György Pauk, the renowned Hungarian violinist and teacher, passed away last Monday, November 18 in Budapest. He was 88.
Pauk lost both of his parents to the Holocaust. He was raised by his grandmother in a Budapest ghetto where he experienced “hunger, cold, and fear.” Pauk began playing the violin at the age of 5. At 13, he was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where his teachers included violinist Imre Waldbauer (a close friend of Béla Bartók) and Zoltán Kodály. In 1956, Pauk defected from Soviet Hungary, and eventually settled in London.
A winner of both the Paganini and Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competitions, Pauk appeared around the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He was one of the leading interpreters of the music of Bartók. Additionally, he championed new works by composers including Lutosławski, Penderecki, Schnittke, Maxwell Davies, and Tippett. Beginning in 1987, he served as professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Pauk owned the 1714 Massart Stradivari violin. He represented a continuation of the Hungarian school of violin playing, which began with Joseph Joachim and included Jenő Hubay. György Pauk reflected on his artistic heritage with the following observation:
The Hungarian violin school is distinguished by the quality, beauty and purity of the sound. The way to find this sound is to find the balance between the two hands, and to be absolutely free in the body, without any pressure – like the human voice.
Here are recordings featuring György Pauk:
Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Sz. 86
Bartók composed his two Rhapsodies for violin and piano in 1928. The works are inspired by Hungarian folk music. Bartók heard these sounds in his youth as he traveled to remote corners of his native countryside and documented folk songs and fiddle improvisations. The two movements which make up Rhapsody No. 1, a Lassú and a Friss (slow and fast), are derived from the traditional Hungarian folk dance of the csárdás.
Bartók dedicated the work to his friend, the violinist Joseph Szigeti. He insisted that Szigeti listen to the original field recording of the folk melodies to hear them in their original form.
Prima parte ‘lassu’ (Moderato):
Seconda parte ‘friss’ (Allegretto moderato):
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
This concert performance, recorded in the 1980s, features Pauk with conductor Christian Ehwald and the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Japan:
Recordings
- Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1, Sz 86, György Pauk, Jenő Jandó Naxos
Featured Image: photograph by Jackie Rado