Various Artists - Csaba Szabó
Biography Various Artists - Csaba Szabó
Csaba Szabó
He was born in 1936 in Ákosfalva, Romania, died in 2003, Szombathely, Hungary. Composer, musicologist, college teacher. He began his studies at the Music School of Târgu Mures as a student of József Trózner Franz Schmidt, and then obtained his degree in composition at the G. Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca under the guidance of Gábor Jodál (who was a Kodály's student) and János Jagamas.
He began his career as conductor of the State Szekler Folk Ensemble of Târgu Mures. As a composer, he contributed to the development of the ensemble's repertoire (1957-1967). From 1963 to 1987 he was a teacher at the István Szentgyörgyi Institute of Theatre Arts, where he taught music theory and music history, among other subjects.
From 1961 to 1987 he was a member of the Romanian Association of Composers and Musicologists. In 1978, he won the Association's prize with his piece Five Songs to the Poems of Jenő Dsida for soprano voice and orchestra. His works were performed at the annual Târgu Mures Music Days concerts. He has written incidental theatre music for plays by József Katona, János Arany, Mihály Vörösmarty, Áron Tamási, András Sütő, Andor Bajor and others.
As a journalist he published music criticism, reviews, popular musicological articles and gave lectures in Romania, Hungary, the USA and France. In the 1960s and 1970s he was a member of the editorial board of the journal Művelődés. He was involved in the organisation of choir meetings and professional courses (Nyárádmenti and Küküllőmenti Choir Meetings; Árkosi Meeting).
In 1988 he moved to Hungary and was a teacher at the Berzsenyi Dániel College in Szombathely until his death. In 1990 his collection Csángómagyar Daloskönyv (1972-1988 Moldva) was published, and in 1999 his scholarly work Transylvanian Hungarian Harmonic Songs from the 18th Century. The latter earned him the Golden Millennium Award of the Hungarian Academy of Arts. Another significant work is his study entitled Adalékok a népzene prozódia kérdéséhez (Additions to the question of folk music prosody), written in 2002.
