Ferenc Erkel (November 7, 1810, Gyula - June 25, 1893, Budapest) was a Hungarian composer. 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 "Isten áldd meg a magyart", the national anthem of Hungary, which was adopted in 1844. The librettos of his first four operas were written by Béni Egressy . Beside the operas, which he is the best known of, he wrote pieces for piano and chorus. His most widely known piano piece is the Rákóczi March (1840).
He headed the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra (founded in 1853). The Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest was opened in 1884, of which he was the musical director. A department of the Opera House was established in 1911 in Budapest which also performs operas, named Erkel Színház (Erkel Theatre) since 1953. He was also the director and piano teacher of the Hungarian Academy of Music until 1886.
Erkel was an internationally acknowledged chess player as well.
Operas
- Bátori Mária (1840)
- Hunyadi László (1844)
- Erzsébet (1857, partly by him)
- Bánk bán (1861)
- Sarolta (1862)
- Dózsa György (1867)
- Brankovics György (1874)
- Névtelen hősök (1880, "Nameless heroes")
- István király (1885, "King Stephen")
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