Steve Schwartz:

>Well, it's my understanding that Szell isn't Hungarian, but Czech (although
>the name is certainly Hungarian)....

An old Who's Who that I happen to own says that Szell was born in Budapest
but as a Czechoslovak national.  That just deepens the confusion, as in
1897, the year of Szell's birth, Czechoslovakia did not yet exist.  The
Who's Who entry goes on to say that Szell began his musical education at
age 7 in Vienna.  All this dates back to the Dual Monarchy under which
Szell might have qualified (via his parentage) as either a Bohemian or a
Moravian (the components of the Habsburg empire that later conjugated to
become the Czech part of Czechoslovakia).  Or just possibly he stemmed from
the Sudeten part of Czechoslovakia, but from a time there when it was still
Austrian.  For all practical puposes, though, Szell's formative years were
spent almost exclusively in Austria and in Germany.  There is no mention of
a any period of residence in Czechoslovakia, or any specifics pertaining to
the attainment of citizenship there.  What adds even more haze to all this
is that the Who's Who usually asked the subject of an entry to write
his/her own text, and before printing it, would submit proofs to him/her
for final scrutiny and clearance.Seems to me that Szell may not have been
certain of what exactly he was, or why--or,say, if he did stem from the
Sudeten area.  then his claim to be of Czechoslovak stock might be
interpreted as a deliberate affirmation of the legitimacy of
Czechoslovakia, in face of German and Austrian opposition to the
formation of that state.

Denis Fodor                     Internet:[log in to unmask]