Janos Gereben wrote:

> I appreciate Christopher Webber's thoughtful and revealing mini-essay
> (http://tinyurl.com/6dlwbx) about Schmidt, but wonder about his
> challenge to the composer's Hungarian-ness.
>
> Never mind that *Pozsony* (renamed Bratislava only in 1919, thanks to
> your Mr. Wilson's disastrous nation-building/rearranging efforts) was
> the *capital* of the Kingdom of Hungary for some 250 years... just
> listen to the "Notre Dame" Intermezzo
> (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qIjZwvI0r2g) - it has some of the most
> impassioned ("giccses"/kitschy) phony-Hunky music since the days of
> that other questionably Hungarian composer, F. Liszt...:)

Hungarian kings were for many years crowned at the cathedral in
Bratislava, if I remember correctly.  And many older Slovaks I know are
somewhat conversant in Hungarian.

I also have known numerous Hungarians with German names, such as
"Subert" (pronounced "Schubert", of course).  (Also Czechs with German
names, such as "Sulc", pronounced "Schultz")

Ed Gordon <[log in to unmask]>

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