Moyzes, Alexander (EN)

Moyzes Alexander, *4 September 1906 Kláštor pod Znievom, †20 November 1984 Bratislava, Slovakian composer, son of Mikuláš. Initially, he studied music in Bratislava, and from 1925 at the conservatory in Prague (he graduated in the class of V. Novák in 1930). In 1929–41, he taught composition and music theory at the Academy of Music and Drama in Bratislava, from 1941 to 1971, he was a professor of theory and composition at the Bratislava Conservatory, and from 1965 to 1971 the rector of this university. He received, among others, the award of the city of Bratislava in 1937, the state award in 1956, the title of Honoured Artist of Czechoslovakia in 1961 and the title of National Artist of Czechoslovakia in 1966.

The beginnings of Alexander Moyzes’s creative path coincided with a time of particularly intense development of music in Slovakia, including a period of great interest in the style of expressionism. The influence of this trend was clearly present in the early works of the composer, who at that time represented an avant-garde attitude. After 1933, the aggressiveness and vitalism of Moyzes’s music began to gradually subside under the influence of folklore, which resulted in rather simplified programmatic works, often devoted to social problems. After the outbreak of World War II, Moyzes’s work showed a clear tendency to synthesise elements of folk music with the influence of neoclassic aesthetics. This period, lasting until ca. 1953, resulted in several works of excellent artistry, constituting Moyzes’s peak achievements as a creator of symphonic music (including Symphonies No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6). In 1956, there was a stylistic breakthrough that initiated the last phase of Moyzes’s work. The composer set himself an ambitious task of finding an individual path based on the synthesis of new techniques with the experience gained in the earlier period. However, stylistic pluralism resulted in the appearance of eclecticism in his music. The composer’s late works (Symphony No. 8, Partita) reveal a slight turn towards neoclassicism.

Alexander Moyzes was undoubtedly one of the creators who shaped the face of 20^th-century Slovakian music. His works did not have such a strong impact, but his teaching activities turned out to be particularly important. Moyzes’s greatest achievements include orchestral works, and above all, the cycle of nine symphonies, which allows him to be considered the leading Slovakian symphonist.