynamic range a little wilful and intemperate and the invention not especially more memorable than the bubbly Fourth , also accessible via the Naxos site I use, but the work certainly helps fill in the picture of this figure for me.

Interesting, I must have a listen to some of his music.

Just one question, how do you pronounce his surname, "lie-tar", "lay-tar", "lazh-tar"?

According to forvo.com, it is pronounced something like "loy-teh". Interesting! And please do investigate Lajtha's music!

P.S. I'll eat my hat if this thread gets to two pages (well, my first post does take up a lot of space, so....) ;D

All of the Lajtha CDs I have are Hungaroton recordings:

(http://i.prs.to/t_200/hungarotonhcd31647.jpg)
Deux pieces pot flute seule Op. 69, Sonate en Concert Op. 64, I. Trio pour harpe, flute et violoncelle Op.22, II. Trio pour flute, violoncelle et harpe Op. 47

(http://cdn.classicsonline.com/images/cds/HCD31552.gif)
Sonata for Cello & Piano Op. 17, Concerto for Cello & Piano Op.31 (with Dohnanyi Op. 8 )

(http://ml.naxos.jp/sharedfiles/images/cds/HCD31776.gif)
Chamber Music with Harp
Marionettes Op. 26, Trois Nocturnes Op. 34, 2eme Quintette Op. 46

It's been a very long time since I've listened to these. I'll try to re-visit them over the weekend and post again later.

For some reason I've never gotten around to getting those Hungaroton discs you mentioned, Tony. I only possess the Hungaroton recordings of Lajtha's complete string quartets and the Marco Polo recordings of the orchestral works. Have you heard any of Lajtha's orchestral works? As you can tell by my rantings and ravings above, those Marco Polo discs occupy a very special place in my collection and I highly recommend them to anyone with even a passing interest in 20th century symphonism :) Please do report back with thoughts on those three chamber CDs! I'm a real "orchestral nut", if you will, and chamber music usually doesn't hold quite as much interest for me as orchestral music. But the fact that I'm a "Lajtha nut" as well may mean that those chamber discs will be essential listening!

Quote from: kyjo on August 02, 2013, 05:59:27 PM
For some reason I've never gotten around to getting those Hungaroton discs you mentioned, Tony. I only possess the Hungaroton recordings of Lajtha's complete string quartets and the Marco Polo recordings of the orchestral works. Have you heard any of Lajtha's orchestral works?

No, kyjo, I'm not familiar with his orchestral output. I'm partial to chamber music (which is primarily why the CDs I listed are on my shelf) and why I'm most eager to hear his string quartets next. I understand Lajtha was a pretty good violinist in his own right.

I just finished listening to his Sonata for Cello and Piano (Op. 17) and Concerto for Cello and Piano (Op. 31). Both of these works are dark in nature, as mentioned in your opening post, with a driving rhythmic force that does remind me of Bartok. Although there is a significant use of tonal repetition, the music keeps pushing forward thanks to various rhythmic devices. (I caught myself bouncing up and down in my chair at various points).

Despite the cadenza-like passage for the cello in the first movement of the Sonata, that work is more fitting of the and in the composition's title because the piano and cello seem to have an equal footing. I find the cello to be featured more in the concerto, with the piano taking on an accompaniment-like role on occasion. The interplay between the instruments in both works, though, is impressive with a conversational style that sounds to me like an agreeable discussion.

Although it was written 8 years earlier in 1932, the sonata held more interest for me than the concerto thanks to a variety of elements like whole tone scales and pedal tones in the piano which I find appealing. Hopefully, I'll have time to explore Lajtha's flute chamber music later this weekend.

Thanks for the detailed feedback :) I'll have to check out those three chamber discs! I'm sure you'll enjoy the string quartets as well, which deserve comparison with the Bartok and Martinu SQ cycles. And please do investigate his orchestral output if you have the time!

Quote from: kyjo on August 02, 2013, 03:59:26 PM
P.S. I'll eat my hat if this thread gets to two pages (well, my first post does take up a lot of space, so....) ;D

Length doesn't matter. I believe each page holds twenty posts regardless of length. This is my contribution to achieving that goal  :D

I haven't heard anything by Lajtha. Today I ordered 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, hoping I'll enjoy his music as much as your previous recommendation of Freitas Branco.

Sarge

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on August 03, 2013, 11:59:02 AM
Length doesn't matter. I believe each page holds twenty posts regardless of length. This is my contribution to achieving that goal  :D

I haven't heard anything by Lajtha. Today I ordered 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9, hoping I'll enjoy his music as much as your previous recommendation of Freitas Branco.

Sarge

Oh, I didn't know that the length of posts didn't matter. Well, thanks to you, Sarge, and other members (and, of course, myself ;D), this thread may very well turn out to be a two-pager! Glad to hear you enjoyed Freitas Branco's music and I'm sure you'll find something to enjoy in Lajtha's :)

He certainly has a gift for orchestration. I still feel his ideas aren't as memorable as a composer like Martinu,for example. Yes,I enjoyed listening to them. Yes,his orchestration glitters & captivates;but unlike Martinu at his best,nothing seems to stay in the mind. Martinu's sound world has often haunted me for days on end. Lajtha's just seems to slip away.
With all due respect! ;D Having said that,I would certainly encourage exporation of this composer.

Quote from: cilgwyn on August 04, 2013, 04:53:59 AM
He certainly has a gift for orchestration. I still feel his ideas aren't as memorable as a composer like Martinu,for example. Yes,I enjoyed listening to them. Yes,his orchestration glitters & captivates;but unlike Martinu at his best,nothing seems to stay in the mind. Martinu's sound world has often haunted me for days on end. Lajtha's just seems to slip away.
With all due respect! ;D Having said that,I would certainly encourage exporation of this composer.

I would definitely agree with this for sure. There's nothing particularly memorable about Lajtha's music which is not to say he's not a good composer just not a composer I personally connect with. That was an interesting factoid Kyle mentioned about Lajtha collecting folk songs with Bartok and Kodaly.

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 04, 2013, 07:27:31 AM
I would definitely agree with this for sure. There's nothing particularly memorable about Lajtha's music which is not to say he's not a good composer just not a composer I personally connect with. That was an interesting factoid Kyle mentioned about Lajtha collecting folk songs with Bartok and Kodaly.

It doesn't really bother me that Lajtha's music isn't the most memorable ever written. I find some of the atmospheres he creates in, say, Symphony no. 9, to be quite haunting, though. Despite all the praise I've showered on him, I am in no way going to claim that Lajtha was a great a composer as Martinu. But I'm guessing not many people are familiar with his music and wanted to encourage those people to please investigate it :) I, for one, think Lajtha's music deserves wider exposure and that he has an individual voice.

Quote from: kyjo on August 04, 2013, 08:31:16 AM
It doesn't really bother me that Lajtha's music isn't the most memorable ever written. I find some of the atmospheres he creates in, say, Symphony no. 9, to be quite haunting, though. Despite all the praise I've showered on him, I am in no way going to claim that Lajtha was a great a composer as Martinu. But I'm guessing not many people are familiar with his music and wanted to encourage those people to please investigate it :) I, for one, think Lajtha's music deserves wider exposure and that he has an individual voice.

I can't argue with this. I'll have to dig out some of my Lajtha Marco Polo recordings at some point (if I can find them amidst the mayhem). :)

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 04, 2013, 08:50:29 AM
I can't argue with this. I'll have to dig out some of my Lajtha Marco Polo recordings at some point (if I can find them amidst the mayhem). :)

Yes, please do! I encouraged Cilgwyn to revisit those Marco Polo discs and his impression now is more positive than it was previously :)

P.S. Seriously? A different Schnittke avatar? ;D

Quote from: kyjo on August 04, 2013, 09:11:06 AM
Yes, please do! I encouraged Cilgwyn to revisit those Marco Polo discs and his impression now is more positive than it was previously :)

P.S. Seriously? A different Schnittke avatar? ;D

Yep, a different Schnittke avatar. :) I like this picture a lot actually. I'm starting to really love his music more and more.

