Aristid von Würtzler explained

Aristid von Würtzler (born as Würtzler Arisztid) (September 20, 1925, Budapest – November 30, 1997, Debrecen) Hungarian-American harpist, composer, leader of the New York Harp Ensemble.

Biography

Aristid von Würtzler was born into a middle-class family. His father was a violinist, a music critic and composer, who had devoted much attention to his sons’ musical education. His older brother, Béla Würtzler also became a musician. Aristid received his education at the Lutheran High School in Aszód and at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.

Initially Aristid studied piano and cello, and then switched to harp at the age of 12–13 years. His first teacher was Henrik Rohmann. At the academy he studied harp with Miklós Rékai and composition with Zoltán Kodály. Würtzler was expelled from the academy once because he had not attended lectures on Marxism. But he was taken back by the intervention of Director Ede Zathureczky. Of his teachers he remembered Zoltán Kodály with pleasure. He considered him his mentor and invited him later to the USA.

Würtzler's last performance in Hungary took place on 22 November 1956, in the Opera House when he was substituting for the bedridden Rékai.

When the revolution began he left Hungary with Béla. Although he did not take part in the events of the Hungarian revolution, nevertheless he was afraid of retribution. However he believed that a harpist's career could reach its full potential only in a freer world. He went first to Vienna and then established his residence in the United States. Speaking no English he took a number of odd jobs; he even collected waste empty bottles. For a time he lived in a house occupied by prostitutes, who kindly loaned him the money to buy his first harp.

In 1958 Würtzler began his new career as the first harpist of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and then the New York Philharmonic. Leonard Bernstein (musical director) auditioned him; Aristid played, inter alia, Smetana's Vltava, Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and Bartók's Concerto for (Piano and) Orchestra. Béla remained in Detroit and only later joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The International Harp Contest, held in Israel, was the first harp competition in the world. It was launched in 1959 by A. Z. Propes. Three years later, in 1962, Pierre Jamet, the French virtuoso and professor of harp founded the International Association of Harpists and Friends of the Harp,

These events inspired Würtzler to become an active member of the American harp community. From 1963 he served as a professor of Harp at the University of Hartford where he established annual Harp Master Classes. He invited famous foreign musicians to join his master classes, e.g. the above-mentioned Pierre Jamet; Hans Joachim Zingel, the renowned expert of harp-literature from Cologne; the Belgian and Soviet harpists Mireille Flour and Vera Dulova; and Khachaturian, the Armenian composer.

In 1969, Würtzler organized the first international harp competition ever held in the United States thought his primacy is contested by some. During this time he had had many confrontations with others, so, in 1970, he moved on. He served as a professor at New York University, Hofstra University, Queens College of the City University of New York and Bridgeport University in Connecticut.

Also in 1970, Würtzler formed his own band, a group of four harps, internationally known as the New York Harp Ensemble (NYHE). As an established composer and an arranger he created for the group a repertoire of almost two hundred pieces. There were four women in the group; his wife, the Polish-born Barbara Pniewska was also a founding member.

With the ensemble and also as a soloist Würtzler performed in over sixty countries, made numerous compact discs and had several invitations to play at the White House during the Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. He was also invited to perform for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1985. The NYHE hit their prime in the 1970s and 1980s.

In his other pursuits, Würtzler served as a member of the Jury at the Harp Contests in Israel, Switzerland and Italy. He also presided at Harp Master Classes in Germany.

In spite of his international acclaim, in his heart Würtzler remained passionately devoted to his native Hungary and he returned regularly from the mid-seventies. Although he was embittered by the situation of music- and especially harp education, he devoted his energies to the musical life of his country. He established annual Harp Master Classes and gave several concerts in Budapest, in Szombathely and in the Helikon Castle in Keszthely. He performed with Éva Marton on several occasions and some of his (latest) records were issued by Hungaroton.

Besides his teaching he also found time to add to and extend harp-literature. He called upon famous composers (e.g. Bernstein, Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti, etc.) to write pieces for harp and he himself composed many original pieces, transcriptions and adaptations.

Würtzler died on November 30, 1997, of a heart attack while touring in Hungary, where he was appearing as a conductor. He was cremated and his ashes were returned to his native Budapest. Carl Swanson harp-maker, his former Hartford pupil wrote an obituary for him. He noted in another of his writings that Würtzler's bisbigliando was magical; nobody else could do it better.

Orchestras

Education

Harp competition and master courses

Jury

Works, compositions

Commissioned pieces

Harp solos

Original works

Covers, transcripts

Invitations

Records

Awards

Bibliography

External links

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