(1885 Arad – 1958 Bratislava)
Studies
Alexander Albrecht – composer, conductor, and pedagogue – gained his first knowledge of music with the Bratislava cathedral organist Karel Forstner. During his studies at the Royal Hungarian Catholic Grammar School (the building of today’s University Library on Klariska Street in Bratislava), he met Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnány. From 1904 to 1908 he studied at the Music Academy in Budapest – composition with Hans Koessler, piano with István Thomán and Béla Bartók, conducting with Franz Szandtner, and chamber music with David Popper. He also studied law in Budapest.
Professional life
From 1908 he was an organist at the St. Martin Cathedral in Bratislava, in 1921 became the conductor of the Church Music Society at the St. Martin Cathedral and the director of the Bratislava Municipal Music School. He undeniably contributed to improving the performing art of the Society and to the performing of works of 20th century music in services and public concerts. Alexander Albrecht held both positions until the dissolution of the school and the Society in 1942 and 1952, respectively. 1952. Through his pedagogical work in the house of Regenschori, first at Lodná 12 and later at Kapitulská 1, he influenced the professional growth of many Slovak composers and performers of the young generation.
Work
Albrecht was one of the first composers of the 20th century. from the territory of today’s Slovakia, whose music resonated abroad. His musical language and style were based on the German Romantic tradition (Brahms, Reger), later he enriched it with elements of Impressionism and Expressionism. He was a synthetist with a special feeling for the form built through variational development.
A key area in his work is chamber music (Piano Quintet, String Quartet in D major and others) and songwriting (Rosenzeit , A szépség himnusza, Three poems from the cycle Das Marienleben and others). Works from 1925-1945 reveal a penchant for atonality and the ideals of the New Objectivity (Sonata for 11 Instruments, Tobias Wunderlich , Cantate Domino and others). The last period (1946-1957) is characterized by the simplification of language, the inclination towards neoclassicism and folklorism (Variations, Šuhajko, Concert Suite for Viola and Piano ).
Alexander Albrecht was a person with in-depth knowledge of literature, art history, and law. He had a close relationship with nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for artistic creation and respect for the creations of human knowledge. His rich literary and essay work is documented and available in Albrecht, A .: Desires and Memories. Music Center Slovakia, 2008. The publication also includes a study of Alexander Albrecht by Vladimír Godár, who was the editor of the book.
