Harsányi Tibor: A Hungarian in Paris

A student of Kodály in Budapest, the pianist, composer and conductor Tibor Harsányi travelled to France in 1923 where he joined an elite group of expatriate composers, including Martinů, Tansman, and Tcherepnin, known as ‘l’école de Paris’. The music on this recording presents a survey of Harsányi’s stylistic development, from one of his earliest works, the Sonatina, with its essentially Romantic roots, to his final work, the Viola Sonata notable for its mixture of sensuousness and earthiness that connects it to the earlier compositions. The Violin Sonata reflects currents of modernism in Paris, including American jazz, as well as the music of his compatriot Bartók.