> Editor's Section > The Bruckner Society of America > Information on the Kilenyi Bruckner MedalInformation on the Kilenyi Bruckner Medal
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To provide some background on the Kilenyi Bruckner Medal of Honor, I have chosen excerpts from two different editions of "Chord and Discord."
From "Chord & Discord" Volume 1, Number 4 (October, 1933):
"Recently, a distinguished member of the Bruckner Society, the American sculptor, Mr. Julio Kilenyi of New York, wishing to give formal expression to his great love for the master's music, designed an exclusive Medal of Honor displaying his own conception of Bruckner's features. A photograph of this design was immediately sent to Austria where leading members of the I.B.G. (International Bruckner Society) hailed it as the most impressive portrait of the master that has as yet appeared. So delighted was Prof. Max Auer with it that he at once requested permission to include it among the illustrations in the fourth volume of the monumental Goellerich-Auer biography of Bruckner then in the press.
The hearty European welcome accorded this initial American contribution to the iconography of the great symphonist should be a source of deep gratification not only to our native Bruckner enthusiasts but also to all American lovers of the plastic arts. Mr. Kilenyi's triumphant solution of a difficult problem in this by-path of music follows a long line of sculptural successes in more worldly, more glamorous walks. Among his many creations are the designs for exclusive medals officially awarded to Colonel Lindbergh, Admiral Byrd, Thomas A. Edison, General Pershing, President Coolidge, and many other outstanding figures in the cultural, industrial, and political life of this country. Perhaps the most distinguished among his recent designs is the William Penn Anniversary Medal, replicas of which were presented to their Majesties, King George and Queen Mary of England, and Queen Wilhelmina of Holland.
This year (1933-1934) for the first time, the Bruckner Society will be able to present its own Medal of Honor, the one designed by Mr. Kilenyi for that exclusive purpose. It will be awarded during the current musical season to Arturo Toscanini and Bruno Walter of the New York Philharmonic, Dr. Serge Koussevitzky of the Boston Symphony, Dr. Frederick Stock of the Chicago Symphony, and Dr. Martin G. Dumler of Cincinnati, Honorary Chairman of the Society.
When asked for the source of his Bruckner inspiration, Mr. Kilenyi made the following interesting reply:
'Listening to Bruckner s music has always seemed to me like reading Dante s poetry. There is in the work of these two great geniuses the same grand spirit; It is this conception that I sought to portray on the Society's new, exclusive Medal of Honor. It only requires a single glance to discover the Dantesque expression of my Bruckner'."
From "Chord & Discord" Volume 2, Number 9 (1960) - In Memoriam Julio Kilenyi:
"Julio Kilenyi (1886-1959) was born in Hungary. Before his departure for Argentina at the age of twenty-one, he had studied in Budapest, Paris, and Berlin. When he was thirty years old, he came to the United States and became a citizen eight years later.
A sculptor of wide renown, he created among others the designs for the William Penn Anniversary Medal, for medals officially awarded to Col. Lindbergh, Thomas A. Edison, President Coolidge, General Pershing, Admiral Byrd, and for medals commemorating the opening of the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel. Plaques and medals by Kilenyi are exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. the Cleveland Museum of Art. Boston Fine Arts Museum, Smithsonian Institute, British Museum, Oxford University, The Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, and the Vatican Museum. Prizes were awarded to him by the Allied Artists of America and the Tenth Olympiad Committee of Los Angeles, among others.
Julio Kilenyi was active in The Bruckner Society of America for a quarter of a century. At the time of his death, he was an Executive Member, Director and Vice-President. In 1933 he designed the Bruckner Medal of Honor for the exclusive use of the Society. Two years later, he designed the Mahler Medal of Honor to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of Mahler's birth. This Medal was also made for the Society's exclusive use. The medals are awarded for outstanding effort to further interest in and appreciation of the music of Anton Bruckner. By creating these designs, Julio Kilenyi has made a contribution of lasting value to the Bruckner movement."
Past Recipients of the Bruckner Medal of Honor
Susanna Acra-Brache
F. Charles Adler
Takashi Asahina
Max Auer
John Barbirolli
Herbert Blomstedt
Karl Boehm
Fritz Busch
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
William Carragan
Eleazar de Carvalho
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Philip Greeley Clapp
Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs
James Dixon
Lyle Downey
Martin Dumler
Eugene Goossens
Bernard Haitink
Paul Hawkshaw
Paul Hindemith
Eugen Jochum
Istvan Kertesz
Otto Klemperer
Benjamin Korstvedt
Serge Koussevitsky
Josef Krips
Efrem Kurtz
KWFM Radio
Erich Leinsdorf
Donald Mitchell
Franz Moissl
Charles O'Connell
Eugene Ormandy
Artur Rodzinsky
Stefan Sanderling
Hans-Hubert Schoenzeler
Robert Scholz
Carl Schuricht
Robert Simpson
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski
Warren Storey Smith
Georg Solti
William Steinberg
Frederick Stock
George Szell
Georg Tintner
Arturo Toscanini
Bruno Walter
Ken Ward
Massimiliano Wax
WEFM Radio
Franz Welser-Moest
WFMT Radio
WNYC Radio
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