Zoltán Kodály

David C.F. Wright DMus

Zoltán Kodály was born on 16 December 1882 in Kecskemet, Hungary.  He spent a lot of time in his childhood in Galanta and  Nagyszombat. His father was an amateur musician and Zoltán learned the violin as a child and sang in the cathedral choir. From the age of ten to eighteen he composed much music. He entered the Liszt Music Academy in 1900 studying composition with Hans Koessler and had other academic studies at the Etvos College and at the Peter Pazmany University dealing with languages and linguistics. In 1904 he made visits to Bayreuth, Munich and Salzburg and, the following year, met Bartók and Emma Schlesinger who was to become his wife. This was also the first year of his collecting Hungarian folk songs.

In 1906, he submitted his dissertation, The Strophic Structure of Hungarian Folk Songs. In October there was the premiere of his Summer Evenings for orchestra and the Hungarian Folk Songs, the first ten were by Bartók and the second set by Kodály.

In 1906 and 1907, he continued his studies in Berlin and Paris. He had successfully gained his PhD in languages and linguistics. He studied with Charles Widor in Paris and, for a while, was interested in Debussy. In the autumn of 1907, Kodály became professor of composition at the Music Academy in Budapest.

In 1908, he made visits to Switzerland and Italy.

On 17 March 1910, he enjoyed a composers evening. On 29 May there were performance in Zurich of his Quartet no 1 Op 2, Piano Pieces Op 3 and the Sonata for cello and piano Op 4. He was 27. He married Emma on 3 August and collected folk songs from Transylvania.

In 1914, he completed his Duo for violin and cello Op7 and, in 1915 his amazing Sonata for solo cello Op 8,  the most challenging and  stunning work for cello, The Six Songs known as Lost  Melodies, appeared in 1906 as Op 6.

Between 1917 and 1919 he was active as a music critic.

On 7 May 1918, he had his second composers evening in Budapest in which his opuses 7, 8 and the String Quartet no 2 Op 10 were performed. In 1919, he was the Deputy Director of Music at the Music Academy but there was trouble and he resigned and investigation took place complete with disciplinary action. He refuted accusations and won his case and was re admitted to the Music Academy in 1921, the year that saw the premiere of his Two Songs Op 6. The Academy were not interested in folk songs and did not approve of Kodály collecting them nor regarded them as an important part of Hungarian heritage.

The world premiere of his first great masterpiece, Psalmus Hungaricus Op 13, took place of 19 November 1923. There were also concerts celebrating the union of Buda and Pest. Two years later on 2 April, there was a series of concerts of choral works for children at which genre Kodály was sensationally good. On 18 June 1926, there was the first foreign performance of Psalmus Hungaricus. This was in Zurich.

On 16 October there was the first performance of the opera Hary János at the Budapest Opera House. The suite from this opera was premiered in Barcelona on 24 March 1927. On the 20 April that year Kodály made his debut as a conductor in Amsterdam preforming his Psalmus Hungaricus and in November, he made his first visit to England.

In 1929 , he worked extensively with children’s choirs formulating his teaching methods. His works with choir are truly amazing such as Norwegian Girls, Jesus  and the Traders, Ode to Liszt , Ave Maria.  The following year he visited his birthplace, and Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic performed Summer Evening on 3 April. Kodály was now a lecturer at Peter Pazmany University. He completed his Matra Pictures for mixed choir and Fritz Busch premiered the orchestral version of Dances from Marosszek, another work of tremendous appeal, magnificent orchestration and the Dorati version is highly recommended.

His second opera, The Spinning Room, was premiered in  April 1932 at the Budapest Opera and later that year there were concerts to mark his 50th birthday. His amazing gift for orchestration is shown in his exciting Dances from Galanta first performed in Budapest on 23 October 1933. In 1934, he became a member of the National Literacy and Artistic Committee and completed a short but impressive choral work Jesus and the Traders. Another ‘religious’ work, the profoundly satisfying Te Deum, was premiered in St Matthias Church on 2 September 1936. The following year, much of his Hungarian folk music appeared  and, on 23 November 1939, Mengelberg conducted the Peacock Variations in Amsterdam. It had been commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

On 6 February 1941, his vivacious Concerto for orchestra was premiered in Chicago.

On 14 May 1943, he was elected associate member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Honours kept coming his way.

In 1945, while Budapest was still under siege his superlative Missa Brevis was performed in the cloakroom of the Budapest Opera House. Kodály stayed in Budapest throughout the war. The 16 January 1946 was the date in which he was elected President of the Hungarian Committee. 1946 and 1947 saw his first visit to America and his first visit to Soviet Russia.

In 1947, he was designated Honorary Citizen of Kecskemet. From 1947 to 1950 he was the President of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences and , 1950, founded the ethnomusicological branch in the Academy which, in effect, was the promotion of Hungarian folk music and its valuation. By 1951, the first volume of the Archive of Hungarian folk music was produced and his own Kallo Folk Dances were performed.              

In August 1954 Emma broke her leg and Kodály spent time with her in hospital and actually lived there for some days. He was a caring, compassionate man.