Listened to this one today. --

(http://i.prs.to/t_200/hungarotonhcd31647.jpg)


The two solo flute pieces that begin the CD weren't particularly to my liking. While they contain some virtuosic elements, solo flute needs to be more melodic to keep my attention.

  I found the Flute Sonata (op. 64), however, very engaging. The first movement features some heavy, low tone clusters in the piano part that build quite a bit of tension underneath the flute, which is relieved by the haunting modal 2nd and 3rd movements.

  I found these middle movements reminiscent of Satie's Gnossiennes (with added flute, of course), while the beginning of the last movement reminded me of Respighi. (As kyojo remarked in his opening post, it's very hard to nail down Lajtha's style.)

As was the case with his Cello compositions, I prefer the earlier Trio for Harp, Flute, and Cello (Op. 22) over the later composition (Op. 47).

The first two movements of Op. 22 exude a distinct Medieval quality. The third movement features some really nice intertwining lines between the flute and cello, and the fourth movement displays the most cheerful character on the recording by far.

While the Trio for Flute, Cello, and Harp (Op. 47) has more of a variety of technical devices, such as tremolo and pizzicato in the cello part and flutter-tonguing by the flute, I found the earlier work to be more affective.

I listened to the Symphonies 7, 8 and 9 at the prompting of this thread.

I found them enthralling, rhythmically exciting, though I understand what people mean when they say the symphonies aren't that memorable melodically. However, the rhythms and textures, the use of percussion and low woodwind particularly, are compensation.

What does it sound like: I heard Ravel, Bartok, Kodaly, Janacek, Shostakovitch and even Vaughan Williams (4th Symphony) in there, but it doesn't sound like anyone else really. The three symphonies are reactions to the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolt against communism. The 7th is angry and outraged, and ends with a movement that alternates bustling stressful music with a noble paean/elegy for the dead. The 8th and 9th are more reflective, but contain almost as much angry music.

Well worth listening to, I'm going to try the String Quartets next.

Quote from: calyptorhynchus on August 04, 2013, 07:01:16 PM
I listened to the Symphonies 7, 8 and 9 at the prompting of this thread.

I found them enthralling, rhythmically exciting, though I understand what people mean when they say the symphonies aren't that memorable melodically. However, the rhythms and textures, the use of percussion and low woodwind particularly, are compensation.

What does it sound like: I heard Ravel, Bartok, Kodaly, Janacek, Shostakovitch and even Vaughan Williams (4th Symphony) in there, but it doesn't sound like anyone else really. The three symphonies are reactions to the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolt against communism. The 7th is angry and outraged, and ends with a movement that alternates bustling stressful music with a noble paean/elegy for the dead. The 8th and 9th are more reflective, but contain almost as much angry music.

Well worth listening to, I'm going to try the String Quartets next.

Your impressions echo mine quite closely! I especially agree with you about the rhythms, textures and orchestration compensating for the relative lack of memorable melodic material and that Lajtha doesn't really sound like anyone else. I'm thrilled that I've been able to prompt so many members to explore or re-evaluate Lajtha's music :) Onwards to page two ;D

Quote from: kyjo on August 04, 2013, 08:17:29 PMOnwards to page two ;D

Congratulations, you made it!  ;)

The Lajtha discs I ordered should arrive tomorrow.


Sarge

Quote from: kyjo on August 02, 2013, 03:59:26 PM
According to forvo.com, it is pronounced something like "loy-teh". Interesting! And please do investigate Lajtha's music!

That pronunciation on forvo.com is correct. I've heard Lajtha's music years ago in concert hall (it was the 4th symphony I think) and I liked it. The performers said they wanted to perform more works from him but the descendants wanted so much royalty they couldn't pay.

Quote from: kyjo on August 04, 2013, 08:17:29 PM
I'm thrilled that I've been able to prompt so many members to explore or re-evaluate Lajtha's music :) Onwards to page two ;D

I wouldn't get too excited.

However I'm always impressed at the knowledge at GMG- there are crazies here familiar with music by almost any character you start a thread on. Certainly over a thousand composers you can talk about, I'd say...

Quote from: Roberto on August 05, 2013, 04:02:54 AM
That pronunciation on forvo.com is correct. I've heard Lajtha's music years ago in concert hall (it was the 4th symphony I think) and I liked it. The performers said they wanted to perform more works from him but the descendants wanted so much royalty they couldn't pay.

I would love to hear Lajtha's music played in the concert hall! But I seriously doubt that will happen in my lifetime.....

Quote from: Sean on August 05, 2013, 08:22:09 AM
I wouldn't get too excited.

Why not? It gives me great satisfaction to be able to convince people to explore or re-evaluate a composer's music which I admire.

Quote from: kyjo on August 05, 2013, 08:39:39 AM
Why not? It gives me great satisfaction to be able to convince people to explore or re-evaluate a composer's music which I admire.

But, ultimately, the person has to want to explore or re-evaluate the composer's music. No amount of convincing would have ever made me give Schnittke's music another try, but there was always this lingering doubt in my mind that I'm missing something. The same applied to Holmboe for me. You can go back through my posts and you will find someone who wasn't very thrilled with Holmboe's music, but I continued to be persistent about his music because I knew there was something great about it. So people have to decide for themselves and make up their own minds in the end.

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 05, 2013, 08:45:34 AM
But, ultimately, the person has to want to explore or re-evaluate the composer's music. No amount of convincing would have ever made me give Schnittke's music another try, but there was always this lingering doubt in my mind that I'm missing something. The same applied to Holmboe for me. You can go back through my posts and you will find someone who wasn't very thrilled with Holmboe's music, but I continued to be persistent about his music because I knew there was something great about it. So people have to decide for themselves and make up their own minds in the end.

I can't argue with that! I apologize if I came across as being somewhat selfish when making my point :-[

Quote from: kyjo on August 05, 2013, 08:55:13 AM
I can't argue with that! I apologize if I came across as being somewhat selfish when making my point :-[

Nonsense! You didn't come across that way at all. I was more or less just making an observation. :)

Quote from: Mirror Image on August 05, 2013, 08:58:02 AM
Nonsense! You didn't come across that way at all. I was more or less just making an observation. :)

:)

BUMP

I don't know how much people have listened to Lajtha in the past 2.5 years - I know Harry and Daverz love a lot of music by this composer, and Sarge ordered a whole ton of CDs the first time this thread was active.

I'm listening to some Lajtha for the first time, today. To counterbalance the symphony-heavy discussion so far, I'm starting with chamber music.

(http://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/HCD31815.gif)

The Piano Trio, intriguingly, sounds a lot like Martinu, but with extended solo cadenzas for each player. It's a lively piece, and formally the way that it occasionally reduces down to duos and solos is intriguing, but I enjoy the slow movement maybe most of all.

The Sonatina is a tiny little piece and again it combines Martinu's rhythmic drive with a moody atmosphere and a slightly guarded emotional attitude. Neither of these is likely to be super-favorites, but I like them fine.

(http://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/HCD31979.gif)

The first string trio is a light serenade with two marches and a "Fox-trott," but No. 3, "Transylvanian Nights," reminds me of stuff like Pavel Haas. This is a pretty cool work. Its four movements represent (or "represent" in quotes) a night in each season.

(http://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/8.223670.jpg)

Suite No. 1 finally introduces me to Lajtha's Hungarian side. There's a lot of French puckishness and lightness of orchestration, too, but I also hear lots of Kodaly and even the very young Ligeti (e.g. 'Concert romanesc'). That said...I don't actually like this piece that much. It's goofy and insubstantial, but 22 minutes is a long time for a goofy but insubstantial piece to last, especially when only a few moments are really memorable.

