Zoltán Kodály(1882-1967)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
His work as folk song collector began in 1905. In 1907 he was appointed
lecturer at the Academy of Music where he taught music history and
composing. His own works were first published in 1910. In 1919 he
participated in the work of the musical directorium, for which later a
disciplinary procedure was initiated against him, his appointment was
declared null and void and he could no longer teach. His isolation came
to an end with the international success of Psalmus Hungaricus in 1923
and his musical comedy entitled Hary János became a success the world
over in 1926. His musical piece Szekelyfonó was presented in 1932.
Further works of Kodaly include: Marosszeki tancok (1927-1930)
(Marosszek Dances), Nyari este (1927) (Summer Evening), Galantai táncok
(1933) (Galanta Dances), Budavari Te Deum (Buda Te Deum)- to the 250th
anniversary of the liberation of Buda (1936), Folszallott a pava (1939)
(The Peacock Is Flying) and Concerto (1940). His activity of music
history was also of importance, his monograph entitled Hungarian Folk
Music was published in 1937. During the Second World War he protected
the persecuted but later had to go into hiding himself. He created
Missa brevis in 1945. He was involved in the democratic rebirth and
became the chairman of the board of directors of the Academy of Music.
Between 1946 and 1949 he was the president of the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences. Of his work, Czinka Panna was first shown in 1948, Kallai
kettos was presented in 1951. Between 1951 and 1967 the first volume of
the Treasury of Hungarian Folk Music was published and his views and
ideas were manifest in musical education, as well. His work earned him
the Kossuth Prize in 1948 and in 1952. He made an important
contribution to the study of folklore, music history, music aesthetics,
music criticism, as well as to that of literary history, linguistics
and the cultivation of the language. He spent his entire life fighting
for the musical education of the youth, including the teaching of
singing in schools, and the basic function of musical reading and
writing as part of the curriculum and the cultivation of choir music
based on Hungarian elements. The Kodaly method is today well-known and
practised in musical education throughout the world.
