Gerald Ensley: World War II film reminds Tallahasseeans of a past great

(This column was first published in the Tallahassee Democrat on Jan. 11, 2009.)

The plot to assassinate Hitler - the subject of the 2008 Tom Cruise movie, "Valkyrie" - has a Tallahassee connection.

Actually, there were more than a dozen plots to kill Hitler during World War II. And the movie opens with the second most-nearly successful: an attempt to detonate a bomb aboard Hitler's plane. Though not mentioned in the movie, one of the co-conspirators of that plot was Hungarian attorney Hans von Dohnanyi.

Von Dohnanyi (DOCK-non-ye) was the son of world-famous Hungarian pianist and composer Ernst von Dohnanyi - and that's the Tallahassee connection.

Ernst von Dohnanyi spent the last 11 years of his life in Tallahassee and is buried at Roselawn Cemetery. He taught at Florida State University from 1949 until his death in 1960 and helped kick-start the reputation of FSU's internationally famous music school.

FSU's main recital hall is named for Dohnanyi, as he is simply known. In 2002, FSU held a symposium in his memory that drew musicians from around the world.

And his fame continues to grow. More than a dozen biographies have been written about him, including a recent one in Germany about Ernst, Hans and Hans' two sons, Christoph and Klaus. Christoph is the conductor emeritus of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; Klaus was the mayor of Hamburg, Germany. Both have visited Tallahassee several times.

And Dohnanyi's music is still wildly popular: A foot-high stack of CDs of his compositions performed by modern artists sits on a counter at Dohnanyi's former home at 568 Beverly Court. The home belongs to Sean McGlynn, a local water quality researcher, who is Dohnanyi's grandson by his third wife.

"He was a great composer, and he's being re-discovered," McGlynn said. "His music is very lyrical but also difficult to play. He was a musician's musician, and (modern musicians) are challenged by his work."

McGlynn, who is married and has four children, has lived in the house since 1980 and owned it since his grandmother died in 1986. It remains an informal Dohnanyi museum. Closets are filled with photos and scrapbooks. Cabinets are filled with Dohnanyi's notes and compositions. His books, clocks, art objects and furniture dot the house.

The composer's piano is the centerpiece of the front room - and a shrine to visitors.

"We hosted a reception during the (2002) symposium," McGlynn said. "And all the pianists had to play it."

McGlynn has donated many of his grandfather's letters, notes, compositions plus 150 tapes Dohnanyi recorded at home to FSU. He has donated hundreds of papers to museums in Hungary and England. He has provided photos for a half-dozen recent books. He hopes eventually to donate all his grandfather's memorabilia to museums.

"I feel very lucky to have all this heritage," McGlynn said. "(But) it's the kind of stuff scholars drool over."

McGlynn was a favorite of his grandfather, who wanted him named Ernst (it became McGlynn's middle name) and affectionately called the toddler, "my little Irish terrorist."

Though only 5 when his grandfather died, McGlynn has memories of playing in the backyard with his grandfather and listening to him play the piano. McGlynn plays the piano, the French horn and the bagpipes - but can't match his grandfather's musicianship.

"I grew up with all these stories and around all this talent. I hoped I had it, too," McGlynn said. "It has been frustrating to learn these gifts don't come along that often."

Dohnanyi, born in 1877, was a prodigy. As a teenager visiting Vienna, he met the famous composer Johannes Brahms, who played a composition Dohnanyi wrote - and immediately pronounced, "You are going to be a great composer."

Dohnanyi composed two symphonies and thousands of musical pieces. He was conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and gave concerts around the world. He mentored famous musicians, including his eventual colleague at FSU, the late Edward Kilenyi. Dohnanyi had a prodigious talent and photographic memory.

"He could look at the sheet music for five minutes, then conduct an entire symphony," McGlynn said. "One of his concert tricks was to ask someone to call out a Beethoven sonata, and he'd play it from memory."

As a member of the Hungarian parliament, Dohnanyi opposed the Russian Communist takeover after World War II. The Russians tried to label him a war criminal and Nazi collaborator, so he sought refuge in other countries. After stints in Austria and Argentina, he wound up in the U.S., and eventually at FSU.

He was revered at FSU, where he conducted orchestras, gave concerts and continued to compose. One of his favorite students was Joanne Byrd, who rented one of two basement apartments at the Dohnanyi home - and was already engaged to her future husband: Fred Rogers, who went on to become TV's beloved Mister Rogers.

"We were not even aware of all (the political intrigue) that had gone on in his life. We just knew Dr. Dohnanyi was a great, great person," said Hilda Starbuck, a retired Leon County music teacher who graduated from FSU in 1952. "From time to time, he would give a little talk about his childhood. Whenever he told us the story (about meeting Brahms), I would get goosebumps."

A favorite son

Hans von Dohnanyi was arrested and executed for his role in the plot to kill Hitler. Time vindicated him, and in 2002 Germany issued a stamp in his honor.

But his father would have cried watching "Valkyrie." Dohnanyi was married three times and had seven children. But Hans was his first-born from his first wife.

"Hans was his favorite child; their marriage never recovered," McGlynn said. "His death was devastating to my grandfather."

Gerald Ensley was a reporter and columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat from 1980 until his retirement in 2015. He died in 2018 following a stroke. The Tallahassee Democrat is publishing columns capturing Tallahassee’s history from Ensley’s vast archives each Sunday through 2024 in the Opinion section as part of theTLH 200: Gerald Ensley Memorial Bicentennial Project.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gerald Ensley: Tom Cruise film reminds Tallahasseeans of a past great