Symphony No. 1 is the best-orchestrated work yet (saxophone!), and I recognize the voice/style as something I really should like, but it just doesn't connect with me. You know whose music this is making me want to hear? Dag Wiren. Now there's a guy whose enigmatic neoclassical symphonies are really awesome. I think I'll listen to some Wiren after this and return to Lajtha later...

EDIT: The second and third movements of the Symphony have great episodes that feel like they were taken from a really dramatic, powerful symphony. But the context required to make them really dramatic and powerful is missing because this piece is shorter and more episodic. It's like if you took 3 bits you loved from a Mahler symphony and smooshed them together into a piece 20% as long as the original. More and more, these "obscure symphonies" are striking me as almost all being attractive, but poorly organized.

Ferencsik recorded symphonies 4+9 for Hungaroton, it´s an exciting disc and a bit sharper than some releases of the Marco Polo series.

Have several of the symphonies on Marco Polo. My favourite of the ones I know is Symphony 2.

Thanks for the report, Brian. Lajtha was a composer that had flown under my radar a few years ago, but I listened to two or three of his symphonies (forget which ones) and didn't think much of any of them. He seemed to be a composer of many influences but he just didn't have a unique sound-world of his own unlike so many of his other compatriots. Now, Wiren, on the other hand, is very much an enjoyable, distinctive composer that I need to revisit. Thanks for giving my memory banks a jolt! :)

Quote from: Turner on February 22, 2016, 11:46:20 AM
Ferencsik recorded symphonies 4+9 for Hungaroton, it´s an exciting disc and a bit sharper than some releases of the Marco Polo series.

(https://geocdn.fotex.net/www.hungarotonmusic.com/images/artworks/87/3187-500px.jpg)

I find both symphonies quite remarkable. Nr 4 is light,tinged with melancholy, and almost impressionistic. Nr 9 is totally different, much darker . impressive use of percussion and a Gregorian theme.

Ferencsik has also the better orchestra.

P.

Quote from: pjme on February 23, 2016, 05:55:47 AM
(https://geocdn.fotex.net/www.hungarotonmusic.com/images/artworks/87/3187-500px.jpg)

I find both symphonies quite remarkable. Nr 4 is light,tinged with melancholy, and almost impressionistic. Nr 9 is totally different, much darker . impressive use of percussion and a Gregorian theme.

Ferencsik has also the better orchestra.

P.

I thank you, but my wallet does not  8)

Quote from: Brian on February 22, 2016, 11:29:57 AM
Sarge ordered a whole ton of CDs the first time this thread was active.

I did:

SYMPHONY #2 OP.27
SYMPHONY #3 OP.45
SYMPHONY #4 OP.52 "SPRING"
SYMPHONY #5 OP.55
SYMPHONY #6 OP.61
SYMPHONY #8 OP.66
SYMPHONY #9 OP.67
LYSISTRATA OVERTURE OP.19
SUITE #2 OP.38
VARIATIONS OP.44

But I didn't make a concerted effort to listen to it all then. I'll have to give it another try.

Quote from: vandermolen on February 22, 2016, 12:11:29 PM
Have several of the symphonies on Marco Polo. My favourite of the ones I know is Symphony 2.

I'm listening to it now. The first three or so minutes remind of...Havergal Brian! The militaristic brass, the heavy percussion, the odd, disjointed melodies, the seeming lack of structure.

Sarge

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on February 23, 2016, 06:29:08 AM

Quote from: vandermolen on February 22, 2016, 12:11:29 PM
Have several of the symphonies on Marco Polo. My favourite of the ones I know is Symphony 2.

I'm listening to it now. The first three or so minutes remind of...Havergal Brian! The militaristic brass, the heavy percussion, the odd, disjointed melodies, the seeming lack of structure.

Sarge

Oh . . . .

Quote from: karlhenning on February 23, 2016, 05:57:41 AM
I thank you, but my wallet does not  8)

Though I said that, I managed to find a cost-effective copy . . . .

Good !

:)

(http://s32.postimg.org/9fdhdvbmt/Lajtha_1919.jpg)
^ click to enlarge

from Hagyomanyok Haza (Heritage House):

                                 "The most significant composer, ethnomusicologist and music pedagogue alongside Bartók and Kodály in the first half of the 20th century. He was also active as a pianist, conductor, church musician, music historian, publisher of educational works in the field of music, honorary representative of international organisations of ethnology, an organiser in Hungary and over the borders. As a composer he embraced the world of French impressionism as well as Hungarian and Eastern European music. As Bartók's closest colleague he made a profound influence on Hungarian folk music research. The premieres of his works were held for the most part outside of Hungary, later and he enjoyed much international acclaim.  . . .  He was elected first Hungarian full member of the French Academy in 1955. At the same time in Hungary he was suppressed for political reasons, and only in the years before his death did his persecution begin to abate."

His father was a musician, who also composed and wanted to be a conductor.  Attended the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, and also studied in Leipzig, Geneva and Paris. Married his fiancee since 1916, Rózsa Hollós, in 1919. Their two sons were both notable in the medical field. A friend of both Bartok and Kodaly, he acquired an interest in folk-music, and often accompanied them on their folk music collecting expeditions, and also ventured on his own in this endeavor.  Enescu was a friend, and left a recommendation that he be appointed to the French Academy seat of the "immortals," which he was following Enescu's death. He resided in Budapest from 1923 until his death, but he was widely travelled during this period, including long visits in Paris and London.  He won several prizes for his compositions, including the Kossuth Prize in 1951. As a supporter of the Hungarian uprising in 1956, he suffered politically - his music was suppressed.  In 1963, he died from his second heart attack, aged 71. His wife lived on to the age of 96.  Considered one of the great symphonists of the first half of the 20th century, he left a rich and varied list of chamber works, including many string quartets, that reflect the work of Bartok, but also late-Beethoven in some respects.

