Hidas, Frigyes

Frigyes Hidas (Budapest, 25 May 1928 – 7 March 2007) studied composition at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music with János Visky. For fifteen years he was music director of the Hungarian National Theatre (1951–1966) and between 1974 and 1979 he performed the same function at the municipal Operetta Theatre. After leaving that institution, he was a free-lance composer.

Hidas was a highly prolific composer who firmly believed in tunes and harmonies in a traditional sense of those terms and always wrote in an easily accessible idiom. His oeuvre covers the entire gamut of genres: operas, ballets, concertos, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral music. His name is particularly well known in the world for his woodwind and brass chamber music and for his works for wind orchestra. From 1995 Hidas was a regular member of WASBE, and was numberless times jury member at competitions and resident composer at festivals in three continents.

Hidas was awarded the Erkel Prize in 1959 and in 1980, the Béla Bartók – Ditta Pásztory Award in 1993 and decorated with the title Merited Artist in 1987. Hidas received an important number of commissions by Ballet Companies, the State Opera House, Radio stations, Universities and various musical societies. Many of his compositions were written at the request of soloists, ensembles, conductors and music organizations in Hungary and abroad. A few items from the long list:

 

1 + 5 for bass trombone and wind quintet, for Roy Pickering
198 Bars for Brass for the Synagogue of Szeged
Almost B.A.C.H. for Ronald Johnson
Alteba Trio for three trombones, for Tom Everett
Baroque Concerto for alto trombone and strings, for Carsten Svanberg
Double Concerto for tenor and bass trombone and symphonic orchestra, for the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Köln
Episode for four harps and string orchestra, for Aristide von Würtzler
Festive Music for the Sousa Foundation
Florida Concerto for two trombones and concert band, for Jim Croft and the Florida State University
Meditation for bass trombone, for Tom Everett
Movement for trombone and piano, for William Cramer
Musik für Bläser for five trumpets and five trombones, for Armin Rosin and the Brass-Philharmonie Stuttgart
Ohio Concerto for flute and wind ensemble, for the Sousa Foundation
Rhapsody for bass trombone and concert band, for Donald Knaub
Seven Bagatelles for twelve trombones, for the International Trombone Association
Symphony for György Lehel and the Budapest Philharmonic Society
Three Sketches for clarinet choir, for Robert A. Riseling
Trio for horn, trombone and tuba, for Horst Küblböck

Brass Trio
Brass Sextet
Brass Quintet
Concert Band
Concert Band
Concert Band
Trombone and piano
Concert Band
Concert Band
Concert Band
Concert Band
Brass Septet
Trombone and piano
Trumpet and Piano
Brass instrument and orchestra
Trombone and piano
Brass Quintet
Brass Quartet
Brass Quintet
Wiind Ensemble
Wiind Ensemble
Brass Trio
Brass Sextet
Chamber Music for Mixed Ensemble
Klarnet i fortepian
Skrzypce i fortepian
Wind Quintet
Trombones