COMPOSERS from Hungary

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Hungarian Composers of all time. This list of famous Hungarian Composers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Hungarian Composers.

1. Zoltán Kodály (1882 - 1967)

With an HPI of 67.75, Zoltán Kodály is the most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages on wikipedia.

Zoltán Kodály (UK: , US: ; Hungarian: Kodály Zoltán, pronounced [ˈkodaːj ˈzoltaːn]; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education.

2. Emmerich Kálmán (1882 - 1953)

With an HPI of 66.20, Emmerich Kálmán is the 2nd most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Emmerich Kálmán (Hungarian: Kálmán Imre; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most popular works are Die Csárdásfürstin (1915) and Gräfin Mariza (1924). Influences on his compositional style include Hungarian folk music (such as the csárdás), the Viennese style of precursors such as Johann Strauss II and Franz Lehár, and, in his later works, American jazz. As a result of the Anschluss, Kálmán and his family fled to Paris and then to the United States. He eventually returned to Europe in 1949 and died in Paris in 1953.

3. Miklós Rózsa (1907 - 1995)

With an HPI of 59.64, Miklós Rózsa is the 3rd most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Miklós Rózsa (Hungarian: [ˈmikloːʃ ˈroːʒɒ]; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953 onward. Best known for his nearly one hundred film scores, he nevertheless maintained a steadfast allegiance to absolute concert music throughout what he called his "double life". Rózsa achieved early success in Europe with his orchestral Theme, Variations, and Finale (Op. 13) of 1933, and became prominent in the film industry from such early scores as The Four Feathers (1939) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940). The latter project brought him to Hollywood when production was transferred from wartime Britain, and Rózsa remained in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1946. During his Hollywood career, he received 17 Academy Award nominations including three Oscars for Spellbound (1945), A Double Life (1947), and Ben-Hur (1959), while his concert works were championed by such major artists as Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, and János Starker.

4. Hans Richter (1843 - 1916)

With an HPI of 58.22, Hans Richter is the 4th most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

Johann Baptist Isidor Richter, or János Richter (4 April 1843 – 5 December 1916) was an Austro-Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor.

5. Joseph Kosma (1905 - 1969)

With an HPI of 58.19, Joseph Kosma is the 5th most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Joseph Kosma (22 October 1905 – 7 August 1969) was a Hungarian composer who emigrated to France.

6. Karl Goldmark (1830 - 1915)

With an HPI of 56.86, Karl Goldmark is the 6th most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer.

7. Hans Swarowsky (1899 - 1975)

With an HPI of 55.69, Hans Swarowsky is the 7th most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899 – September 10, 1975) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. His teachers in musical theory included Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. Herbert von Karajan invited him to take on the permanent position as conductor of the Vienna State Opera. He became a professor of conducting at the Vienna Music Academy. His many conducting students included Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Alexis Hauser, Alexander Alexeev, Zubin Mehta, Leonid Nikolaev, Paul Angerer, Ádám and Iván Fischer, Avi Ostrowsky Jesús López-Cobos, Gustav Meier, Ewa Michnik, Miltiades Caridis, Aleksandr Alekseyev, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Brian Jackson, Alfred Prinz, Bryan Fairfax, James Allen Gähres, Albert Rosen and Bruno Weil,Wolfgang Harrer. Otmar Suitner was Hans Swarowsky's successor at the Vienna Music Academy. Swarowsky's lectures and essays were collected into the publication Wahrung der Gestalt (Keeping Shape), which today serves as an encyclopaedia for performance and conducting. From 1957 to 1959 he was chief conductor of the Scottish National Orchestra (now the Royal Scottish N.O.). He died in Salzburg, Austria, less than a week before his 76th birthday.

8. Ferenc Erkel (1810 - 1893)

With an HPI of 55.67, Ferenc Erkel is the 8th most famous Hungarian Composer.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Ferenc Erkel (Hungarian: Erkel Ferenc Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈɛrkɛl ˈfɛrɛnt͡s], German: Franz Erkel; November 7, 1810 – June 15, 1893) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still often performed in Hungary. He also composed the music of "Himnusz", the national anthem of Hungary, which was adopted in 1844. He died in Budapest.

9. Princess Maria Antonia Koháry (1797 - 1862)

With an HPI of 54.33, Princess Maria Antonia Koháry is the 9th most famous Hungarian Composer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Princess Mária Antónia Gabriella Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya (Hungarian: csábrági és szitnyai herceg Koháry Mária Antónia Gabriella; 2 July 1797 – 25 September 1862) was a Hungarian noblewoman and the ancestor of several European monarchs. She was the sole heiress of the House of Koháry, which belonged to one of the three largest landowners in Hungary.

10. Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923)

With an HPI of 53.80, Dora Pejačević is the 10th most famous Hungarian Composer.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Countess Maria Theodora Paulina (Dora) Pejačević (Hungarian: Gróf verőczei Pejácsevich Mária Theodóra Paulina "Dóra", 10 September 1885 – 5 March 1923) was a Croatian composer, pianist and violinist and one of the first composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music. Pejačević is noted for her vocal compositions, piano miniatures, and string quartets, which were heavily influenced by the expressionist and modernist trends of the time. In her early career, Pejačević’s primary themes were highly representative of the Romantic period, but this would change after her experience working as a paramedic in the First World War after which her works reflected the philosophic movement of nihilism and discussed motifs of death, isolation, and futility of war.