        Orchestral                                                                                                                   Chamber
==========================================               ====================================
Violin Concerto, Op.15, 1931, unpubd, lost                                                      String Sextet, Op.3, 1921, unpubd, lost
Overture and Suite, Op.19a, from Lysistrata, 1933                                            Piano Quintet, Op.4, 1922, unpubd
Suite, from Hortobágy, Op.21a, 1935                                                              String Quartet no.1, Op.5, 1922, unpubd
Symphony no.1, Op.24, 1936                                                                          Piano Quartet, Op.6, 1925, unpubd
Divertissement, Op.25, 1936                                                                          String Quartet no.2, Op.7, 1926, unpubd
Symphony no.2, Op.27, 1938                                                                         String Trio no.1 (Sérénade), Op.9 1927, unpubd
Divertissement no.2,, Op.30, 1939, unpubd, lost                                              Piano Trio, Op.10, unpubd
Les soli, sym., str, hp, perc, Op.33, 1941                                                         String Quartet No.3, Op.11, 1929
In memoriam, sym. poem, Op.35 1941                                                            String Quartet no.4, Op.12 1930
Evasion, fuite, liberté, sym. poem, Op.37, 1942, lost                                         Sonatina for Violin & Piano, Op.13, 1930
Suite du ballet no.2, Op.38a, from Le bosquet des quatre dieux, 1943               Sonata for Cello & Piano, Op.17, 1932
Suite, from Capriccio, Op.39a, 1944                                                                 String Trio no.2, Op.18, 1932
Sinfonietta, str, Op.43, 1946                                                                           String Quartet no.5 (Cinq études), Op.20, 1934
Variations, 1947, Op.44, unpubd                                                                     Trio no.1, for Flute, Harp & Cello, Op.22 1935
Symphony no.3, Op.45, 1947                                                                          Marionettes, for Flute, Harp & string trio, Op.26, 1937
Shapes and Forms, small orch, Op.48, 1949, unpubd, lost                                Sonata for Violin & Piano, Op.28, 1939, unpubd, lost
Symphony no.4 'Le printemps', Op.52, 1951                                                     Concerto for Cello & Piano, Op.31, 1940
Symphony no.5, Op.55, 1952                                                                           String Quartet no.6 (Quatre études), Op.36, 1942, unpubd
Suite no.3, Op.56, 1952                                                                                   Serenade for Wind Trio, Op.40, 1944, lost
Symphony no.6, Op.61, 1955                                                                   String Trio no.3, Op.41 'Soirs transylvains', (Transylvanian Night) 1945
Sinfonietta no.2, str, Op.62, 1956                                                                     Quatre hommages, for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon, Op.42, 1946
Symphony no.7,  Op.63, 1957                                                                          Quintet, for Flute, Harp, Violin, Viola & Cello,  Op.46, 1948
Symphony no.8, Op.66, 1959                                                                           Trio no.2, for Harp, Flute & Cello, Op.47 1949
Symphony no.9, Op.67, 1961                                                                         String Quartet no.7, Op.49, 1950
                                                                                                                    String Quartet no.8, Op.53, 1951
                                                                                                                   String Quartet no.9, Op.57, 1953
   Piano                                                                                                     String Quartet no.10 'Soirs transylvains', Op.58, 1953
==================================                                      Intermezzo, for Saxophone & Piano, Op.59, 1954
Des écrits d'un musicien, Op.1, 1913                                                               Sonate en concert, for Flute & Piano, Op.64, 1958
Contes I,  Op.2, 1914                                                                                      Sonate en concert, for Violin & Piano, Op.68, 1962
Contes II, 1914–17, unpubd, lost                                                                     Deux pièces for Flute, Op.69, 1958
Sonata, 1916
Prélude, 1918
Hat zongoradarab [6 Piano Pieces], unpubd                                           Ballet
Scherzo et toccata,  Op.14, 1930, unpubd                                 ==========================================
Trois berceuses, 1955–7                                                                Lysistrata, Op.19 (ballet, 1, Lajtha and L. Áprily, after Aristophanes), 1933
                                                                                                    Capriccio, Op.39 (ballet, 1, Lajtha), 1944
                                                                                                    Le bosquet des quatre dieux, Op.38 (dance-comedy, 1, J. Révay), 1943
   Film Scores - Opera
===========================================
Hortobágy, Op.21 (film score), 1935
Murder in the Cathedral, Op.44 (film score, T.S. Eliot), 1948, unpubd
Shapes and Forms, Op.48 (film score), 1949, unpubd
Le chapeau bleu, Op.51 (opéra bouffe, 2, S. de Madariaga), 1950
Kövek, várak, emberek [Stones, Castles, Men] (film score), 1956

     Choral
=================================================
Deux choeurs, Op.16 (L. Áprily), unacc., 1932: A hegylakók [The Mountaineers], Esti párabeszéd [Nocturnal Dialogue]
Deux choeurs, Op.23 (C. d'Orléans), unacc., 1936
Trois madrigaux, Op.29 (d'Orléans), unacc., 1939
Par où est passé le chant, Op.32 (Áprily), unacc., 1940
Missa in tono phrygio, Op.50, chorus, orch, 1950
Mass, chorus, organ, Op.54 1952
Magnificat, female vv, organ, Op.60 1954
Trois hymnes pour la Ste Vierge, Op.65 female vv, org, 1958

(https://img.discogs.com/t7r1pKmfZOqPh8MUr2sALpuW4I8=/fit-in/600x598/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-3985192-1351425771-7159.jpeg.jpg)
^ ç1963 String Quartet Nr.5 - on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3+Lajtha%3A+Cinq+%C3%A9tudes+pour+quatuor+a+cordes

Liner notes:
             " Chamber music was originally intended as entertainment for small parties.  However, during the last century performances in the concert hall became frequent, and that has tended to change its technical character.
This is reflected in the "Five Etudes for String Quartet" Op.20, composed by László Lajtha in 1934. Lajtha (1892-1963) was a prominent Hungarian member of the Academie des Beaux-Arts  and was awarded both the Kossuth and Coolridge prizes.  His Etudes are reached in the form of the concert etudes by Liszt  and Chopin.  The Five Etudes comprise, in fact, a concert piece.
   The chief essential of the first movement (Rythme et plénitude sonore) is pure virtuoso playing even in the forte passages, while the second movement (Jeu 'piano' et délicatesse de touche) is characterized by the subtletry and softness of the pianissimo parts.  The third movement is entitled "Pizzicato" and in it certain motifs and melodic fragments are passed from one instrument to another and it also provides a striking example of  pizzicato technique.  The fourth movement "Pizzicato" demands accurate balance of the various polyphonic parts while the sparkling 'spiccatos'  of the fifth movement (Vélocité légere) decorate an attractive and tuneful melody. "

(https://img.discogs.com/EfXrfCL95R4amT27GQFNAWL0ra8=/fit-in/600x595/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-6755924-1467990413-9446.jpeg.jpg)

Some vinyl.

1976 vinyl LP : click to enlarge

(http://s31.postimg.org/efhvc10zf/Lajtha_1976_LP.jpg)

Quatre hommages, Op.42 for  flute, oboe, clarintet, bassoon, 1946
Trois nocturnes, Op.34 for soprano, harp, flute & string quartet, 1941
Deux pieces, Lp.69, for flute solo, 1958


All available on YT.

The sample clips I heard on Amazon were impressive.

(http://s32.postimg.org/tzx5pbmhx/Piano_Works_Back.jpg)

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John Warrack stated in 1993 in Gramophone:
         " High claims are made by Hungarians for the music of Laszlo Lajtha, and he himself had considerable success as a pianist on his visits to Paris between the wars. He was born in 1892 and died in 1963, parted by Communist insistence from his emigrated children and only able at the end of his life to see his grandchildren, for whom he wrote the three touching little lullabies that conclude this record. They are trifles, as one would expect, quasi-improvised melodies over sweeping piano chords.The remainder of the record suggests some of the reasons for Lajtha's high reputation in Hungary. The helpful insert-note speaks, as all commentators do, of the influence of Debussy and Bartok; but this needs careful qualification. Lajtha admired Debussy profoundly, and the influence seems to have reached him less by way of piano textures (though he has a sensitivity towards the sound of the instrument that Debussy would certainly have stimulated) than in the harmony. Here, again, it is not direct: rather, Lajtha seems to have observed Debussy's structural ingenuities, including his ability to use complex chords as keycentres. This is marked in the Prelude of 1918: was it an elegy for Debussy, who died that year?Bartok, who greatly admired Lajtha and tried to help his career, influenced some other music, most obviously the Six Pieces of 1930, with their fierce Toccata and skilfully devised Fugue and Inventions for two and three voices (Bach goes to Budapest). The folk interest the two composers shared is not so striking. Lajtha was a distinguished ethnomusicologist, but he was less concerned than Bartok to make use of Magyar scales and rhythms as the foundation of a language of international validity, more to explore their characteristics for their own sake. Undeniably these pieces lack the character of Bartok's idiom, and despite Lajtha's explicit rejection of serial methods, the music often approaches the manner of Schoenberg's Five Piano Pieces and Serenade. It is all very well made music.Klara Kormendi gives what seem to be very sympathetic performances, and the recording is attentive to the variety of piano sonorities that plays an important part in much of the invention.' "

A 2001 essay [ http://www.crisismagazine.com/2001/music-laszlo-lajtha-music-from-a-secret-room ] by Robert R. Reilly:

Music — László Lajtha: Music from a Secret Room

The Cold War was so cold that only now, more than ten years after its end, are some composers' works being thawed out for a general hearing. Hungarian composer László Lajtha (1892-1963) is finally emerging from the deep freeze in which the Hungarian Communist regime placed him.

