Music for Violin and Piano (Incls Violin Sonata Op 40)

"Naxos strikes again, with a fascinating collection of violin works by Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995), whose day job for 46 years was producing scores to such films as Spellbound and Ben-Hur. The early post-conservatory items from Europe are written in a folkish style reminiscent of, though less gritty than, Kodaly and Bartok. Bartok again comes to mind, along with Eugene Ysaye, in the Solo Sonata of 1986, written after Rozsa had given up the silver screen. It is a vibrant and challenging piece in a chromatic language that is by no means cinema-schmaltzy. Philippe Quint, a young Russian-American, makes an affirmative case for the music. A must-have for fiddle fans."
--Review by Arthur Kaptainis, Montreal Gazette, October 11, 2007

Trained in his native Budapest and in Leipzig, Miklós Rózsa settled in Paris in 1931 and later worked for Alexander Korda in London and in America, eventually settling in Hollywood, where he enjoyed a successful career writing music for films. He was able, at the same time, to continue his original intention of writing music for the concert hall, often influenced by his early experience of Hungarian folk-music.

Orchestral Music
Rózsa wrote a symphony and a series of concertos. Of the latter one of the most widely known is the Spellbound Concerto for piano and orchestra, derived from his score for the film of that name by Hitchcock. His music for The Thief of Baghdad, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis, El Cid, Madame Bovary and other films may be familiar enough, at least subliminally.