Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)
Zoltán
Kodály was born into the music-loving family of an official
of
the Hungarian Railways. His father’s career meant a number of moves which
had a decisive influence on the young Kodály’s musical development.
During an 8-year stay in Galánta he became imbued with the village
people’s musical traditions which were to influence him for the rest of
his life. The family subsequently moved to Nagyszombat where Kodály
attended the Archiepiscopal High School and where the cathedral’s
extensive music library was available to him, enabling him to teach
himself not only to play the violin, cello and piano but also to
acquire a sound foundation in musical techniques and an extensive
theoretical and historical overview of the art form. He was also a keen
follower of the unfolding interest in folk music, reflected in the
publications at that time (1890s) of a number of folk song collections.
Kodály’s subsequent collaboration with Béla Bartók in the field of folk
song collection needs no detailed mention here. Their work has been of
inestimable value not only to Hungarians interested in the roots of
their folk culture but to the music-loving public world wide, who also
became familiar with it. Notwithstanding the highly successful work the
two men did together, their careers diverged considerably. As a
composer, Kodály enjoyed a steadily growing international recognition.
Concurrently Kodály was also an increasingly respected and successful
educator in the field of music. His veritable crusade to provide all
young people with a sound basic musical education resulted in a great
body of work for schools and choirs, both mixed and single sex. He
lectured, conducted, taught - often involving his advanced pupils as
well. He published, wrote as a critic and laid the foundations for a
universal musical education system where singing as a group activity
ensured that children became musically literate, learnt to co-operate
and understood the need for verbal as well as musical communication.
The Kodály Method is now his permanent legacy, used and respected
world-wide where the value of producing musical literacy among the
young is recognised. Kodály was one of this century’s true musical
renaissance men. His many-sided interests musical, linguistic, folk and
broadly cultural, and educational were all informed by the strong
backbone of his ethnic consciousness. Much of his music is imbued with
Hungarian folk idioms though none sacrifices its musical integrity to
it. The collection of folk songs initially with Bartók but later worked
on on his own, has left a corpus of some 100,000 songs and inspired
folk song collectors all over the world. Kodály was an inspirational
character whose understanding of the connections between the musical
and verbal, together with historical and social aspects of our culture
resulted in an oeuvre that will long outlive many of his contemporaries
and be a delight to performers and audiences far beyond his native
Hungary.- Guild Music
COMPOSITIONS Kodály Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre ~ ~ ~ Kodály on Kodály
Overture, orchestra (1897)
Romance Lyrique, cello and piano (1898)
Adagio, violin (viola) and piano (1901)
Intermezzo, string trio (1905)
Valsette, piano (1905) [also arr. for violin and piano]
Summer Evening, orchestra (1906; rev. 1929-30)
Meditation on a theme of Claude Debussy, piano (1907)
Sixteen Songs on Hungarian Popular Words, voice and piano, op. 1 (1907-1909)
String Quartet No. 1, op. 2 (1908-09)
Nine Pieces, piano, op. 3 (1909)
Sonatina, cello and piano (1909; pub. 1966) [may be an abandoned movement from Cello Sonata, op. 4]
Sonata for Cello and Piano, op. 4 (1909-10)
Two Songs, voice and orchestra, op. 5 (1913-16)
Seven Songs (Related Melodies), voice and piano, op. 6 (1912-16)
Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 (1914)
Capriccio, solo cello (1915)
Sonata for Solo Cello, op. 8 (1915)
Five Songs, voice and piano, op. 9 (1915-1918)
Four Songs, voice and piano (1907-1917)
Old Hungarian Soldier’s Songs, chamber orchestra (1917); arr. Magyar (Hungarian) rondo, cello and piano
String Quartet No. 2, op. 10 (1916-18)
Seven Pieces, piano, op. 11 (1910-18)
Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, op. 12 (1919-20)
Psalmus Hungaricus, tenor, chorus and orchestra, op. 13 (1923)
Three Songs, voice and piano, op. 14 (1918-1923) [also arr. for voice and orchestra]
Himfy Song (Revelation of Love), voice and piano (1925)
Ballet Music, orchestra (1925) [deleted from Hary Janos]
Háry János, opera, op. 15 (1926)
Theater Overture, orchestra (1927; rev. 1929-32)
Dances of Marosszék, piano (1923-27) (arr. for orchestra, 1929)
Pange Lingua, voices/children’s chorus and organ (1929)
The Transylvanian Spinning Room (Székely Fonó), opera (1924-32)
Dances of Galánta, orchestra (1933)
Budavári (Buda Castle) Te Deum, soli, chorus and orchestra (1936)
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong 'Fölszállott a páva' (The Peacock), orchestra (1937-39)
Concerto for Orchestra (1939-40)
Csendes mise (Low Mass), organ (1940-42; rev. 1966 as Organoedia ad missam lectam)
Organ Mass, soli, chorus and organ (1942)
Missa Brevis, soli, chorus and orchestra (1944)
At the Grave of the Martyrs, chorus and orchestra (1945)
Gyermektancok (12 Children’s Dances), piano (1945) [Four Dances, arr. for orchestra]
Missa Brevis, soli, chorus and organ (1942; orchestral version, 1948)
Czinka Panna, opera (1946-48)
Dances of Kálló, chorus and orchestra (1950)
Minuetto Serio, orchestra (1948-53) [from Czinka Panna]
Epigrams, nine vocalises with piano accompaniment, voice (or any string or wind instrument) and piano (1954?)