In 1947, when Lajtha (pronounced "Loy-tah") returned to Hungary after a year's work in London on the film score of T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, the Communists confiscated his passport and stripped him of all his official positions. He had been the director of music for Hungarian Radio and director of the Museum of Ethnography and the National Conservatory. Not only had Lajtha been contaminated by foreign contacts, his sons had emigrated to England and America (a capital crime), making him additionally suspect. His sons were branded "dissidents" who could not safely return to Hungary. Lajtha himself was harassed and shadowed by the security services, and his friends dared visit him only in secret.

Despite this, Lajtha was awarded the prestigious Kossuth Prize in 1951, not for his suppressed compositions but for his research into Hungarian folk music. His friends had to persuade him to accept the prize, lest he be found in open defiance of the authorities. Though nearly destitute himself, he gave away all the prize money to the poor. After 14 years of internal exile, the year before his death in 1963, Lajtha was allowed out of Hungary for one trip, although he was never able to see his two American granddaughters, with whom he communicated in little piano pieces dedicated to them.

What is perhaps most extraordinary about Lajtha's music from this period is that it is not a reflection of the circumstances in which it was written. Anyone who saw eastern Europe under Communism knows how drab and gray it was. The music it produced was either a harsh, hermetic reflection of this oppression or a banal celebration of the proletariat written for the commissars. Lajtha's music is neither of these: It is free. Even in internal exile, he maintained his creative independence and integrity. How did he do this? In 1950, he wrote to one of his sons: "Just as in the town I have a room that is mine and only mine, so I have in my soul a secret room of my own. It has nothing to do with reality, yet it is more real." In his extraordinary religious music, Lajtha revealed the ultimate source of that reality, especially in his Mass in a Time of Tribulation and his Magnificat.

Lajtha's biographical facts would be of little more than historical interest if he were not a major composer. In the popular mind, only two great Hungarian composers inhabited the 20th century: Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) and Bela Bartok (1881-1945). Now we can say there was a third. The proof of this is at hand. The Marco Polo label has issued six CDs of Lajtha's orchestral music, including all but the last two of his nine symphonies, and one CD of his piano music. A seventh CD of orchestral music, which will contain the last two symphonies, is due out in March. The Hungaroton label has released four CDs containing a good deal of Lajtha's chamber and choral music.

Only ten years younger than his two famous fellow-composers, Lajtha shared with Kodaly and Bartok their love for and research into Hungarian folk music. He accompanied them on collecting expeditions and made many of his own. His music springs from the same folk ethos as theirs and is as much a reaction against the prevailing avant-garde atonality of the time. Yet Lajtha departed significantly from his senior colleagues in several ways. Unlike them, he rejected the German influence prevalent at the Budapest Academy of Music where he studied. Lajtha did not care for Wagner, or for German music after Schubert in general. This included Arnold Schoenberg's innovations, which Lajtha found restrictive and pedantic. Rather, he turned toward France for his inspiration, particularly to his hero, Debussy.

Between 1911 and 1913, he spent half his time in Paris, where he studied with Vincent d'Indy. His French sensibilities were so pronounced that Bartok teased Lajtha by calling him "the Latin." The French returned the favor by publishing Lajtha's music (Alphonse Leduc in Paris) and awarding him membership in the Academie des Beaux-Arts, the only other Hungarian composer to be so honored besides Franz Liszt.

Lajtha's other departure was his choice of the symphonic form, which was virtually untouched by Kodaly and Bartok except for youthful experiments. Lajtha's nine symphonies stand unchallenged as an absolutely unique contribution to Hungarian music of the 20th century.

The key to appreciating Lajtha's symphonies is not to expect them to develop in the typical German way. False expectations no doubt led to Gramophone magazine's puzzlement at Lajtha's Symphony No. 7. Its reviewer complained, "There are plenty of ideas, but none of them develops with much conviction: time and again I found myself raising a hand to welcome a promising thematic or dramatic fragment, only to hear it whittle away in the wake of something new." That is exactly what Lajtha intended: a chainlike succession of ideas that, when developed at all, usually proceed in variation form.

Lajtha's symphonies are kaleidoscopic and fanciful, often charged with dance rhythms, and full of folklike melodies and a profound sense of underlying mystery. Instead of the German symphonic model, think more of the 20th-century symphonies of Malipiero, Milhaud, or Martinti, and add a dash of Janacek for a gypsy-like wildness. As with Malipiero's music, it is often hard to distinguish the differences between Lajtha's symphonies and his suites. Lajtha's works also share some similarities with Malcolm Arnold's nine symphonies, particularly in the amount of burlesque and parody in them.

The entry in the New Grove music dictionary says that "the influence of Magyar folk music is less obvious in his works than in those of Bart& and Kodaly." Yet on first acquaintance, the uniquely Hungarian flavor of Lajtha's melodies is the most immediately striking feature of his music. The other immediate impression is made by the highly colorful orchestration, luminously set forth with Impressionist clarity. The content may be Hungarian, but the sensibility is French. Harp, saxophone, wood blocks, xylophone, and percussion frequently add spice to the swirling strings. Bartok's influence is especially felt in Lajtha's shimmering evocations of a mysterious crepuscular world similar to that found in Bartok's famous "night music." It is no wonder that Bartok admired his younger friend for doing the same thing so well—indeed, as well as Bartok himself, if with a more Gallic flavor.

Nonetheless, Lajtha's sound world is identifiably distinct. After immersing myself in his music, I could easily identify a piece of his I had never heard before within a few measures. While his music could almost survive on its orchestral atmospherics alone, Lajtha also possessed a major melodic gift and a high level of craftsmanship. He said, "In all works of art the quality of craftsmanship is a decisive factor of evaluation." In this respect, Lajtha clearly measured up to the standards of Kodaly and Bartok.

Marco Polo's traversal of the symphonies is accompanied by some of Lajtha's other orchestral works: three suites from ballets; a huge set of Variations for orchestra taken from the music for Murder in the Cathedral; and several other pieces, including the ballet Capriccio. The mood varies considerably from a kind of light and brilliant divertissement in the suites and some of the symphonies to the more harrowing and troubling disturbances of the other, usually odd-numbered symphonies, such as No. 7, "Revolution Symphony," which evokes the tragedy of the Hungarian uprising in 1956. Yet none of the works is monochromatic. The variety within any of them can be absolutely wild, at one moment hauntng, the next whimsical, then nostalgic, then brash. Lajtha can do this and make it seem completely natural. He was able to step in and out of a dream-like state with ease.

The symphonies to which I have returned most often are the middle ones, Nos. 3 through 6, which may provide the best introduction to Lajtha. However, all the symphonies are highly accomplished products of Lajtha's maturity. He was already 44 years old when he produced his highly charged First. Symphony No. 4, subtitled "Spring," is a breezy and attractive score with a mini-violin concerto in the first movement and highly evocative gypsylike melodies. The second movement is redolent of Janata; the third, of Malcolm Arnold. A soul mate to Symphony No. 4, No. 6 is also breezy in its opening movement, followed by another utterly enchanting piece of "night music," which is almost Mendelssohnian in its magical charm. This music is wonderfully mysterious in its crepuscular murmurings. The upper string registers are gently brushed to sound like cicadas, the high flutes twitter like night birds, and other burbling night sounds enchant the ear. Lajtha's Third Symphony, drawing again from his music for Murder in the Cathedral, is more somber but gravely beautiful. No. 5 is a beguiling lament, suffused with yearning for a lost, mysterious world.

