Expert: Ken Fasano - 10/12/2004

Question
What is V. Monti's name? - the "V" I mean. Where is he/she from and when was Czardus written?
Many thanks.
EK

Answer
guildmusic.com has the following information:
www.guildmusic.com/composer/montiv.htm

The Italian Vittorio Monti scored the most important success of his professional life with this Hungarian-style Czardas - which was originally composed for either violin or mandolin and piano.

It was soon arranged for all kinds of ensembles, for it epitomises for many people the essence of the old Hungarian dance, with its juxtaposition of fast and slow music. Few people remember Monti today, but everyone will be familiar with his music here - making him a true immortal.

Classical-composers.org gives his dates as follows:
http://www.classical-composers.org/cgi-bin/ccd.cgi?comp=monti

Born: 6 January 1868, Napoli (Italy)
Died: 20 June 1922, Napoli (Italy)

Grainger.de provides the following information about his career:
http://www.grainger.de/music/composers/monti.html

According to the website given below, Vittorio Monti was the Italian composer of the celebrated Csárdás for violin and orchestra. He was born in Naples and studied at the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella with F. Pinto (violin) and Paolo Serrao (composition). He went to Paris in 1886 where he perfected his violin playing studying with Camillo Sivori, and was for many years first violin in the Lamoureux Orchestra. His works include ballets, operettas, pantomimes as well as of instrumental, vocal and violin pieces.

Thefreedictionary.com tells about the Czardas:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Czardas

Czardas or Csardas (Hungarian csárdás, a tavern, beer house) is a popular Hungarian folk dance. It is of Magyar and Roma origin. [Roma are gypsies, and are not native Hungarians] Csardas is characterized by a variation in tempo: it starts out slowly (lassu) and ends in a very fast tempo (friss). THe music is in 2/4 or 4/4 time. The dancers are both male and female, with the women dressed in traditional wide skirts, usually colored red, which form a distinctive shape when they whirl. Classical artists who have used Csardas themes in their work have included Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Johann Strauss, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and others.


If you'd like more information on him, you can enter the following search terms in Google (www.google.com):

"Vittorio Monti"  czardas