Máté Hollós said that Hidas's rich oeuvre was a significant contribution to contemporary Hungarian music.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education and Culture acknowledged Hidas's standing in contemporary Hungarian music and lamented its loss.
Hidas studied under János Viski at Budapest's Music Academy. After graduating, he became a conductor for the Youth Theatre in 1950-1951 and served as musical director of the National Theatre in 1951-1966. He was also chorus master at the Saint Stephen Basilica in 1959-1962. Hidas was musical director of the Budapest Operetta Theatre in 1974-1979.
Hidas composed music for numerous stage and radio plays and television programmes, including The Nameless Castle, The Danube Pilot, Ráby the Prisoner, Water-Nymph on the Signet Ring and the popular television series Neighbours. He composed music for a short opera based on Ferenc Karinthy's one-act play Bösendorfer. And he wrote the music for a ballet entitled The Cedar, choreograped by László Seregi and inspired by a painting of Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka.
Hidas's Organ Concerto was played for the inauguration of the organ in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall at Budapest's Palace of Arts in May 2006.
Hidas was presented with the Ferenc Erkel award in 1959 and again in 1980, the Érdemes Művész award in 1987 and the Bartók-Pásztory award in 1993.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be announced
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
