Károly Thern


Károly Thern was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and arranger. He was of German descent, but was among the second generation of composers who developed the language of Hungarian art music.
Thern was born in 1817,in Spišská Nová Ves.
He conducted at the National Theatre of Pest in 1840s, and at the Music Lovers' Association of Pest between 1868 and 1873, in succession to Mihály Mosonyi. He was also active as a teacher at the National Conservatory.
Thern's incidental music included Svatopluk by József Gaál in which he introduced the tárogató alongside standard orchestral instruments. His operas included Gizul, The Siege of Tihany, and The Would-be Invalid. Gizul was described as a "... remarkable reflection of the endeavour to give schooling a Hungarian character, to adorn it as if it were in Hungarian garment". His other music includes a Symphony ; a Trio in D minor for two violins and viola, Op. 60; a Hungarian March for piano 6-hands; Landleben, 8 Character Pieces for piano, Op. 38; a Nocturne for solo piano, and songs for plays about Hungarian village life. Thern's music has been rediscovered by the Hungarian pianist Ilona Prunyi.
Karoly Thern made a number of arrangements for piano duet or two pianos, including:
His sons Willi and Louis Thern were his best piano students, and they became a famous team of duo pianists and later teachers.
Thern was an ardent champion of Franz Liszt, who used his melody Fóti dal in his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1. Liszt dedicated Eucharistia to Karoly Thern, and his arrangement for piano 4-hands of the marches by Franz Schubert to his sons Willi and Louis.
Thern died in Vienna in 1886.