Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály

Zoltán Kodály (Hungarian: Kodály Zoltán, IPA: [ˈkodaːj ˈzoltaːn]); December 16, 1882 – March 6, 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist, and philosopher.

Born in Kecskemét, Kodály spent most of his childhood in Galanta and Nagyszombat (now Trnava, Slovakia). His father was a stationmaster and keen amateur musician, and Kodály learned to play the violin as a child. He also sang in a cathedral choir and wrote music, despite having little formal musical education.

In 1900, Kodály entered University of Budapest to study modern languages, and began to study music at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, where Hans Koessler taught him composition.

One of the first people to undertake the serious study of folk tales, Kodály became one of the most significant early figures in the field of ethnomusicology. From 1905 he visited remote villages to collect songs recording them on phonograph cylinders. In 1906 he wrote the thesis on Hungarian folk song ("Strophic Construction in Hungarian Folksong"). Around this time Kodály met fellow composer Béla Bartók, whom he took under his wing and became his mentor and subsequently a major influence on Bartok's music. The two became lifelong friends and champions of each other's music.

After gaining his PhD in philosophy and linguistics, Kodály went to Paris where he studied with Charles Widor. There he discovered, and absorbed various influences, notably the music of Claude Debussy. In 1907 he moved back to Budapest, and gained a professorship at the Academy of Music there. He continued his folk music-collecting expeditions through World War I without interruption.

Zoltán Kodály Commemorative Plaque in Andrássy út in Budapest

Kodály had composed throughout this time, producing two String quartets (op.2, 1909 and op.10, 1917 respectively), Sonata for cello and piano (op.4, 1910) and Sonata for cello solo (Op. 8, 1915), and his Duo for violin and cello (op.7, 1914). All these works show a great originality of form and content, a very interesting blend of highly sophisticated mastery in the Western-European style of music, including classical, late-romantic, impressionistic and modernist tradition and at the other hand profound knowledge and respect for the folk music on Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Albania and other Eastern-European countries. Due to the outbreak of the First World War and subsequent major geopolitical changes in the region and partly because of the personal shyness Kodály had no major public success until 1923 when his Psalmus Hungaricus premiered at a concert to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest (Bartók's Dance Suite premiered on the same occasion.) Following this success, Kodály travelled throughout Europe to conduct his music.

Kodály was very interested in the problems of music education, and wrote a good deal of educational music for schools, as well as books on the subject. His work in this field had a profound effect on musical education both inside and outside his home country. Some commentators refer to his ideas as the "Kodály Method", although this seems something of a misnomer, as he did not actually work out a comprehensive method, rather laying down a set of principles to follow in music education. See also: Kodály Hand Signs.

He continued to compose for professional ensembles also, with the Dances of Marosszék (1930, in versions for solo piano and for full orchestra), the Dances of Galanta (1933, for orchestra), the Peacock Variations (1939, commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary) and the Missa Brevis (1944, for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ) among his better known works. The suite from his opera Háry János (1926) also became well known, though few productions of the opera itself take place. It was first performed in Budapest and conductors such as Toscanini, Mengelberg and Furtwangler have included this piece in their repertoires.

Kodály remained in Budapest through World War II, retiring from teaching in 1942. In 1945 he became the president of the Hungarian Arts Council, and in 1962 received the Order of the Hungarian People's Republic. His other posts included a presidency of the International Folk Music Council, and honorary presidency of the International Society for Music Education. He died in Budapest in 1967, one of the most respected and well known figures in the Hungarian arts.

In 1966, the year before Kodály's death, the Kodály Quartet, a string quartet named in Kodály's honour, formed.

Selected compositions

• Kodály edited and published THIRTY Hungarian Folk Songs (1906)
• String quartet No.1, op. 2 (1909)
• Sonata for Cello and Piano, op. 4 (1910)
• Duo for violin & cello, Op. 7 (1914)
• Sonata for solo cello, Op. 8 (1915)
• String quartet No.2, op. 10 (1917)
• Trio for 2 Violins and Viola, op. 12 (1920)
• Psalmus Hungaricus, op. 13 (1923)
• Háry János, opera, op. 15 (1926)
• Missa Brevis for soloists, chorus & organ
• Laudes organi, for chorus & organ
• Dances of Marosszék (1930)
• Dances of Galanta (1933)
• Te Deum (1939)
• Peacock Variations (1939)
• Concerto for Orchestra (1939)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Zoltán Kodály

• Zoltan Kodaly was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
• Biography, list of works, and more (Universal Edition Composers)
• Another biography, information about Z. Kodály's teaching methodology and other materials
• The Kodály institute, which educates musicians according to Kodály's practice
• The Organization of American Kodály Educators.
• The Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia
• His biography at Hungary.hu
• String Quartet No.1 and Intermezzo for String Trio-sound-bites and short biography