György Pauk

György Pauk (26 October 1936 – 18 November 2024) was a Hungarian violinist, chamber musician and music pedagogue.

Pauk was born on 26 October 1936 in Budapest, Hungary, and entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music at age nine. He began his studies as Imre Waldbauer's pupil in 1945.^[1] From 1947 to 1949 he studied with János Temesváry,^[1] and from 1949 till he graduated at the Academy with Ede Zathureczky, and he studied with Zoltán Kodály.^[2][3] In 1956 he left Hungary for the Netherlands and, after being persuaded by violinist Yehudi Menuhin, he permanently settled in London in 1961.^[4]

He performed as a concerto soloist with various orchestras and conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Lorin Maazel, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Simon Rattle, and Sir Georg Solti.^[1] He also recorded and premiered works by Witold Lutosławski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and Sir Michael Tippett conducted by the composers themselves.^[5][1]

As a chamber musician Pauk's repertoire included all of the Mozart sonatas, which he also recorded,^[6] the Schubert sonatas,^[7] and Bartók's works for violin.^[8] Pauk and pianist Peter Frankl formed a long-term collaboration with cellist Ralph Kirshbaum.^[9] Pauk and Frankl were permanent partners since they were children.^[10] They studied chamber music with Leo Weiner.^[11][12] The BBC commissioned Fourteen Little Pictures by James MacMillan to mark the 25th anniversary of their trio in 1997.^[13]

Pauk was appointed the professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1987.^[14] He named the violin department at the Royal Academy of Music after Zathureczky because he wanted to continue his teacher's legacy.^[2] In 1973, at Annie Fischer's encouragement and invitation, Pauk returned to perform in Budapest.^[15]

He retired from performing in 2007.^[5]

Pauk gave master classes at the International Menuhin Music Academy.^[16] He regularly visited the United States giving master classes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oberlin College, and the Juilliard School of Music.^[17] Pauk was an online master teacher at iClassical Academy.^[18]

He played on a Stradivarius violin made in 1714 that was previously owned by Joseph Massart.^[19][20]

Pauk had two children.^[21][22] He died in Budapest on 18 November 2024, at the age of 88.^[23][24]

• Négy húron pendülök. Nyolcvan év emlékei (in Hungarian). Budapest: Park Könyvkiadó, 2016. ISBN 978-963-355-315-2.

• First Prize in the 1956 (first) Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy^[2]
• Premier Grand Prix in 1959 at the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition^[2]
• First Prize at the Munich Sonata Competition with Peter Frankl (1956) ^[2]
• Cecilia Prize for Outstanding Recordings^[16]
• Grammy nomination for Record of the Year^[16]
• Professor Emeritus of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest^[25]
• Honorary Doctorate by the University of London 2016^[26]

Pauk's notable students include Thomas Gould,^[27] Maureen Smith,^[28] Marianne Thorsen,^[29] Gyula Stuller,^[30] and Lucy Gould.^[31]

• Pauk, György (2021). A Life in Music: Memories of 80 Years with the Violin. London: GP Publications. ISBN 978-1-5272-9322-9.

• Pauk György at Naxos Records
• Biography at violin.org
• Notable Alumni: György Pauk at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 September 2017) at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
• György Pauk: Guest Teacher – Vi­o­lin at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 October 2016) at the International Menuhin Music Academy
• György Pauk discography at Discogs