Four Pieces for Orchestra, which Bartók left unfinished in 1912, before returning to complete it in 1921, contains many elements of impressionism and remains one of his least played works to this day. Sándor Veress was born in Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca) in 1917, and moved to Budapest when he was ten years old, where he became a student of Kodály and Bartók at the Liszt Academy. Later, he also came into contact with László Lajtha as a folk music researcher. In 1949, he emigrated to Switzerland, where he lived and taught until his death in 1992. He completed his Violin Concerto in 1939, while still in Hungary. His Symphony No. 2, also known as the Sinfonia Minneapolitana, was written in 1953. The world-famous Swiss composer, oboist and conductor Heinz Holliger (born in 1939) attended the lessons in composition held by Sándor Veress when studying at the University of Bern – and is the Hungarian teacher’s best-known pupil. The soloist for the Violin Concerto, the Russian Ilya Gringolts, was born in St. Petersburg in 1982. After beginning his studies in his hometown, he continued his education in Itzhak Perlman’s class at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. He has successfully performed in various prestigious international competitions. His interests extend to historical violin playing, though he also enjoys performing contemporary works. He has been the first violin of the Gringolts Quartet since 2008.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic