Ernst von Dohnányi

Ernő Dohnányi or (native form) Dohnányi Ernő (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈdohnaːɲi ˈɛrnøː]; July 27, 1877 – February 9, 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. He used a German form of his name, Ernst von Dohnányi, on most of his published compositions. The "von" implies nobility, and, according to the biography by his third wife, his family was ennobled in 1697 and given a family crest, which she describes in some detail.

Dohnányi was born in Pozsony, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (today Bratislava, capital of Slovakia). He first studied music with his father, a professor of mathematics and an amateur cellist, and then, when he was eight years old, with Carl Forstner, organist at the local cathedral. In 1894, in his seventeenth year, he moved to Budapest and enrolled in the Royal National Hungarian Academy of Music, studying piano with István Thomán and composition with Hans von Koessler, a cousin of Max Reger. István Thomán was a favorite student of Franz Liszt and Hans von Koessler was a devotee of Johannes Brahms music. These two influences played an important role during Dohnányi's entire life: Liszt in his way of playing piano and Brahms in his compositions. Dohnányi's first published composition, his Piano Quintet in C minor, earned the approval of Johannes Brahms, who promoted the work in Vienna.

Dohnányi didn't stay long at the Academy of Music; in June 1897 he asked permission to take the final exams right away, without completing his studies. Permission was granted, and only a few days later he passed with high marks, as a composer and pianist, obtaining his diploma at less than twenty years of age.

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