Born on 16th April 1932 in Budapest, Hungary. He first studied at the Bartók Conservatory 1949-1955 (clarinet and composition), then composition with Ferenc Farkas at the Liszt Academy in 1955-1956 and later with Hilding Rosenberg in Stockholm. (Deák came to Sweden in 1957.) He graduated as a teacher of the theory of music from the State Academy of Music in Stockholm, 1969 and taught at Gothenburg University, 1971-1974, as well as at the National College of Dance in Stockholm. He was a founding member of WASBE (World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles) and from 1987 he is a member of the board of the Swedish section of WASBE.

Soon after his arrival in Sweden, Csaba Deák came into contact with Hilding Rosenberg, which resulted in a knowledge of contemporary methods of composition being added to the thorough training which the young composer had already received before. His first string quartet is based on a twelve-tone melody, and so too are several other works from the 1960s. Since then Deák has evolved personal systems which are by no means entirely free but are flexibly varied from one composition to another. One common practice of his involves mingling free and regular metre, as he already did in I 21 for wind instruments and percussion (1969). One important piece is Piri for mixed choir and percussion instruments, written in 1974 to a kind of nonsense text using puns, onomatopoeia etc.

This short commentary is enough to show that Deák has composed a great deal more besides the works for wind instruments which perhaps have earned him most attention. One of his central compositions is Vivax for large symphony orchestra, a tribute to the vital force of musical temperament. His feeling for wind instruments can be studied, for example, in Verbunk (1976) and Herykon (1981). He has further enlarged on his interest in this group of instruments in a saxophone quartet.
Hans-Gunnar Peterson . Photo Lars Torndahl