Symphony in C, orchestra (1930s-1961)
The Music Makers, an Ode, chorus and orchestra (1964)
Wind Quartet (1964)
Epitaphium Joannis Hunyadi, voice and piano (1965)
Laudes organi, chorus and organ (1961-66)
Numerous Folksong Arrangements
Gavotte, 3 violins and cello (pub. 1982) [arr. from original piano work]
Approximately 147 choral works:
24 for a cappella male chorus
45 for mixed chorus
78 for children's and women's chorus
see selected list below
Educational compositions:
- 333 Reading Exercises
- Bicinia Hungarica I-IV
- Tricinia
- Two-Part Singing Exercises
- Let Us Sing Correctly!
- 24 Little Canons on Black Keys
- Pentatonic Music I-IV
- Epigrams
- Songs of Little People
Also:
20 Hungarian Folksongs, voice and piano [nos. 1-10, Bartók; nos. 11-20, Kodály]
Eight Little Duets, voice and piano
Five Mountain-Cheremis Folksongs, voice and piano
Hungarian Folk Music, voice and piano (I-X, 1917-1932; XI, 1964)
Kálló Double Dance, voice and piano
Advent Song, voice and organ
Communion/ Admonitiones Diaconi, voice and organ
Hungarian Mass, voice and organ
Katie Kádár (Mother listen), voice and chamber orchestra
5 Tantum Ergos, chorus [some movements w/organ]
Ave Maria, female chorus and organ
Christmas Dance of the Shepherds, chorus and recorder
Geneva Psalm No. 114, chorus and organ
Hymn to King Stephen, chorus and organ
Jesus and the Children, children's chorus and organ
Soldier’s Song, male chorus, trumpet and side drum
Wainamoinen Makes Music, chorus and harp or piano
Offertorium/Assumpta est Maria, chorus and orchestra
WORKS BY GENRE Kodály Links ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
Háry János, opera, op. 15 (1926)
The Transylvanian Spinning Room (Székely Fonó), opera (1924-32)
Czinka Panna, opera (1946-48)
Orchestra
Overture, orchestra (1897)
Summer Evening, orchestra (1906; rev. 1929-30)
Old Hungarian Soldier’s Songs, chamber orchestra (1917) [arr. as Magyar (Hungarian) rondo, cello and piano]
Ballet Music, orchestra (1925) [deleted from Hary Janos]
Háry János Suite (1926) [from opera Hary Janos, 1926]
Theater Overture, orchestra (1927; rev. 1929-32)
Dances of Marosszék, piano (1923-27) [arr. for orchestra, 1929]
Dances of Galánta, orchestra (1933)
Variations on a Hungarian Folksong 'Fölszállott a páva' (The Peacock), orchestra (1937-39)
Concerto for Orchestra (1939-40)
Four Dances from Gyermektancok (Children’s Dances), orchestra [arr. from piano works, 1945]
Minuetto Serio, orchestra (1948-53) [from Czinka Panna]
Symphony in C, orchestra (1930s-1961)
Chorus w/Orchestra
Psalmus Hungaricus, tenor, chorus and orchestra, op. 13 (1923)
Budavári (Buda Castle) Te Deum, soli, chorus and orchestra (1936)
Organ Mass, soli, chorus and organ (1942)
Missa Brevis, soli, chorus and orchestra (1944)
At the Grave of the Martyrs, chorus and orchestra (1945)
Dances of Kálló, chorus and orchestra (1950)
The Music Makers, an Ode, chorus and orchestra (1964)
Offertorium/Assumpta est Maria, chorus and orchestra
Choral
Pange Lingua, voices/children’s chorus and organ (1929)
Missa Brevis, soli, chorus and organ (1942; orchestral version, 1948)
