Zsolt Serei was born in 1954 in Takácsi. His
musical studies commenced early with the piano.
He then moved on to the trombone, and from
1968 until 1972 studied with György Zilcz and
József Nagy. His formal compositional training
commenced in Győr under István Fekete Győr.
He went on to attend the Liszt Academy of Music
in Budapest, receiving his degree in composition
in 1978 as a student of Endre Szervánszky and
Emil Petrovics; he also studied conducting
(1982) under András Kórodi and Ervin Lukács.
He also studied under Zoltán Jeney and Albert
Simon. He has been a member of the New Music
Studio since 1978 as a performer, conductor, and composer. Since 1986, he has
taught at the Liszt Academy of Music’s Composition Department. In 1989, he
founded the instrumental group Componensemble, which has become one
of the most significant bases for contemporary music-making in Hungary.
Componensemble has given Budapest premieres of pieces by such greats as
Pierre Boulez, György Kurtág, and Morton Feldman. Their repertoire includes
international and Hungarian contemporary chamber works, and they have
made CD, radio, and TV recordings of works by Gyula Csapó, János Decsényi,
Barnabás Dukay, Zoltán Jeney, György Kurtág, József Sári, László Sáry, József
Soproni, András Szőllősy, László Tihanyi, and László Vidovszky, among others.
As the ensemble’s conductor, he has participated in numerous festivals, in
cluding: the Music Biennale in Zagreb, the Warsaw Autumn Festival, and the
Melos Festival. In 1991, he conducted Pierre Boulez’s Le marteau sans maître and
Dérive with the Dutch Nieuw Ensemble. His chamber piece Rege was performed
in Brussels in 1982, and his orchestral work, Calyx, was played in Budapest at the
ISCM Festival in 1986. In 1999, he won the Soros Foundation’s Music Award. His
other prizes include: the Erkel Prize (2003); the Artisjus Prize (2003); the Bartók–
Pásztory Award (2010), and the Artisjus Plaque (2012). He has been a member
of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Széchenyi Academy of Arts since 2014.
OPERAS
Egypercesek/One-Minute Stories (1999) Lib: István Örkény
A macska és a hegedű/The Cat and the Fiddle (2015) Lib: Attila Cziczo
ORCHESTRAL WORKS
Calyx (1984), symph. orch. Pub: UMP EMB
ENSEMBLE WITH SOLO INSTRUMENT
Társalgás négyszögben/Conversation in Square – Hommage à Webern (1977),
pno., chbr. ens.
MM20 (1978), pno., 7 perc.
Passi velati (1992), cl., chbr. ens.
Serenade (1993), hn., chbr. ens. Pub: UMP EMB SR: BMC CD073
L´ombre sur les structures pliées – Hommage à Pierre Boulez (2001), 2 solo cl.,
3 vl., vla., vlc. Pub: UMP EMB SR: BMC CD073
Partita (2001), fl. solo, str. orch. SR: BMC CD074
Stets blickend in die Höh’ (2008), engl. hn., chbr. ens. Pub: UMP EMB
Szín – Sarabande in memoriam Ildikó Vékony (2018), cimb. solo, chbr. ens.
ENSEMBLE
The (1974), chbr. ens.
Round–Rolls (1980), str. ens.
A nagy T/The Capital T (1981), 13 optional instr.
fanatritratritrána (1982), 3 vl., 2 vla., 2 vlc., db., perc., org., chimes
Hét perc húsz évre/Seven Minutes for Twenty Years (1991), 6–12 optional instr.
SR: BMC CD073
Twenty-One Fragments of Melodies in memoriam Morton Feldman (1998),
12 optional instr.
Sinfoniette (2004), str. orch.
Five Hommages (Cage, Dukay, Jeney, Kurtág, Sári) (2008), fl., ob., cl., bs.,
hn., 2 vl., vla., vlc., db.
Pavane and Double (2014), str. ens.
Levelek az ismeretlenbe/Letters to Unknown in memoriam Zoltán
Gyöngyössy (2016)
CHAMBER WORKS
Six Pieces for Flute, Viola and Cello (1973)
Ív/Arch (1976), vl./vla., pno. Pub: UMP EMB
… midőn épp’ alszik/… While She is Just Asleep (1978), 2 pno.