There is no room here to do justice to Lajtha's chamber music, the most clearly French-influenced part of his oeuvre. His chamber music first put Lajtha on the musical map. In 1929, he won the Coolidge prize for his Third String Quartet. (Might we someday hope to hear the ten quartets?) Two of the Hungaroton CDs contain masterpieces by Lajtha that will entrance anyone who thrills to the chamber works of Ravel and Roussel for similar ensembles, especially his Harp Quintet No. 2; his Trio for harp, flute, and cello; and his Trio for flute, cello, and harp. Equally beguiling are the ravishing songs set in Lajtha's Trois Nocturnes for soprano, flute, harp, and string quartet. The workmanship is dazzling, the inspiration high. Except for the intrusion of Hungarian melodies in these pieces, anyone would swear they were French born and bred.

Lajtha also excelled in choral music. The religious works presented on two other Hungaroton CDs demonstrate a sublime command of the voice and the use of it to express a deep faith. Lajtha's Missa in diebus tribulationis was composed in 1950, a very difficult year for him and also the year in which the Communist regime suppressed the monasteries in Hungary. The Mass conveys a sense of mourning and loss but also of solace and even joy. Obviously, Lajtha had no hope of having the work performed; it came from the workbench in his "secret room." For Lajtha, it was "an escape into a more beautiful, spotless world," according to his widow.

This is a Mass of both exquisite refinement and moving simplicity. Its origins are steeped in Gregorian chant and French harmonies. The orchestration is luminously transparent, and the melodies are gorgeous. After starting each movement with Gregorian chant, Lajtha begins to elongate and transform the vocal lines, setting them forth monophonically and then intertwining them polyphonically. The full orchestra is used sparingly and to powerful effect, as in the peroration at the end of the Gloria. However dolorous, this is finally a work of soothing beauty.

Gregorian chant was also the touchstone for Lajtha's Magnificat and his Three Hymns for the Holy Virgin, both works from the mid-50s for choir and organ. Lajtha saw his Magnificat as the antithesis to "the stridency, the trumpeting, the Baroque majesty of the fortes in the Magnificat of Bach and other masters." This was, Lajtha said, "the hymn of a half-girlish voice sung on the shores of Lake Gennesaret." What he wished to express in this seraphic music was "gentleness, grace, beauty, tenderness, humility." It was, he wrote, "as if the soul, the happy, young, maternal soul, were bursting out and rippling in soft waves over the whole world." Except for the aggressive organ interludes, this is what Lajtha achieved in this sweet music, written with his featherlight French touch. How warm must have been this secret room of his to produce such clear but gentle illumination.

How cold was the Cold War? Cold enough to freeze Lajtha out of the audience and recognition he deserved. But the door to his secret room stands open. You can enter by listening to this music, and the Cold War will melt away before you, as if civilization had triumphed. All praise to the Marco Polo and Hungaroton labels for finally making Lajtha's music available.

(http://s32.postimg.org/i0q8vq3px/Back_Covers_St_Qts.jpg)
^ click to enlarge

[asin]B0014QNHYA[/asin]  [asin]B014I2Y59W[/asin]  [asin]B003122HBO[/asin]  [asin]B01GUH5SNU[/asin]

"Loy-tah".

How embarrassingly distant from the correct pronunciation I've been for more than two decades.

Haven't heard this one.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51UzNoJ5xzL._SL1600_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81opmEU3GNL._SX425_.jpg)

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(http://s32.postimg.org/a59s4l2dx/back_cello_Sonata.jpg)

[asin]B000027BXN[/asin]

       Click to enlarge:
(http://s32.postimg.org/wu3khw95h/Lajtha_Marionettes.jpg)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chamber-Music-with-Harp/dp/B00004VNXW/ref=tmm_acd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

First movement of Op.33 -->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3ADZZGOjt0

(http://s31.postimg.org/oppe233sb/back_string_orchestra.jpg)

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just checking in to keep informed about this thread. (László Lajtha has a chapter in "Surprised by Beauty (http://www.surprisedbybeauty.org)")

I got two discs with symphonies from the Marco Polo series and one with quartets (Auer Q). While good I could not be bothered to pay big bucks for the rest of the quartets on hungaroton (almost never on sale). Earlier this year I bought another chamber music disc (usually with flute) but found this one comparably uninteresting.

Lajtha might be in some respects as accomplished (and more colorful or "impressionist") as Kodaly but so far I have not found a piece that really stands out like e.g. Kodaly's solo cello sonata does (and to be honest I find most of Kodaly's orchestral stuff not terribly interesting either). His music also seems to lack the "raw energy" infused from balkan folk music that Bartok and the better Kodaly stuff has. So I can to some extent understand that he remained rather obscure but he does reserve more recognition.

I disagree - I think he's a very good composer.

I agree that he is a very good composer who deserves more recognition, e.g. compared to Kodaly. But I have not yet found an outstanding piece like e.g. Kodaly's solo cello or dozens of pieces by Bartok. So I don't think he is a "great" composer and it's not completely mysterious that he remained rather obscure.

Remember, his music was suppressed due to his politics, and that added to his 'obscurity.'
But all sorts of magnificent music has never received the recognition it deserved, so that's no reflection on quality.
Today, only a handful of composers will fill a concert hall - and with costs so high, promoters are being more and more careful about what they back for a tour or a stage production.
The recent concert promoting the excellent Belgian composer Albert Huybrechts (d.1937)  was a commercial disaster, so that will probably be the last production of his music outside of a recording for a decade or more.

Lajtha has composed several chamber works that rank right up there with Kodaly.  Is he a genius of the same level as Bartók or Dohnányi?  No, I would not say so, either, but he's a master craftsman and has produced solid works. 

Weinberg was totally unknown outside of a small clique inside Russia, and is only now becoming known to the general public.
(Not that that will ensure concert programs of his music any time soon - it's not easy to even get a Shostakovich symphony on the bill these days.)

ç2002 Companion to Classical Music - so the recordings info is out-dated now.
Since this is easily viewed via Google Books, I decided to grab a screen-shot:

(http://s32.postimg.org/ow973wayt/Biography_Laszlo_Lajtha_Classical_Music_Listener.jpg)

^ click to enlarge

Unheard Hungarians
By Richard Freed March 2, 1980

     Last Dec. 9, in a review of the Hungaroton record of Laszio Lajtha's String Quartet No. 10 and Sinfonietta, it was suggested that those works "could inspire a healthy curiosity about Lajtha's other compositions."
     A month later Istvan Csicsery-Ronay of Arlington wrote to call my attention to a recording of the Hungarian composer's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 9, from the same source. That record - Hungaroton LPX-11564 (1972) - has come to hand now, and these two works make an even stronger impression. Anyone hearing them must wonder why they haven't been taken up by American ochestras.
     Actually, we don't know any Hungarian symphonies except the "Dante" and "Faust" symphonies of Liszt. Bartok's Kossuth Symphony, really a sort of tone poem written early in his life, is never played here (or anywhere outside Hungary), and neither is Kodaly's solitary essay in this form, which came rather late in his life (composed as a memorial to Toscanini) and is perhaps not one of his more significant works. Lajtha's seriousnes as a symphonist seems somehow mystically validated even by the number of symphonies he produced, the once-traditional nine.
     There is nothing traditional about the music itself, though. The fourth Symphony, Op. 52, was composed in 1951 and first performed a few months after Lajtha's death in 1963. Both works, brilliantly and, one assumes, authoritatively, performed by the Hungarian State Orchestra under Janos Ferencsik, make the most immediate impact with their vivid colors and their strong, contrasting rhythms.
     It is easy enough to try to describe unknown music in terms of its resemblance to other music. In the opening movement of the "Spring" Symphony the animated string figures recall the lightness of Dag Wiren's famous little Serenade and the earthy flow of the Bartok Divertimento, while the golenspiel and triangle and the piquant interjections of the trumpet and clarinet suggest parallels with Prokofiev's ingratiating Symphony No. 7, produced at about the same time as this work. Much of the coloring echoes Debussy, and the rhythmic accents project the identifiably Magyar flavor familiar to us from such folk-inflected works as Kodaly's "Dances of Galanta" and Bartok's "Dance Suite." In the finale a bassoon figure may remind us of Host, and even the principal theme, carried by the strings, is similar to "The Dargason" as quoted in both his "St. Paul's Suite" and the second of his two suites for band.
     Despite these numerous similarites, however, the overrriding impression is one of great freshness and vitality, of a style as original and personal as it is study and direct.
     Peter Varnai's annotation advises that the Fourth Symphony was written when Lajtha was living "in complete seclusion." It is hard to believe so agreeable and outgoing a work could have been produced by a recluse; its sunny communicativeness suggests a background of cheery conviviality. The Ninth, however, is a different sort of work: darker, more intense and dramatic -- a reluctant valediction, one might infer, from a man who was passionately fond of life.
     In the Ninth the specifically Hungarian coloring is less apparent. While the frame is a contemporary one -- conspicuously so in the writing for percussion and saxophone -- the themes are molded after Gregorian models. The slow movement (both the Fourth and the Ninth are three-movement works) is especially affecting in its lyricism, with some eerie wind-machine effects for the strings and isolated irruptions to preserve the link with the more impassioned outer movements.