Laudes organi, chorus and organ (1961-66)
Also:
5 Tantum Ergos, chorus [some movements w/organ]
Ave Maria, female chorus and organ
Christmas Dance of the Shepherds, chorus and recorder
Geneva Psalm No. 114, chorus and organ
Hymn to King Stephen, chorus and organ
Jesus and the Children, children's chorus and organ
Soldier’s Song, male chorus, trumpet and side drum
Wainamoinen Makes Music, chorus and harp or piano
Plus approximately 147 choral works:
24 for a cappella male chorus
45 for mixed chorus
78 for children's and women's chorus
see selected list below
Chamber
Adagio, violin (viola) and piano (1901)
Intermezzo, string trio (1905)
String Quartet No. 1, op. 2 (1908-09)
Duo for Violin and Cello, op. 7 (1914)
String Quartet No. 2, op. 10 (1916-18)
Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, op. 12 (1919-20)
Háry: 6 Easy Pieces, 2 clarinets and piano [arr. from opera, 1926]
Wind Quartet (1964)
Gavotte, 3 violins and cello (pub. 1982) [arr. from original piano work]
Solo Instrument
Romance Lyrique, cello and piano (1898)
Sonatina, cello and piano (1909; pub. 1966) [may be an abandoned movement from Cello Sonata, op. 4]
Sonata for Cello and Piano, op. 4 (1909-10)
Capriccio, solo cello (1915)
Sonata for Solo Cello, op. 8 (1915)
Magyar (Hungarian) rondo, cello and piano [arr. from Old Hungarian Soldier’s Songs, chamber orchestra, (1917]
Háry: Intermezzo for violin and piano [arr. from opera, 1926]
Epigrams, nine vocalises with piano accompaniment, voice (or any string or wind instrument) and piano (1954?)
Piano/Organ
Valsette, piano (1905) [also arr. for violin and piano]
Meditation on a theme of Claude Debussy, piano (1907)
Nine Pieces, piano, op. 3 (1909)
Seven Pieces, piano, op. 11 (1910-18)
Dances of Marosszék, piano (1923-27) [arr. for orchestra, 1929]
Csendes mise (Low Mass), organ (1940-42; rev. 1966 as Organoedia ad missam lectam)
Gyermektancok (12 Children’s Dances), piano (1945)
Vocal
Sixteen Songs on Hungarian Popular Words, voice and piano, op. 1 (1907-1909)
Two Songs, voice and orchestra, op. 5 (1913-16)
Seven Songs (Related Melodies), voice and piano, op. 6 (1912-16)
Five Songs, voice and piano, op. 9 (1915-1918)
Four Songs, voice and piano (1907-1917)
Three Songs, voice and piano, op. 14 (1918-1923) [also arr. for voice and orchestra]
Himfy Song (Revelation of Love), voice and piano (1925)
Epigrams, nine vocalises with piano accompaniment, voice (or any string or wind instrument) and piano (1954?)
Epitaphium Joannis Hunyadi, voice and piano (1965)
Also:
20 Hungarian Folksongs, voice and piano [nos. 1-10, Bartók; nos. 11-20, Kodály]
Eight Little Duets, voice and piano
Five Mountain-Cheremis Folksongs, voice and piano
Hungarian Folk Music, voice and piano (I-X, 1917-1932; XI, 1964)
Kálló Double Dance, voice and piano
Advent Song, voice and organ
Communion/ Admonitiones Diaconi, voice and organ
Hungarian Mass, voice and organ
Katie Kádár (Mother listen), voice and chamber orchestra
Incidental/Film
Educational Compositions
333 Reading Exercises
Bicinia Hungarica I-IV
Tricinia
Two-Part Singing Exercises
Let Us Sing Correctly!
