The Group of Four
From Unearthing The Music
The name Group of Four refers to the creative workshop of Hungarian composers Miklós Csemiczky, György Orbán, György Selmeczi and János Vajda.
From the seventies to the eighties, Hungarian composition was marked by the unfolding of stylistic diversity and original creative personalities, rather than the dominance of a particular trend. It was then that the 180 group (1979) was formed, which, following the example of the New Music Studio, functioned as a creative workshop. Serious electronic music experiments also started in Hungary in the 1970s, and the so-called Group of Four appeared at that time.
Miklós Csemiczky was born in 1954. He studied composition at the Liszt Ferenc College of Music between 1977 and 1982. In 1982, he worked as an editor at the Music Publishing Company. Since 1983, he has been teaching solfeggio, music theory, and instrumental knowledge in his old high school and college. Since 1999 he has been an associate professor at the Béla Bartók Institute of Music at the University of Miskolc.
The Kossuth Prize-winning composer, pianist, conductor, opera director György Orbán was born in 1947. From 1968 he studied composition and music theory at the Cluj Academy of Music. He has lived in Hungary since 1979. He was a music editor at the Budapest Music Publisher until 1990, while between 1982 and 2009 he taught music theory and composition at the Liszt Ferenc College of Music.
György Selmeczi was born in 1952. He studied music in Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Budapest, and Paris. In 1976 he moved to Miskolc, where he founded the New Music Workshop. He also worked as a music director at the 25th Theater in Budapest and the National Theater in Miskolc and was the editor of Hungaroton. Since 1990 he has been the permanent guest conductor and director of the Hungarian Opera in Cluj-Napoca. He founded the Mérték Egyesület (Association of Measures) and the Vetületek Kortárs Opera Fórum (Contemporary Opera Forum of Projections). In 1989, he reorganized the Camerata Transsylvanica chamber orchestra in Budapest and established the Budapest Chamber Opera. In 1995, he founded the Auris Society and Artistic Creative Community, of which he has been the artistic director ever since. He was also he was the composer of about 50 Hungarian feature films between 1990 and 1992. In addition to Hungary, he performs in many European countries as a conductor, pianist, and composer. Besides, he produced a television promotion series about the opera (Kolozsvári Opreamesék/Cluj-Napoca opera tales) and a TV interview series with contemporary musicians (Kortársaim/My Contemporaries).
János Vajda was born in 1949. He is a Kossuth Prize-winning composer, music teacher, and university lecturer. János Vajda studied conducting and composing at the Liszt Ferenc College of Music. From 1979 to 1980 he was a graduate of Ton de Leeuw at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. In 1981 he became a teacher at the Academy of Music. Vajda's work as a composer covers many areas of music: he wrote operas (one of the most important representatives of contemporary Hungarian opera), ballets, works by orchestras and chamber orchestras, choral works, songs, and solo pieces.
The Group of Four turned their backs on the avant-garde and turned to a different toolkit, more understandable to the public, tied to pre-1945 styles. According to Miklós Csemiczky, by the end of the 20th century, art and music were in a deep crisis. They responded to this by reviving traditions.
In an interview of 1990, János Vajda commented on the name Group of Four: “[…] I would like to protest against this name. It wouldn't be lucky to put us in a box and that's all. Our relationship is based on a friendship but we have different roots.” To regard them as a closed circle was also found disadvantageous by György Orbán. The other two members were much more positive about this. Miklós Csemiczky considered the group to be a professional community with very similar aesthetic principles. György Selmeczi added to it: “This common way of thinking can be simplified by considering roughly the same works as beautiful, good, and criticizing the same music. In the last 10–15 years, it has been difficult to find the right form of behaviour towards certain tendencies, to fix a certain musical attitude―to find our place. I think it also contributes to our friendship that at the same or almost the same time we ceased to be ashamed that we consider music to be beautiful that others may not and that we think in a certain direction.”
References
- Bálint AndrásVarga. A négyek (?) - Beszélgetés Csemiczky Miklóssal, Orbán Györggyel, Selmeczi Györggyel és Vajda Jánossal [The fours? Discussion with Miklós Csemiczky, György Orbán, György Selmeczi, János Vajda] Muzsika 33, no. 11 (1990)
- György Selmeczi official webpage, https://selmeczi.hu