On 18 December 1955, there was the premiere of his Hymn to Zrinyi and he organised concerts of Bartók’s music during 1955 and 1956. In October 1956, he left Budapest because of the Uprising and returned in January 1957. He called from amnesty for those condemned in the Uprising. This was another example of his fundamentally good character. As a consequence, we cannot understand how Solti was some hateful towards him, but that is part of this conductor’s personality. Solti was called the Screaming Skull. Solti criticised Kodály’s life style since this composer was a vegetarian and  liked to be bare-footed whenever appropriate. Solti hated anyone having more fame than he did. Kodály was honoured, well-respected and greatly admired and deservedly so. For his 75th birthday, Budapest University gave him a honorary doctorate.

In 1958, he became a member of the Belgian Academy of Sciences. On 22 November his wife of 49 years died. On 18 December 1959, he married a 19 year old student Sarolta Preczely. In 1960, he visited England and received a honorary doctorate from Oxford University, In the summer he supervised recordings of his work. On 1 December, he went into hospital following  a heart attack. In August 1961, he was elected President of the International Folk Music Committee in Quebec. On 16 August at the Lucerne Festival he attended the premiere of his Symphony.

1962 saw his 80th birthday celebrations in Budapest and across the world.

The dedication of the new building of the Kecskemét Primary School where he delivered a speech in 1964. He was elected honorary president of the International Society for Musical Education in Budapest. In April 1965 he received the Herder Prize in Vienna and he made his second visit to the USA.

His last completed work Laudis Organi was given in Atlanta in June 1966 a splendid with an impressive organ part and some gorgeous ethereal singing. 

He died of a heart attack on 6 March 1967.  He was a truly great composer and his contribution to music cannot be valued.

Orchestral Works

• Ballet Music
• Concerto for Orchestra
• Dances of Galánta
• Dances of Marosszék
• Four Dances from Children’s Dances (transcript for orchestra)
• Háry János Suite
• Minuetto serio
• Summer Evening
• Symphony
• Theatre Ouverture
• Variations on a Hungarian Folksong ‘Felszállott a páva’ [Peacock]

Chamber Works

• 3 Chorale Preludes, J. S. Bach, trs. for cello and piano
• Adagio (3 versions: violin-piano, viola-piano, cello-piano)
• Duo for violin and cello (Op. 7)
• Epigrams for double bass and piano
• Gavotte for 3 violins and cello
• Háry: 6 Easy Pieces, transcript for 2 clarinets and piano
• Háry: Intermezzo for violin and piano
• Hungarian Rondo/Old Hungarian Marching Songs for string orchestra, two clarinets, two bassoons
• Intermezzo for String Trio
• ‘Lute’ Prelude in C Minor (Schm. 999) J. S. Bach, for Violin and piano
• Prelude and Fugue in E flat minor, Book I, J. S. Bach, for cello. and piano
• Romance Lyrique, cello and piano
• Rondo from the 5th violin sonata, Joseph Haydn, arranged for junior string orchestra (2 violins and violoncello)
• Sonata for cello and piano (Op. 4)
• Sonatina for Violoncello and Piano
• String Quartet No. 1 (Op. 2)
• String Quartet No. 2 (Op. 10)
• Trio Serenade for 2 Violins and Viola (Op. 12)
• Valsette (transcript for piano and violin]

Solo Instrumental Works

• Ballet Music (piano)
• Capriccio (cello)
• Children’s Dances (for piano)
• Dances of Galánta (for piano)
• Dances of Marosszék (for piano)
• Epigrams for organ
• Epigrams for piano
• Fantasia Cromatica, J.S. Bach (transcript for viola solo)
• Háry: 3 Pieces from Háry for piano
• Low Mass for organ/Organoedia ad missam lectam
• Méditation sur un motif de Claude Debussy (piano)
• Organ Prelude (for Pange Lingua)
• Pange Lingua for organ
• Piano Music, Op. 3: Nine Piano Pieces; Valsette
• Seven Piano Pieces (Op. 11)
• Sonata for Solo cello (Op. 8)
• Spinning Room (piano version)
• Te Deum of Buda Castle (piano)

Solo Voice With Piano Accompaniment

• 16 Songs (Op. 1)
• 20 Hungarian Folksongs (1-10 Bartók, 11-20 Kodály)
• Eight Little Duets
• Epigrams
• Epitaphium Joannis Hunyadi
• Five Mountain-Cheremis Folksongs
• Five Songs (Op. 9)
• Four Songs
• Háry: voice-piano version
• Himfy Song - Revelation of Love
• Hungarian Folk Music I-X (1917-1932); XI (1964)
• Kálló Double Dance
• Seven Songs/Belated Melodies (Op. 6)
• Three Songs (Op. 14)
• Two Songs (Op. 5)

Solo Voice With Organ Accompaniment

• Advent Song
• Communion/Admonitiones Diaconi
• Hungarian Mass

Solo Voice With Orchestral Accompaniment

• 5 Songs of Béla Bartók (Op. 15)
• Katie Kádár (Mother listen) with small orchestra
• Three Songs (Op. 14)
• Two Songs (Op. 5)