(http://s32.postimg.org/4i6hsltw5/1990_LP.jpg)

Missa in tono phrygio/Missa in diebus tribulationis, Op.50,  1950 - 1990 LP

After listening to some previews, I've decided to take the plunge and order my first Lajtha disc, Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9. The music sounds right up my street, and my curiosity is also piqued by Lajtha's inclusion of saxophone in several of the symphonies.

Quote from: Maestro267 on June 03, 2019, 03:49:18 AM
After listening to some previews, I've decided to take the plunge and order my first Lajtha disc, Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9. The music sounds right up my street, and my curiosity is also piqued by Lajtha's inclusion of saxophone in several of the symphonies.

I don't think that you will regret it. I like his Symphony 2 (Marco Polo) in particular.

Lajtha looks like a great composer. The CD with his string tríos is a real beauty, above all Transylvanian Nights. Absolutely awe-inspiring!

The problem I've run into with Lajtha and, bear in mind that's my problem, is that I don't really hear a composer with a distinctive persona of his own in the music. Granted, I've only heard a few works (I think one or two of the symphonies), but are there any works that you guys would recommend that have this composer's individual stamp on them?

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 03, 2019, 11:52:11 AM
The problem I've run into with Lajtha and, bear in mind that's my problem, is that I don't really hear a composer with a distinctive persona of his own in the music. Granted, I've only heard a few works (I think one or two of the symphonies), but are there any works that you guys would recommend that have this composer's individual stamp on them?

Not sure about individual stamp in many of his works (I haven't heard many works by him either), but certainly the String Trio Transylvanian Nights sounds quite singular and different from other works I know. I don't know whether you have any idea or thoughts of it.

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on June 03, 2019, 12:50:36 PM
Not sure about individual stamp in many of his works (I haven't heard many works by him either), but certainly the String Trio Transylvanian Nights sounds quite singular and different from other works I know. I don't know whether you have any idea or thoughts of it.

I haven't heard any of those string trios you mentioned. In fact, I've heard none of his chamber music.

I have two Volumes of the Marco Polo (now Naxos) series, 1 and 5 that comprise 3 symphonies, 2 suites and fillers. Also one disc of string quartets (there is a complete set? on hungaroton but I only have one disc) and one with flute chamber music.
From these pieces I think that Mirror Image is not wrong. Lajtha's music is a mix of several 20th century elements (like many other composers), for instance it does have a strong impressionist/Ravellian aspect, I think. It is not as distinctively Hungarian as e.g. Kodaly's. This does not mean that it isn't worth while, in fact, I'd say that Lajtha is clearly underrated compared to e.g. Kodaly or Martinu.

I'm only on the first movement of No. 8, and I'm utterly entranced already. The most remarkable orchestration I've come across since I discovered Ginastera's work a few years ago. The much-divided string tremolos, the deployment of light percussion. This first movement is almost scherzo-like in mood, very light-of-foot. Like we're floating across the landscape.

I'm becoming a fan of this composer. I'm listening to his symphonies in order of composition. 1 & 2 today. Great, great stuff! The No. 1 is in a neorromantic style, there are suggestive harmonies and magical atmospheres. The No. 2 sounds more menacing, like foreshadowing the turbulent times to come (composed in 1938). I hope to be enthralled by the next ones.

Quote from: SymphonicAddict on June 10, 2019, 11:49:27 AM
I'm becoming a fan of this composer. I'm listening to his symphonies in order of composition. 1 & 2 today. Great, great stuff! The No. 1 is in a neorromantic style, there are suggestive harmonies and magical atmospheres. The No. 2 sounds more menacing, like foreshadowing the turbulent times to come (composed in 1938). I hope to be enthralled by the next ones.

I like the first two symphonies very much as well. Lajtha was a master of orchestral texture and color. The one symphony of his I don't recall being too keen on is the 4th (Le printemps), which in its rather relentless garish brightness reminded me of the symphonies of Milhaud (which I'm not too fond of ;)).

I'm listening to the 4th right now and I can perceive the Milhaud association you mention, though it's not too marked, but I feel that this work has more direction, sense and warmth, it's certainly sparser but also very neoclassical, in a style rather similar to that of Tansman. The slow movement is especially fine and endearing.

Earlier I played the his unnumbered Symphony for harp, strings and percussion Les Soli and the No. 3, both quite satisfying. I especially enjoy the dark and grim atmospheres he conjures up in some movements, with lots of suspense. Astonishing and brilliantly accomplished to say the least.

Just I've ended listening to the 9 symphonies + Les Soli and I have to say it's one of the most solid and fascinating cycles I've enjoyed in recent times, not to say one of the greatest ones of the 20th century IMO. A feature I found quite impressive is the intriguing and nocturnal atmospheres he conjured up in the slow movements with an exquisite use of the orchestra, particularly the percussion, a true master in that respect, on the par or perhaps better (?) than his compatriot Bartók.

I have long loved the ones I have (3-6) but didn't venture past that point. I'll make a point to get the last 3 symphonies this year. I have 6 months left for that  :).

Once again I am impressed by this composer. I recently listened to his 8th Symphony (1959) on Marco Polo and was hooked from start to finish. As Cesar mentions, Lajtha's ability to create mysterious, nocturnal atmospheres through his masterful orchestration is second to none. There is a sense of striving and defiance in the finale that is particularly compelling. Anyone who likes Bartok or late Martinu ought to give Lajtha a try.

Quote from: kyjo on October 17, 2019, 09:00:46 AM
Once again I am impressed by this composer. I recently listened to his 8th Symphony (1959) on Marco Polo and was hooked from start to finish. As Cesar mentions, Lajtha's ability to create mysterious, nocturnal atmospheres through his masterful orchestration is second to none. There is a sense of striving and defiance in the finale that is particularly compelling. Anyone who likes Bartok or late Martinu ought to give Lajtha a try.

Glad to read your impressions, Kyle. It's indeed a strong work, finely written. No dull moments as far as I recall. In fact, I didn't find any of his symphonies bad. On the contrary, strikingly impressive. An unjustly neglected cycle in my view.

