Istvan F. Marton (Stepan F. Marton) (November 24, 1923, Sofia village, now Mukachevo district, Transcarpathian region - January 14, 1996, Uzhhorod) was a Ukrainian composer. Honored Artist of Ukraine (1972).
He was born on November 24, 1923 in the village of Zhodiya, Transcarpathian region. He graduated from the Uzhhorod Music College (1949), where he worked. Since 1975, he has been the artistic director of the Hungarian Folklore Ensemble of the Uzhhorod Philharmonic.
He is the author of the music for the film "On My Green Land" (1959, in collaboration with B. Karamyshev).
Biography.
Istvan Marton was born on November 24, 1923 in the village of Sofia, Mukachevo district, in a family of teachers. The composer's father, Ferenc Marton, began his career as a cantor and primary school teacher. Stefania Marton-Richter's father, Wenzel Richter, moved his family from Vienna to Zakarpattia, as he began working as a forester for Count Schönborn in the early twentieth century. His parents were great music lovers. Since childhood, Istvan showed a passion for music. Even then, in his childhood, he began to improvise.
After graduating from the village school, I. Marton continued his studies in Mukachevo, first at the Hungarian town school, and then at the Mukachevo Teachers' Seminary, where he devoted a lot of time and attention to music and singing. I. Marton independently mastered playing the viola, cello, clarinet, accordion, and took private piano lessons, which interested him more and more. This is where the future composer's talent really shone through: he leads his students' orchestras and choirs, composes music for them, and willingly arranges folk songs, giving them a second life.
After graduating, I. Marton worked as a teacher at the Mukachevo Music School from 1946 and at the same time graduated from the Uzhhorod Music School as an external student in the piano class. The talented musician was noticed and invited to work at the school on a permanent basis. Since 1948, Stepan Fedorovych has been an accompanist and teacher at the Uzhhorod Music School, where he worked fruitfully for many years. Many young men and women - future singers, musicians, and amateur art directors - passed through his hands and soul. Many of Stepan Fedorovych's students, including E. Stankovych, A. Zatin, V. Telychko, K. Yendryk, M. Popenko, and many others, later became famous professional composers and performers.
In the early 50s, he began his creative collaboration with the Transcarpathian Folk Choir, for which he arranged folk songs and created dance music that gained public recognition in the former USSR. On the basis of Transcarpathian Ukrainian, Slovak, and Hungarian folk motifs, the composer created the "Transcarpathian Suite" for choir and orchestra, the Ukrainian "Pictures of Folk Festivities," and the vocal and choreographic composition "Transcarpathian Ornaments." For the orchestra of the Transcarpathian Folk Choir, which Marton directed in 1962-1963 and 1969-1974, he composed "Verbunkos and Chardash," "Suite of Hungarian Melodies," and other compositions.
In 1963, S. Marton became the artistic director of the Transcarpathian Regional Philharmonic, and since 1975. Stepan Marton is the artistic director of the Hungarian Chamber Ensemble of the Transcarpathian Regional Philharmonic. But he still willingly helps young musicians with advice and consultations. He is a permanent member of the jury of regional creative competitions and festivals, where his word is important. The fruitful creative and pedagogical activity of S. Marton, a member of the USSR Composers' Union (1952), has been repeatedly highly appreciated by the public and specialists: he is a laureate of several competitions, Honored Artist of Ukraine (1965).
The composer's works for organ - "Toccata", "Melody", "Capriccio", as well as "Passacaglia" commissioned by the outstanding contemporary organist Harry Grodberg (Moscow) - can be considered milestones in his career. It was thanks to the creative collaboration with this musician that in 1974 a large organ was installed in the hall of the Transcarpathian Philharmonic, which was reconstructed and transported from the Moscow Bolshoi Theater.
Works
The composer's works are significant, and his genre palette is wide. Among them are music for the comedy "Lilies of the Valley", works for choir, organ, and many compositions for the chamber orchestra, which S. Marton led for many years. He composes for children and adults, suites and sonatas, romances and songs, most of which are in the repertoire of professional and amateur artistic groups of the region and the republic, music for the feature film "Over the Tisza" and the documentary "In the Carpathians," plays "Vernyhori" by V. Vovchok, "Flood" by F. Potushniak, and "Chardash over the Amur." Many of them, for example, "Hey, the Mountains Heard" based on the words of V. Vovchok, are still loved and popular among the people today. Stepan Marton, as the only professional Hungarian composer in Transcarpathia, was admitted to the Hungarian Composers' Union. On January 14, 1996, at the age of 73, Stepan Marton died after a severe long illness. The Mukachevo Music School, where S. Marton worked, was named after him.
