László Bojtár
His life, his works
László Bojtár composer was born
on 21. February 1926 in Mohács. He began to attend secondary grammar
school in his native town. Later he continued his studies in the
secondary grammar school of the Cistercian Order in Pécs named after
Lajos Nagy where he graduated in 1944. After the Second World War
he obtained his university certificate at the Faculty of Law at the
University of Pécs.
One of his composition for organ was sent for review
to Sebestén Pécsi, professor of the Academy
of Music in 1948, who performed that piece in the Basilica
of Budapest. From 1949 he worked as a Catholic parish choir master
in his native town for 40 years. So he held firm to his activity
during that period, although the ecclesiastical service counted not
as a merit at that time.
It considered a milestone of his life that as a result of a Magnificat
competition he got acquainted with Lajos Bárdos who
guided his musical development.
In 1978 a piece of László Bojtár's works was brought out in a publication compiled
as a result of a competition released by the Reformed Church on choral
variations. In 1989 he won the "first prize for oeuvre" for
his seven pieces of work for organ sent to the competition
announced by St. Anne's Congregation in Miskolc. Six organ compositions
of him were recorded to CD, played
by dr. Lukács Áment, Benedictine priest.
The other main field of his activity as a composer was the folk
musical setting. His works of this type are regularly broadcast
in radio programmes. He composed several musical fairy tales
for schools on Mohács. The most outstanding of them is the children's
opera performed in 1967.
The material of two concerts was pubilshed in CD, which is also part
of the broadcast of the Hungarian Radio. One of this concert
CDs his Wind Quintet is played by the Concordia Wind Quintet from
Budapest. The author's CD contains oboe-piano duets, choir and organ
pieces, singing solos accompanied by chamber orchestra and the Hungarian
State Folk Ensemble, which can be considered as priceless worth.
He dedicated his choral compositions to choirs in
Mohács, Pécs and Győr. His compositions for oboe and piano can
be put partly in the category of folk song treatment and partly in
that works influenced by folk songs.
The International Music Museum in London guards
the collection of László Bojtár.
The collection of Institute of Musicology in Budapest contains his life
work, too. His oeuvre is waiting for treatment.
As a performer he was also given the possibility of playing music in the
radio programmes of Budapest, Pécs and Novi Sad.
He was an enthusiastic researcher of teh cultural development in
Mohács. It is indicated by three Academy awards,
manuscript monograph paper in eight volumes and 300 newspaper articles
published in the regional and county newpapers. In 1988 he obtained
the 'Deserving Personality' medal from Baranya County
and in 1993 he was awarded the honorary citizen title of
town Mohács.
He died in 1995 in Mohács.