MM20 (1979), 2 pno.
Rege (1979), 2 identical instr. (the third must be different) Pub: UMP EMB
Levelek X-től/Letters from X (1981), fl., db., 2 gongs Pub: UMP EMB
Pavane in D (1982), 4 vlc., db. Pub: BHKZ Edition
Négy ének/4for4 (1999), cl., hn., vl., db.
Fax X-től/Fax from X (2003), fl., db., perc. Pub: UMP EMB
Tristesse du caprice – In memoriam Zoltán Horusitzky (2003), pno., fl., cl.,
tr., vl., vlc.
60 Duets for Two Violins (2004)
Álomrajzok/Dream Drawings (2004), 2 cl., bs. SR: BMC CD127
Klaro (2008), 2 cl., bs.
Als Leiter zu Land und See (2009), fl., cl., perc.
For 51 to LI (2009), fl., db. Pub: UMP EMB
Kőálomfehér/Stone-Dream-White (2009), 2 cl., pno.
Quasi una Sonata (2012), vlc., pno.
Clar-X (2013), 2 cl., picc. cl., S sax., B cl., harp
Metamorfosi su Quattro note (2014), pno., fl., cl., vl., vlc.
Vonalak kettőstérben/Lines in Double Space (2015), cl., vl.
Magányos Píneák/Lonely Píneas – Hommage à D.J. (2017), pno., vl., vla., vlc.
Rynk – Hommage à Sáry Bánk (2018), ob., bs., vl., vlc., pno., perc.
Isochrony (2019), vlc., pno.
En route (2020), 2 pno.
Second – Book (2020), vlc., pno.
CHORAL WORKS
Ajánlás/Widmung (1989), 3 SATB Lib: Arnold Schönberg
Terra tremuit (1995), SATB
Tota pulchra es (1996), male chr. SR: HCD 31770
Vesperás tételek/Sunday Vespers (2001), male chr. SR: BMC CD211
Könyörgés bujdosásában/Entreaty in His Hiding (2008), SATB Lib: Bálint
Balassi
VOCAL WORKS
Orgona/Liliac (1974), S, chbr. ens. Lib: Árpád Tóth
Cent fois le jour (1981), S, 5 optional instr. Lib: Pierre Ronsard
Intonations (1988), 3 S, 2 T, B, chbr. ens.
… mint te, ollyan rózsaszál (1995), MS Lib: Mihály Csokonai Vitéz
Három kínai négysoros/Three Chinese quatra ins (1998), MS, pno.
Lib: Li Tai-Po Pub: UMP EMB SR: BMC CD073
Goethe-vonalak/Goethe Linien (2005), MS, vl., pno.
… boldogságod dallá…/… Happiness for Song (2006), MS, pno. Lib: János Arany
Másodpercesek/One-Second Stories (2013), MS, pno. Lib: István Örkény
Érintetlen kapuk/Untouched Gates Cantate (2015), MS, 6 female voices, fl.,
cl., tr., perc., vl., vla., vlc., db. Lib: János Pilinszky
Julia (2019), T, MS, pno. Lib: Sándor Petőfi, Júlia Szendrei
SOLO WORKS
The (A Variation) (1974), pno./cimb./vibr. SR: BMC CD046
Vélt Találkozás/Imaginary Meeting (1976), prep. pno. Pub: UMP EMB
Ein-tretende Figur – Hommage à Paul Klee (1984), vl.
Interludes for Rain, Wind and Bells (2002), pno. Pub: UMP EMB
Namost…/Well (2004), cl.
… hegy, szél, kék /…Hill, Wind, Blue… (2007), cl.
Passacaglia – In memoriam András Szőllőssy (2011), fl.
Epitaphium for Piano – In memoriam Ádám Rajhona (2017)
Miért… örökké…/Why… Forever… (2019), vl.
Album Leaves (1983–2002), pno. Pub: UMP EMB SR: BMC CD073
