Ferenc László

Ferenc László, (b. Cluj, Romania, May 8 1937) is a composer, musicologist, and former flutist.

Biography

Following the completion of his studies in flute at Cluj Conservatory in 1959, he performed as a flutist with the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra until 1965. He then became an instructor of chamber music at the Cluj Music Lyceum, where he served until 1970, and Assistant Professor of Chamber Music at the Bucharest Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory, where he served until 1991. Since 1991, Dr. László is Professor at the Cluj-Napoca George Dima Conservatory, where he earned a Ph.D. degree in Musicology in 1996.

As a performing artist in communist Romania, Dr. László toured Romania and several Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, German Democratic Republic, Soviet Union). He was Editor of the music section of "A Hét" (1970-73), regular contributor to the program in Hungarian language of the Romanian Radio and Television Corporation. He played a major role in the development of a Hungarian program with Electrecord, the Romanian state record company. In 1989 he was Co-Founder, and later President of "Romániai Magyar Zene Társaság" (Hungarian Musical Society of Romania). He is Founding Director of "Junimea Muzicală din România" (1990), Founding Director of "Societatea Română Mozart" (Romanian Mozart Society), and Vice-President of the Romanian Section of "Paneuropa Union".

He is married to cellist Ilse L. Herbert and has three children (Eva, Peter, Mark).

Research and writing

Dr. László’s research covers Romanian and universal musical themes; he is preoccupied by various Mozart-related questions; the relationship between musical culture and folk music culture; he is exploring Beethoven’s traces in Cluj-Napoca; he is a multifaceted Bartók-scholar. His writings have been published by "Korunk", "Forschungen zur Volks- und Landeskunde", "Musik und Kirche", "Utunk", "Studii de Muzicologie", "Művelődés", "Brassói Lapok", S"ecolul 20", "Muzica", "A Hét", "Karpatenrundschau". He is an associate of the Budapest-based "Magyar Zene".

Many of his publications in three languages study and serve the development of cultural relations among Romanians, Hungarians and Transylvanian Saxons. He is a contributor to volumes like "A romániai magyar nemzetiség" (Hungarian Ethnicity in Romania), in which he offers a comprehensive picture about Hungarian musical life in Romania, or "Zenetudományi Irások" (Writings in Musicology), published by "Kriterion" (1980, 1983), to which he contributes works on the musical aspects of the folcloristical and local historical researches he conducted during several decades.

Most prominent among his publications are his works on Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. He is editor of several volumes on Bartók, such as "99 Bartók-levél" (99 Bartók Letters; 1970), "Bartók-könyv 1970-1971" (Bartók Book 1970-1971; 1971), "Bartók-dolgozatok" (Bartók-Studies; 1974, 1981), and in Romanian, "Béla Bartók şi muzica românească" (Béla Bartók and Romanian Music; 1976) and two volumes of selected Bartók letters (1976-77). Dr. László is editor of the commemorative Kodály-volume written by Transylvanian authors entitled "Utunk Kodályhoz " (Our Road to Kodály; 1984), in which he published a study on the Romanian folksong-adaptations of the celebrated Hungarian composer.

His individual book publications include:
* "Zenei ügyelet" (1976)
* "Bartók Béla - Tanulmányok és tanúságok" (1980)
* "A százegyedik év - Írások Enescuról, Bartókról, Kodályról" (1984)
* "Béla Bartók" (in Romanian; 1985)
* "Zenén innen, zenén túl" (1987)
* "Klavír és koboz" (1989)

Dr. Ferenc László is also publishing as László V. Ferenc, and under the pseudonym Vigh Frigyes.

References

*Romániai Magyar Irodalmi Lexikon (Hungarian Literary Lexicon of Romania, available online at http://mek.oszk.hu/03600/03628/html/l.htm), accessed on April 10, 2007.