24 Little Canons on Black Keys
Pentatonic Music I-IV
Epigrams
Songs of Little People
KODALY LINKS Works by Genre ~ top of page ~
Archive and Museum in memory of Zoltán Kodály
The Genesis of Kodaly's Laudes organi (Katalin Komlós, The Musical Times)
Kodály Institute
Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia
Kodály’s Legacy in the Service of Dakota Song (Lynn Whidden, Kodály Society of Canada)
Organization of American Kodály Educators
Zoltan Kodály - Collector of Folk Songs and Dances of His Native Hungary (Tel Asiado, Suite101.com)
Zoltan Kodaly Centenary (Open Society Archives)
Composer website (International Kodály Society)
Kodály @ Wikipedia
Kodaly @ 8notes.com
Kodály @ About.com
Kodály @ a-cappella.com
Kodály @ The American Folksong Collection at Holy Names College
Kodály @ Answers.com
Kodály @ Arizona State University
Kodály @ Boosey & Hawkes
Kodály @ ChoralWiki
Kodály @ Classic Cat
Kodály @ Classical Archives
Kodály @ Classical Composers Database
Kodály @ Classical Music Pages
Kodály @ Classical Net
Kodály @ Classics for Kids (Kodály Method)
Kodály @ Classics for Kids
Kodály @ ClassicsToday
Kodály @ Dr. Estrella's Incredibly Abridged Dictionary of Composers
Kodály @ DSO Kids (Dallas Symphony Orchestra)
Kodály @ Economic Expert
Kodály @ Facebook
Kodály @ Find a Grave
Kodály @ FugueMasters
Kodály @ Guild Music
Kodály @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Kodály @ Institute of Hungarian Studies
Kodály @ Karadar Classical Music
Kodály @ Kodály Memorial Year
Kodály @ Los Angeles Philharmonic
Kodály @ Minnesota State University
Kodály @ MSN Encarta
Kodály @ The Music Chamber
Kodály @ MusicWeb International
Kodály @ NationMaster
Kodály @ Naxos
Kodály @ The New York Times
Kodály @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Kodály @ Singers.com
Kodály @ Squidoo.com
Kodály @ Universal Edition
Streaming Audio
Kodály @ The Classical MIDI Connection
Kodály @ Classical Archives
Kodály @ last.fm
Kodály @ MidiWorld
Kodály @ Rhapsody
Recordings
Kodály @ ArkivMusic
Kodály @ ClassicsOnline
Kodály @ YouTube
Kodály on Kodály: Hungarian Television (On Music Education) * Translation
* Translation
Interviewer: Hungarian Television would like to put some questions to you.
Kodály: With pleasure, if I can give you an answer.
Interviewer: It is well known that you have dedicated most of your life to the musical training of young people. So first, I would like to ask you what inspired you to do this?
Kodály: Well, I just wanted to train the whole person. Without this, I can't do that. I would like to facilitate that education.
Interviewer: And according to you, Mr. Kodály, when should we start musical training in schools?
Kodály: To be sure, before formal schooling begins. In kindergarten.
Interviewer: But there is music teaching in schools.
Kodály: Yes, but one hour (per week) is not enough, even if the teacher is good - which is very rare.
Interviewer: As far as I know we have schools in which (more music teaching takes place).
Kodály: Yes, on a trial basis, the Ministry of Education has allowed about ten schools to teach singing six hours a week. So, we don’t have a lot of experience yet, but we’re seeing a surprising result in these schools. The students are improving in all areas. Their speech has improved; their writing has improved; their reading has improved. They’re learning to read earlier than students with less music classes each week. All of this goes back to music. For example, writing music down requires such precision that, if the written note is too high up or low down, it means something completely different. If they acquire (this skill), they can then use it when writing in words. They're also doing a lot better in math.
Interviewer: Why?
Kodály: Because Euler had said that music is acoustical mathematics. Music involves constant counting, so it becomes useful to arithmetic as well. But the most important thing is the effect it has on discipline. We complain about how hard it is to teach children discipline. Generally, in these schools things go a lot more smoothly. Ensemble singing gets them used to discipline and a feeling of responsibility. Thus, music builds character and really helps shape students with better personalities.
[Thanks to Michael Kaulkin for some of this translation - see About the Composer]
* Unaccompanied Choral Works
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)
The Aged
Annie Miller
The Arms of Hungary
Battle Song
Beseeching/Ernest Prayer
A Birthday Greeting
Cohors generosa
Communion/ Admonitiones Diaconi
Evening
Evening Song
The Forgotten Song of Bálint Balassi
Geneva Psalm No. 121
Geneva Psalm No. 50
Greeting for John Horatii Carmen II - see Horatii Carmen II. 10
Horatii Carmen II. 10 (Rectius Vives) ("To the Muse of Beautiful Singing"), chorus (1934)
The Hungarian Nation
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, chorus
Media vita in morte sumus
Miserere (Psalm 50 [not Geneva]) – double chorus (1903)
Mohács
Norvegian Girls
An Ode for Music
An Ode. The Music Makers (O’Shaughnessy)
Ode to Franz/Ferenc Liszt
Pange lingua
Password
The Peacock
The Ruins
See the Gipsy Munching Cheese
Sík Sándor's Te Deum
A Song For Ever
A Song of Faith
Song of Gömör
Stabat Mater
To Singing Youth
To the Transylvanians
Too Late
Transylvanian Lament
Zrínyi's Hymn/Appeal
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