Composer, Wholesaler Ervin Litkei, 78, Dies

NEW YORK-Ervin Litkei, a longtime recording and video wholesaler who also owned labels and a music publishing firm, died Feb. 8 at his home in Manhattan. The cause of death was an embolism to the lung.
Litkei, 78, a native of Hungary who immigrated to the U.S. in 1947, was also a composer of popular and classical works, including marches in tribute to all U.S. presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt. The marches and longer works, among them "War And Remembrance" and "The Atlantic And Pacific Suite," were recorded and released commercially.
On July 4, 1991, a page 1 story in The New York Times compared Litkei's patriotic music to works by songwriter Irving Berlin, another immigrant to America who was the writer of "God Bless America."
Litkei's career in America included the writing and recording of Hungarian versions of such standards as Berlin's "White Christmas," "Sentimental Journey," and the themes from "Love Story" and "The Godfather."
Litkei operated a rackjobbing operation under the names of Olympia, Arovox, and Games Arts until it was sold in 1989 to Rank Retail Services. He racked the major labels, with a particularly long relationship with Walt Disney audio and video products. One of his major accounts was Woolworth's.
In recent years, Litkei, in addition to continuing composing efforts, concentrated on his labels, Aurora Records and JazzMania Records, which included a line of about 20 jazz releases, and his music publishing firm, Leona Music.
In 1991, after the late-'80s opening of Soviet society under President Mikhail Gorbachev, Litkei offered a $500 prize for any Soviet citizen who produced the best lyric in Russian for a march he had written called "Salute To President Gorbachev." Litkei also made a $10,000 donation to the Songwriters' Hall of Fame to establish a prize for the best march or patriotic song composed by a New York high school student.
In 1995, Litkei recalled that as a young, aspiring composer in Hungary-Litkei's mother was a successful songwriter in that country- he had the famous operetta composer Franz Lehar play for him what would be Lehar's final composition.
In tribute to Lehar, Litkei created a new arrangement for the tune with a lyric by Litkei's wife, Andrea Fodor, who is a poet/pianist and former ballerina. Now titled "Tonight I'm Not Pretending," the song was sung by soprano Lynn Owen on an album, "From Vienna To Broadway," released on Litkei's Aurora label. Ethel Gabriel, the record producer who worked for Litkei for a number of years until his death, met him shortly after his arrival in the U.S. As a producer for RCA Victor, she wanted to make an album of Hungarian Gypsy music. A salesman for the local RCA Victor distributor, Bruno New York, said he knew a fellow Hungarian who wanted to get into the music business and could find her the right group.
"After that, I introduced him to Eli Oberstein, the chief of RCA Victor, who taught him the music business. Eli treated him like a son," Gabriel says.
Litkei is survived by his wife of 52 years; a daughter, Dr. Cathy Litkei Greene; and three grandchildren. His body was to be cremated and the remains flown to Hungary for burial.