Leó Weiner (1885–1960)

Leó Weiner was born to a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. His parents were Adolf and Jenny Weiner, who died giving birth to him. He got his first music and piano lessons from his older brother. As children, he and Fritz Reiner played piano four hands. Weiner studied at the Academy of Music in Budapest with János (Hans von) Koessler. While there, he won numerous awards, including the Franz Liszt Stipend, the Volkmann Prize, and the Erkel Prize, all for his composition Serenade Op. 3; as well as the Haynald Prize for his Agnus Dei; and the Schunda Prize for his Hungarian Fantasy for tárogató and cimbalom. He also won the Franz Josef Jubilee Prize, which allowed him to study in Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, and Paris. Weiner became one of the leading Hungarian music educators of the 20th century. In 1908, he was appointed music theory teacher at the Academy, becoming professor of composition in 1912 and professor of chamber music in 1920. In 1928, he organized a chamber music orchestra without a conductor from among Academy students. He retired in 1949 as emeritus professor, but continued to teach until the end of his life. Among his many notable students were conductors Antal Doráti, Peter Erős, Béla Síki, and Georg Solti; violinist Tibor Varga; cellists Edmund Kurtz and János Starker; and pianist György Sebők. Weiner's compositions were strongly influenced by the early Romantics from Beethoven through Mendelssohn, to which he sometimes added elements of Hungarian folk music. His works included a string trio, three string quartets, two violin sonatas, five divertimenti for orchestra, a symphonic poem, and numerous chamber and piano pieces. He also wrote a much-respected harmony textbook and his memoirs, published in 1987.