Gát in Budapest

The reason we (Brandon really, I just tagged along) are on this trip is to study, learn, see more about Joszef Gát. Gát was a Hungarian keyboardist who wrote an amazing book on piano playing technique that everyone says to read, but no one does. Brandon has learned so much from reading his books and putting into practice what he says. So he changed his dissertation topic to Gát - to get him and his teachings out there more.

While meeting with Eszter in Leipzig she told us more about her family and told us about her sisters who still lived in Budapest. Brandon asked if she thought it would be okay if we contacted them and she said "Of course!" The 3 daughters have their father's belongings divided up between them. Eszter's collection was mostly academic - books, articles, photos, etc. He was anxious to see what the other sisters, Ana and Judit, had and what they knew and/or remembered about their father.

During our first morning in Budapest, we coordinated a time/place we could get together. They met us in the city and drove us out to Ana's house. She lives in a neighboring little town. We met her family - very, very sweet, she made us a little dinner and then we talked about their father.

Judit, Brandon, Ana

Ana has one of his grand pianos (the Steinway), his clavichord and harpsichord. She also has copies of some of his records and his music collection.

Judit also invited us into her home. Judit has his other grand piano (the Blüthner), most of his records and digital copies of his recordings which was great!

We scoured every used book store in Budapest for Gát's music, records and books. It was a fun treasure hunt. We also went to all of the places we knew he and or his family lived to take pictures.

I'm not going to tell you in detail about what he learned - you'll have to wait and read his dissertation. :)