Ödön Pártos

Ödön Pártos was born in 1907 in Budapest

Pártos was born in Budapest in 1907, when the city was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. His teachers were Jenő Hubay in violin and Zoltán Kodály in composition.

After his studies he was principal violinist in an orchestra in Lucerne and later played in other European orchestras, including in Berlin. In 1934, after Hitler came to power, he went back to Budapest. He then taught violin and composition at the conservatory in Baku under a Soviet contract, and left the USSR in 1937 after refusing to join the Communist Party.

Bronisław Huberman invited him to join the Palestine Orchestra as principal violist, and he immigrated in 1938. From 1938 to 1956 he led the viola section of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as a soloist. In 1946 he founded the Rubin Academy of Music with László Vincze, and he became its director in 1951.

He helped found the Thelma Yellin school in 1959 and wrote the music for David Perlov's 1963 film In Jerusalem. With Alexander Uriah Boskovich and Mordecai Seter he was seen as part of a group of composers who wanted Israeli music to reflect local influences. He held the academy post until his death in 1977, and was buried in Kiryat Shaul cemetery.