IMHO most representatives are 5-6

I would recommend also this:
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91BhXq1RpFL._SX522_.jpg)

In a traversal of sinfoniettas I did today, I came across the ones for string orchestra by Lajtha on the CD below:

(https://d1iiivw74516uk.cloudfront.net/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJwcmVzdG8tY292ZXItaW1hZ2VzIiwia2V5IjoiODExNTA0Ny4xLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTAwfSwianBlZyI6eyJxdWFsaXR5Ijo2NX0sInRvRm9ybWF0IjoianBlZyJ9LCJ0aW1lc3RhbXAiOjE1MjQwNjQ0NjV9)

Truly sensational pieces, full of vigour, wit and Hungarian flavour. If I had to pick one of them, I would definitely go with the first one. Just the 1st movement is an utter delight, an exhilarating movement, quirkiness galore. The 2nd movement is quite the contrast: a deep and felt utterance that has nothing to envy from others' similar music. Finally, the last one has more sobriety but never devoid of spark.

Very recommended.

I know a few of the symphonies. This one is my favourite:
(//)

A radio broadcast, but it is Szell & the Cleveland orchestra!

https://www.youtube.com/v/Wbl6ubP0Be0

Heart-wrenching (melo)drama. Great.
I cherish the old Hungaroton recording of nrs. 4 and 9 / Ferencsik/ Hungarian State SO.

Quote from: pjme on August 22, 2020, 12:49:00 AM
A radio broadcast, but it is Szell & the Cleveland orchestra!

https://www.youtube.com/v/Wbl6ubP0Be0

Heart-wrenching (melo)drama. Great.
I cherish the old Hungaroton recording of nrs. 4 and 9 / Ferencsik/ Hungarian State SO.

Wow, for those first few notes I thought I was listening to RVW No. 6!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFm7HVGkFo

Indeed ! VW was there first, so it's entirely possible Lajtha was aware of that work. The development seems to take a sinuous, more oriental turn though.

One of my favourite versions of the VW 6th:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkF7-_1EwfY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkF7-_1EwfY)

Eerily similar beginning !

Received my copy of the Pasquet recording of Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6. Within a few minutes of starting No. 5, I'm already entranced. Further marvellous orchestration by Lajtha! While he does have "heavy" passages, a lot of his music I would describe as light and fleet of foot, especially in his use of much-divided strings. The saxophone adds another dimension, and his colouring with harp and percussion is magical!

My one extemely minor bugbear, and it's nothing on the music itself, is...why didn't Naxos order the symphonies properly on the disc? No. 6 is placed before No. 5. Very minor, I know, but I appreciate order in an already chaotic world.

Just be glad it is out!  :-)
Apparently, Lajtha is moving enough product (in the Classical record industry scale) that they are investing in recording his material.

The recordings are from the 1990s, reissued on Naxos. So they are not new investments. And the order was already "wrong" on the old Marco Polo issue.

I didn't ask for a putdown, but OK. Also, I said it was a very minor bugbear.

I would never put you down!
I was thankful that this composer was not being ignored.  :-)

I played the Hungariton recording of the Lajtha Symphony #9 today in the car. My 12 year old daughter Kimi said: "What is this music! It is the best I have heard this year!" When I told her it was Lajtha, she said: "How come such a great composer isn't better known and played more?"

Quote from: springrite on October 22, 2020, 09:25:34 AM
I played the Hungariton recording of the Lajtha Symphony #9 today in the car. My 12 year old daughter Kimi said: "What is this music! It is the best I have heard this year!" When I told her it was Lajtha, she said: "How come such a great composer isn't better known and played more?"

Agree, one of the best Lajtha releases, for sure. A more luxurious, complete symphony set would be great.

Quote from: springrite on October 22, 2020, 09:25:34 AM
I played the Hungariton recording of the Lajtha Symphony #9 today in the car. My 12 year old daughter Kimi said: "What is this music! It is the best I have heard this year!" When I told her it was Lajtha, she said: "How come such a great composer isn't better known and played more?"

What did she say when you asked her why she thought so?

Quote from: springrite on October 22, 2020, 09:25:34 AM
I played the Hungariton recording of the Lajtha Symphony #9 today in the car. My 12 year old daughter Kimi said: "What is this music! It is the best I have heard this year!" When I told her it was Lajtha, she said: "How come such a great composer isn't better known and played more?"

Kimi has good taste  :)

Laszlo Lajtha
Symphony 1
Symphony 2
Pecs SO
Nicolas Pasquet
Naxos

I spent some time getting to know the Lajtha symphonies last year, and was really very taken with them. They are such a positive and affirming set of works from a composer I'd never really heard before.

These are so very good! I understand my musical limitations re: anything technical or to be able to speak about structure or form, but it seems to me that these are excellent. I love his ideas and the accessibility of his writing to capture my attention. There is a richness to these works that is very swiftly memorable.

Quote from: foxandpeng on March 15, 2023, 10:08:26 AMLaszlo Lajtha
Symphony 1
Symphony 2
Pecs SO
Nicolas Pasquet
Naxos

I spent some time getting to know the Lajtha symphonies last year, and was really very taken with them. They are such a positive and affirming set of works from a composer I'd never really heard before.

These are so very good! I understand my musical limitations re: anything technical or to be able to speak about structure or form, but it seems to me that these are excellent. I love his ideas and the accessibility of his writing to capture my attention. There is a richness to these works that is very swiftly memorable.

I haven't been at all systematic with the Lajtha symphonies, but I always love what I hear.

Quote from: Karl Henning on March 15, 2023, 11:00:50 AMI haven't been at all systematic with the Lajtha symphonies, but I always love what I hear.

I'm listening to #4, his Spring symphony now, and it's such a bright and optimistic piece. Amazing, when you consider the political and emotional backdrop he was writing against. Hope can't have felt in much abundance at the time of writing, yet he paints vibrancy and life in this lovely symphony.

Yeah, count me a fan like you, Karl.

This all sounds very tempting, especially since Chandos.net still has Naxos releases on sale for $3 each (lossless download).

Any suggestion as to the best place to start?

Quote from: Spotted Horses on March 15, 2023, 04:26:57 PMAny suggestion as to the best place to start?

I think you would really enjoy them, Arthur. I would always encourage previewing via Spotify before any purchase of anything (Caveat Emptor, and all that), but it is such a fine cycle. I think they're all strong.

8 and 9 are pretty turbulent and less light in tone than most of the others. Thoughtfully reflective and darker, certainly. Emotional! 4 is pastoral and optimistic, and really quite lyrical. I know Jeffrey and others really like 2 as an entry point...

Personally? I think I would go in at 5 and 6. Never a dull moment and replete with affirming beauty. Folk tunes, carnival, drama and joy, amongst other threads.

All are immediately accessible and with only a few listens, become very memorable.

Quote from: foxandpeng on March 15, 2023, 08:52:12 PMPersonally? I think I would go in at 5 and 6. Never a dull moment and replete with affirming beauty. Folk tunes, carnival, drama and joy, amongst other threads.

Indeed, those have been my first Lajtha symphonies. I think I heard a couple of his quartets first ... where is that CD?...

Quote from: Spotted Horses on March 15, 2023, 12:47:48 PMThis all sounds very tempting, especially since Chandos.net still has Naxos releases on sale for $3 each (lossless download).

Thanks for the pointer/reminder, Arthur. That's just the excuse I needed.

Currently listening to the one and only Lajtha disc I have, the first symphony on Naxos. I do like what I'm hearing, though I'm not sure I'm hearing the most distinctive individual voice. Will need to investigate further. Maybe I'll jump on this Naxos download deal before it expires. Anyone care to share what their favorite Lajtha symphony is?

Today I stumbled upon this disc containing Lajtha's Missa in tono Phrygio 'in diebus tribulationis' for chorus and orchestra which I enjoyed. A devotional, gentle work that doesn't feature many dissonances as in other of his compositions, reflecting the spiritual side of the composer.

(https://cdn.naxosmusiclibrary.com/sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/HCD31833.jpg)