Frigyes Juhasz

Frigyes Juhasz was born on 18 May 1925 in Budapest (Hungary). His musical aptitude led him to formal studies in Budapest, where he enrolled in institutions associated with the National Conservatory and the broader educational network of the Liszt Academy of Music. There he studied organ and composition, receiving instruction from respected figures of Hungarian musical pedagogy such as Lajos Schmidthauer and Endre Szervanszky. Frigyes Juhasz completed his formal musical training around 1945.
In the immediate post-war years, Frigyes Juhasz did not pursue a career primarily as a concert composer or performer. Instead, he gravitated toward the practical and communicative sides of musical life. He became involved in choral leadership and music education, working with workers’ choirs and amateur ensembles at a time when collective singing was strongly promoted as both a cultural and social activity. Parallel to this practical musical work, he began to establish himself as a music journalist and critic, a role that would define much of his public profile for decades.
During the 1950s Frigyes Juhasz worked in Szeged as the head of the arts section of the newspaper "Utunk". This position placed him at the center of regional cultural life, where he covered concerts, theatrical productions, and broader artistic developments while also shaping editorial perspectives on music and the arts. His success in Szeged led to further opportunities in Budapest, where he became a contributor — and later an editor — to major Hungarian newspapers and journals such as "Nepszava", "Magyar Nemzet" and "Müvelt Nep". 
Alongside his journalistic career, Frigyes Juhasz held a number of institutional roles that positioned him at the intersection of cultural policy and everyday musical practice. He worked as a referent for the Institute of Popular Education, an organization responsible for overseeing and supporting amateur arts throughout the country. In this capacity, he advised choirs, helped organize festivals and training courses, and influenced repertoire choices for non-professional ensembles. He was also closely associated with KOTA, the Hungarian Choral Association, contributing editorial work and practical guidance for conductors and choir leaders. From roughly the late 1940s through the early 1980s, he remained continuously active as a choral instructor and advisor, shaping several generations of amateur musicians.
Although composition was never the dominant aspect of his career, Frigyes Juhasz did compose and arrange music, primarily for educational and communal use. He composed the oratorio "Ikaros" (1970) and the three cantatas "Tüzek" (1960), "Ifjak eneke" (1965) and "Az idö parancs" (1967) as well as a collection of easy choir works titled "111 Songs for Pioneers".
In later decades, Frigyes Juhasz continued his editorial and advisory activities, contributing to journals, anthologies, and recorded projects that often combined music with poetry and spoken word. His name appears in connection with recordings and cultural compilations that reflect the interdisciplinary character of Hungarian cultural production in the second half of the twentieth century. Even as Hungary’s political and cultural landscape changed from the 1960s onward, he remained a steady presence, adapting his work to new circumstances while maintaining his core commitment to music education, choral culture, and informed public discourse about music.
Frigyes Juhasz died on 6 October 2001 in Budapest (Hungary). His widow created the Frigyes-Juhasz-Prize for outstanding young Hungarian journalists which is awarded each year since 2004.

Ikaros

In my possession is the autograph full score of the scenic oratorio "Ikaros" by Frigyes Juhasz. The work was composed in 1970 using words by Janos Csanady. According to the manuscript the oratorio lasts 33 minutes. I found no information about a premiere of the work not even of a publication of the score.