J. S. Bach - Toccata & Fugue in D minor, Pastorale in F major, Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C major / Gabor Lehotka - organ / Hungaroton Classic ‎Audio CD 2005 Stereo / HRC 1056

Gábor Lehotka was born on July 20, 1938, in Vác, Hungary. He began to learn music as a pupil in primary school. Tibor Pikéthy, a composer and organist at the Vác Cathedral, was his first significant music tutor. In 1953, Lehotka enrolled at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest, where he studied organ with János Hammerschlag, Kálmán Halász and Ferenc Gergely and composition with Rezsõ Sugár. In 1958, Lehotka enrolled in the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy, where he studied organ with Sebestyén Pécsi and composition with Endre Szervánszky. He earned a degree in organ cum laude in 1963 and a degree in composition in 1966.

Lehotka appeared as organ soloist with the National Philharmonic Society in 1963. Since then, he has regularly given concerts in Hungary. Since 1965, he has also performed in other lands, having given concerts in every country in Europe. Lehotka has been most often invited to perform in Germany, France and the former Soviet Union. He has concertized in the Notre Dame and Saint Germain-Des Pres Churches in Paris. Lehotka often returns to these places thanks to the kind invitations of the Festival Estival.

His visits to the southern part of France had the most crucial impact on his life. There Lehotka first concertized in Grignan as part of the Avignon Festival, to which he was always invited during the past two decades. The times he has spent at the festival represent the peak experiences of his artistic life. Lehotka attributes this to the lovely landscapes and rich history of this small town, the beauty of the church with its not-too-large but splendid nineteen register organ and the people he has met there with whom he has established relationships. Influenced by these visits, Lehotka began to compose music again in 1979 and has since presented many of his own organ works in Grignan.

In 1969 he became an organ instructor at the Béla Bartók Conservatory. After 1975, Lehotka taught at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy where he was a Professor of Organ. Since 1965, Lehotka made nearly fifty recordings on the Hungaroton label.