Courtesy of T. Ungvary (private photo©)
| Period | Education | Instrument | Teacher | Education Organisation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1947
|
studies with Jenö Plan | ||||
|
1949
|
studies with Endre Zarecky | ||||
|
1953 - 1961
|
Béla Bartók-Conservatory: studies with Josef Bonyhadi | ||||
|
1967 - 1969
|
conducting | ||||
|
1969
|
diploma | ||||
|
1970 - 1971
|
Institute for Electronic Music Stockholm: courses for electronic and computer music | ||||
|
1980 - 1981
|
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): programming and system manager course for VAX minicomputers | ||||
|
1981
|
computer music programming | ||||
|
1988
|
Lund: master classes for composition (Dennis Smaley) | ||||
|
1988
|
Lund: master classes for composition (Morton Subotnik) | ||||
|
conducting courses (Jean Martinon) | |||||
|
conducting courses (Albert Simon) | |||||
|
conducting courses (Dean Dixon) | |||||
|
Estoril: interpretation and chamber music courses | |||||
|
composition | |||||
|
composition (Iannis Xenakis) |
| Period | Activity | Organisation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1956 - 1957
|
Budapest Operetta Theater: member of the orchestra | ||
|
1957 - 1969
|
Hungarian Symphony Orchestra: double-bass player | ||
|
1965
|
member of the choir | ||
|
1966
|
Béla Bartók Theater: conductor | ||
|
1967 - 1968
|
Hungarian Youth Orchestra: conductor | ||
|
1967 - 1969
|
solo double-bass player and musical assistent | ||
|
1969 - 1974
|
freelance conductor in Sweden | ||
|
1971 - 1974
|
Orchestra of Stockholm Music Schools: conductor | ||
|
1972
|
Regionmusiken, Boden: conductor | ||
|
1973 - 1974
|
Statens Normal Skola: head of the sound laboratory | ||
|
1974
|
lector | ||
|
1974 - 1980
|
Stiftelsen Elektro-akustisk Musik i Sverige (EMS): composer in residence and studio-assistent, lector and technical assistant, assistant of the composers Jan W. Morthenson, Erhard Karkoschka, Anestis Logothetis, Dieter Kaufmann etc. and contributions to the realization of compositions by Boguslaw Schaeffer | ||
|
1988 - 1990
|
National College of Dance Sweden: director of the Kineto-Auditory Communication Research KACOR | ||
|
1989
|
Magyar Tudományos Akadémia: advisor of the experimental scientific music group | ||
|
1989 - 1993
|
Stiftelsen Elektro-akustisk Musik i Sverige (EMS): artistic director | ||
|
1990
|
The Royal College of Technology Stockholm: KACOR director of research in the department of voice communication and music acoustics | ||
|
1990
|
International Computer Music Association (ICMA): member of the board | ||
|
appearances as a live performer with self-developed instruments, most recently with the cyber-instrument SensOrg (cockpit + sentograph) | |||
|
guest lecturer in Sorrento, Genoa, Padua, Helsinki, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Aarhus, Boston, etc. | |||
|
head of the course for electro-acoustic music | |||
|
numerous publications on visualizing information for computer music environment, for interaction between music and computer choreography, interactive live electronics and real-time compositions |
| Period | Performance | Composition | Organisation | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1972
|
ISCM World New Music Festival | |||
|
1973
|
ISCM World New Music Festival: | |||
|
1975
|
ISCM World New Music Festival: | |||
|
1985
|
ISCM World New Music Festival: | |||
|
1995
|
ISCM World New Music Festival: | |||
|
Budapest Autumn | ||||
|
Bourges Electroacoustic Music: International Festival "Synthèse" | ||||
|
Festival des Arts Electroniques Rennes | ||||
|
Intermusica Padova | ||||
|
Kasseler Days: "New Music at the Church" | ||||
|
Musica Verticale Rome | ||||
|
Nuremberg Organ Week | ||||
|
Pro Musica Nova Bremen | ||||
| Period | Commission | Composition | Commissioner (Organisation) | Commissioner (Person) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kulturhuset Stockholm | ||||
|
Institute for Royal Concerts Stockholm | ||||
|
Nuremberg Organ Week | ||||
|
Kassel Music Days: "New Music at the Church" | ||||
|
Polish Radio Warsaw | ||||
|
Studio UPIC Massy |
| Period | Award | Composition | Awarding Organisation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1987
|
International NEWCOMP Competition for Computermusic: first prize | ||
|
1994
|
award | ||
|
1997
|
professional title of professor | ||
|
Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition: awards | |||
|
numerous scholarships and promotional prizes |
As a composer Ungvary was influenced by Györgi Ligeti, Iannis Xenakis and the Swedish computer music pioneer Jan W. Morthenson.
