Ivan Patachich

Ivan Patachich was born on 3 June 1922 in Budapest (Hungary). There is no information about his early musical education but he enrolled at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest in 1940. There he studied composition with Albert Siklos, Janos Viski, and Ferenc Szabo, and conducting with Janos Ferencsik. He completed his studies in 1947, interrupted by World War II.
While still a student Ivan Patachich began his professional career. Between 1943 and 1947 he worked as a repetiteur at the Hungarian State Opera House in Budapest. After completing his studies, he was employed from 1947 to 1948 as chorus master at the Vigopera (Comic Opera). In the early 1950s he continued his theatrical activities and served as conductor at the Madach Theatre in Budapest from 1951 to 1952.
In 1952 Ivan Patachich was appointed music director of Mafilm, the Hungarian state film studio. He held this position for several decades, until 1987. During this long period of employment he composed music for a large number of Hungarian films, contributing scores to approximately two hundred productions and becoming closely associated with film music in Hungary. Alongside his work for film and theatre, he continued to compose concert music in various instrumental genres.
From the late 1950s onward Ivan Patachich increasingly engaged with new musical technologies and electroacoustic composition. In 1969 he worked at Columbia University in New York, where he was involved in studio-based electronic music. Further periods of work and study followed in Stockholm in 1974, Bratislava in 1975, and other European centers. In 1971 he founded the electronic music studio EXASTUD (Experimentum Auditorii Studii) in Budapest, which became an important site for experimentation with electronic and computer music in Hungary. Between 1976 and 1977 he continued his studies and practical work in electroacoustic and computer music in Stuttgart and Utrecht. In the following years he realized compositions and studio projects in Bourges, Belgrade, Athens, Paris (at CEMAMU), and other international locations.
Ivan Patachich received several honors and prizes during his career. In 1957 he was awarded a prize at the World Youth Festival. In 1978 his work "Metamorphosi for marimba and tape" received the Electroacoustic Prize at the Bourges competition in France. In 1984 his composition "Ludi spaziali" was awarded the Grand Prix at the International Computer Music Festival (C.I.M.E.) in France.
Ivan Patachich died on 9 May 1993 in Budapest (Hungary).

Köszöntő

In my possession is the autograph manuscript of the song "Köszöntő" (Greetings) for voice and orchestra by Ivan Patachich. It uses a poem by Laszlo Ladanyi and I own both full score and piano reduction of the song. The full score has an inscription to music critic Lajos Fodor. There is no information in the manuscripts when the work was composed.