Ödön Pártos


Ödön Pártos was a Hungarian-Israeli violist and composer. A recipient of the Israel Prize, he taught and served as director of the Rubin Academy of Music, now known as the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv.

Biography

Partos was born in Budapest and studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, together with Antal Doráti and Mátyás Seiber, studied the violin with Jenő Hubay and composition with Zoltán Kodály. Upon completing his studies, he was accepted to the position of Principal Violinist in an orchestra in Lucerne, after which he played in other European orchestras, among them, in Berlin. In 1934, following Hitler’s ascendance to power, Partos returned to his birthplace, Budapest, where he was Principal Violinist in the city’s symphony orchestra.
In 1936, Bronisław Huberman founded the Palestine Orchestra, for which he recruited Jewish musicians cast out of Europe's orchestras. Huberman sought to include Partos, though the latter's take-up of the post was delayed due to a prior commitment – a contract with the government of the USSR through which Partos taught violin and composition in the Conservatory of Baku, Azerbaijan. In 1937, Partos left the USSR, after having refused to join the Communist Party during the period of the Moscow Trials. He returned to Budapest, where he served as the orchestra’s Principal Violinist along with making concert tours of European countries.
At that time, Bronisław Huberman invited Partos to a meeting in Florence, where he offered him the position of Principal Violist in the Palestine Orchestra. Declining attractive offers from South America, Partos immigrated to British Mandatory Palestine in 1938.
Between the years 1938–1956, Partos was the principal of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's viola section, as well as playing numerous solo performances in Israel and abroad. In 1946, together with cellist László Vincze, he founded the Samuel Rubin Israel Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, and in 1959 was instrumental in founding the Thelma Yellin High School of Art in Tel Aviv. In 1951, Partos was appointed director of the Rubin Academy, a position he was to hold until his death.
Ödön Partos is regarded as among the most important Israeli composers. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1954, the first honoree in the field of music.
Among the notable students of Partos: Cecylia Arzewski, Dvora Bartonov, Menahem Breuer, Ilan Gronich, Rami Solomonow, Rivka Golani, Rami Bar-Niv, Yehoshua Lakner , Avraham Sternklar, Shelemyahu Zacks, and Noa Blass .

Awards