Children’s and Women’s Choruses

• 5 Tantum Ergos
• A Christmas Carol
• A Song of Faith
• Angels and Shepherds
• Angels’ Garden
• Ave Maria
• Bell Ringing
• Birthday Greeting
• Christmas Dance of the Shepherds
• Dancing Song
• Drop Down, Dew
• Epihany
• Evening Song
• Falcon
• False Spring
• Fancy
• Four Italian Madrigals (1. Chi vuol veder, 2. Fior scoloriti, 3. Chi d’Amor sente, 4. Fuor de la bella caiba)
• Geneva Psalm No. 150
• Giddy-up, Horsey
• God’s Blacksmith
• Gopher Trap
• Gypsy’s Lament
• Hair-raising
• Have Good Courage
• Hippity, Hoppity
• Hymn to King Stephen
• King Ladislaus’ Men
• La Marseillaise
• Ladybird
• Mountain Nights I-IV.
• On the Feast of St. Agnes
• Orphan I am
• Password
• Saint Gregory’s Day
• See the Gipsy Munching Cheese
• Seven Easy Children’s Choruses
• Song of Peace
• Straw Guy
• The Boys from Harasztos
• The Colt
• The Deaf Boatman
• The Leveret
• The Shepherd
• The Swallow’s wooing
• The Voice of Jesus
• The Wedding of the Mole
• Three Folksongs from Gömör
• To Singing Youth
• Two Folksongs from Zobor
• Whitsuntide
• Wine, Sweet Wine

Male Choruses

• Evening Song
• God’s Mercy
• Have Good Courage
• Hey, Andy Büngözsd
• Hymn to King Stephen
• Justum et tenacem — Unshakeably (Horatius)
• La Marseillaise
• Lines in Memory of András Fáy
• National Song
• On the Changes in France
• Password
• Songs from Karád
• Stabat Mater
• The Bachelor
• The Colt
• The Peacock
• The Ruins
• The Son of an Enslaved Country
• The Voice of Jesus
• The Watchman of Nándor
• To Live or Die
• Two Male Choruses

Choruses For Mixed Voices

• A Song For Ever
• A Song of Faith
• Adoration/Hymn to the Sun
• Advent Song (Veni, Veni, Emmanuel)
• An Ode for Music
• An Ode. The Music Makers (O’Shaughnessy)
• Annie Miller
• Battle Song
• Beseeching/Ernest Prayer
• Birthday Greeting
• Cohors generosa
• Communion/ Admonitiones Diaconi
• Evening
• Evening Song
• Geneva Psalm No. 121
• Geneva Psalm No. 50
• Greeting for John Horatii Carmen II — To the Muse of Beautiful Song
• Hymn to King Stephen
• I will go look for death
• Invocation of Peace
• Jesus and the Traders
• La Marseillaise
• Laudes organi (with org.)
• Mátra Pictures
• Media vita in morte sumus
• Miserere (Psalm 50 [not Geneva]) – double chorus
• Mohács
• Norvegian Girls
• Ode to Franz/Ferenc Liszt
• Pange lingua
• Password
• See the Gipsy Munching Cheese
• Sík Sándor’s Te Deum
• Song of Gömör
• Stabat Mater
• The Aged
• The Arms of Hungary
• a The Forgotten Song of Bálint Balassi
• The Hungarian Nation
• The Peacock
• The Ruins
• To Singing Youth
• To the Transylvanians
• Too Late
• Transylvanian Lament
• Zrínyi’s Hymn/Appeal

Choral Works Accompanied by an Instrument

• 5 Tantum Ergos (certain movements with organ acc.)
• Ave Maria (org.) – women’s
• Christmas Dance of the Shepherds (recorder)
• Geneva Psalm No. 114 (org.) - mixed
• Hymn to King Stephen (org.)
• Jesus and the Children (org.) – children
• Laudes organi (org.)- mixed
• Missa brevis (org.)
• Pange Lingua (org.) - mixed
• Soldier’s Song (trumpet and side drum) – male
• Wainamoinen Makes Music – harp (piano)

Choral Works Accompanied by Orchestra

• At the Grave of Martyrs
• Kálló Folk Dances
• Missa brevis
• Offertorium/Assumpta est Maria
• Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13
• Te Deum of Buda Castle

Canons

• A Song of Faith
• Aurea libertas
• Six Funny Canons
• Solfa Canon
• Sorry!/Three-Part Canon

Stage Works

• Háry János, Op. 15
• Spinnery/Spinning Room

Educational Compositions

• 15 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 22 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 24 Little Canons on the Black Keys
• 33 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 333 Reading Exercises
• 44 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 55 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 66 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• 77 Two-Part Singing Exercises
• Bicinia Hungarica I—IV.
• Chamber Music Exercise
• Children’s Dances (12 Pieces)
• Epigrams
• Let Us Sing Correctly
• Nursery Songs/Songs of Little People
• Pentatonic Music
• Tricinia
• Twelve Little Piano Pieces

COPYRIGHT David C.F. Wright DMus 1971

[It is regretted that someone else has used some of this information on their website without permission. My (David C.F. Wright) article was published in 1971.]