Stílusok és programok – a budapesti Zeneakadémia építés- és díszítéstörténetének néhány kérdése
Styles and programs – some questions about the history of construction and decoration of the Budapest Academy of Music

Author(s): Endre Raffay
Subject(s): Music, Architecture, Visual Arts, History of Art
Published by: Pécsi Tudományegyetem Művészeti Kar Művészettörténet Tanszék
Summary/Abstract: The study examines the architectural and decorative history of the Budapest Academy of Music, designed by Flóris Korb and Kálmán Giergl between 1904 and 1907. It explores how the final eclectic Art Nouveau building preserved several stylistic and compositional elements from earlier Hungarian Secessionist plans. The author reconstructs the building’s iconographic program mainly from the surviving architectural and decorative elements because few written sources remain. A central idea of the program is the opposition between the Apollonian and Dionysian concepts of art, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy. The Academy presents Apollonian music as spiritually superior, symbolized by the monumental figure of Franz Liszt on the main façade. Decorative motifs such as angels, Egyptian-inspired forms, and classical Greek references emphasize the sacred and universal character of music and art. The sculptural friezes by Ede Telcs and the frescoes by Aladár Körösfői-Kriesch connect Renaissance, classical, and Hungarian national traditions within a complex symbolic system. The study also highlights how Hungarian folk and historical motifs were integrated into the otherwise classical and mythological iconographic framework. Special attention is given to Körösfői-Kriesch’s fresco The Fountain of Art, which became a symbolic culmination of the entire decorative program of the building. Overall, the article argues that the Academy’s artistic program represents a synthesis of historicism, Art Nouveau, mythology, nationalism, and spiritual symbolism, making the building a unique Gesamtkunstwerk of Hungarian culture.

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