Tamas Ungvary, 1995
Ungvarys intention is to create music, that evokes an orchestral sound without the use of traditional musical instruments, but also without imitating the usual orchestra instruments. Many of his works originate from the tension between statics and dynamics of the sound material. Whenever Ungvary combines traditional instruments with computer sounds, he often directs the electronic versus instrumental sounds from a mergence into a supplementation. Furthermore, Ungvary tries to provide the player with a sense of freedom through strange notations, but at the same time tries to force him to a very well-defined textual, structural and musical style and expression. Ungvarys special interest is the exploration of the possibilities which are able to solve the obvious communication problems between computers and humans and to develop means of interpretation that already exist in the instrumental music. For this reason, he developed his own computer languages (compositional computer languages), used and designed new input devices with which he tries to solve the mentioned problem in his compositional works.
Choice from reviews
My simultaneous preoccupation with displaying problems of human movement (choreographic notation) and the desired communication between sound motion and physical motion systems (choreography) has updated the sonographic representation. [...] If the sonogram is the image of music, then why can't a part or a region be removed, which fits the range of an instrument, and then overlaps this sonogram with a five-line system as a guideline. It shows immediately [...] that the visual information is too much for one musician. It is simply "black", no clear shape can be detected. This is why I have developed a new program, which filters the original sonogram and displays only the strongest elements. The picture is then less complex. The musicians don't have to consider the visual designs as notes, but as shapes, directions in various areas - in the pitch area, the volume space and in the tone colour room of their instruments. In 'DIS-DANCE' - my first work with this notation - I combined a chamber orchestra with the sounds of electro-acoustic music, from which the notation emerged. In 'SONO-LOGOS', a duo for a keyboard instrument and a melody instrument, I let this notation work autonomously on a musical-graphic level. [...]
Tamas Ungvary, in an interview with Dieter Kaufmann, in: "DIS-TANZ. Die Entwicklung einer neuen Notation als Medium von Analyse, instrumentaler Animation, Choreographie und intermedialer Kommunikation", in: Musik &. - Wien 1992, S. 168, 171, 173ff.
1990
Interaction No. 2
[...] A masterpiece ... I have played and discussed this composition with many of my music synthesis classes at the Berklee College of Music. In every case, it literally blows them away. Adjectives they use to describe the experience of the piece range from "raw" to "brutal" to "savage". My own word description of Interaction No. 2 is "brilliant"! [...]
Computer Music Journal Vol.14, No.2 (Richard Boulanger)
9. September 1980
Akonel II.
[...] a spirited click of colours [...]
Svenska Dagbladet (Carl Gunnar Åhlen)
18. May 1979
Sinus-Coitus
[...] Music with gigantic drama, colossal speed, relentless rhythmics. A masterpiece. [...]
Kathimerini
7. November 1978
Basic Barrier
[...] creates tension from the contrast of light, playful resolved, colorful characters and massive, often distorted blocks [...]
Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung (Klaus Kirchenberg
5. June 1978
Traum des Einsamen
[...] pleasantly unconventional [...]
Neue Zürcher Zeitung