Zoltán Kodály

Kodály Zoltán, 1882-1967. - Budapest: Kossuth Könyvkiadó, 1982. - 193 p.: ill.; 52x51 mm.

Gilt stamped drab binding with metal plaque. Printed in Budapest at Zrinyi Nyomda. Typography János Erdélyi. Numbered copy 35/500.

 





 Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967), Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and philosopher. Born in Kecskemét, he spent most of his childhood in Trnava (now Slovakia) where his father was a stationmaster.  He was raised in a very musical family en played the violin and piano at young age. Later on he studied music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.  In 1900 Kodály entered the University of Budapest where he got a PhD in philosophy and linguistics. Together with his friend and fellow composer Béla Bartók he was the first to collect and study folksongs and folk tales on a large scale. His compositions became well known and were often performed, with conductors such as Toscanini, Mengelberg and Furtwängler. 
Many of his choral works combine the influence of Magyar folksongs, Gregorian chant, and polyphonic styles of Palestrina and Bach.
 

The Dutch Concertgebouw Orchestra celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with the Peacock Variations in 1939.

 
In  1975 a former Franciscan monastery in Kecskemét was rebuilt to house the Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute of Music.