ZOLTÁN KODÁLY - Composer

December 16, 1882, Kecskemét – March 6, 1967, Budapest

Composer, father of the “Kodaly method”

Kodály began collecting folk music in 1905. In 1907, he became a professor at the Academy of Music, teaching music theory and composition. He published his first composition in 1910. In 1919, he worked in the musical directorate of the short-lived communist government, for which he was banned from teaching.

Isolated, he composed Psalmus Hungaricus, which was acclaimed internationally, followed by Háry János in 1926, popular all over the world. Székely Spinning Room was premiered in 1932. Other Kodály works include Dances of Marosszék (1927–1930), Summer Evening (1927), Dances of Galánta (1933), Te Deum of Budavár - composed to mark the 250th anniversary of the liberation of Buda (1936) and Peacock Variations (1939).

Kodály’s studies in music theory were also particularly significant. A monograph called Hungarian Folk Music was published in 1937.

During World War II Kodály was active in rescuing persecuted people and eventually had to go into hiding himself. He composed Missa Brevis in 1945. He was active in the democratic transformation and became chairman of the board at the Academy of Music. From 1946 to 1949 Kodály was President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His work, Czinka Panna was premiered in 1948, and the Kállai Duo was first presented in 1951.

A series of books, Modern Music and the Folk Music of Hungary was published between 1951 and 1967, introducing his concepts on music education. In 1948 and 1952, Kodály was awarded the Kossuth Prize for his oeuvre, which included ethnography, music history, music aesthetics, music criticism, history of literature, linguistics and language culture.

Music education was central to his work throughout his lifetime, and included methods of teaching singing, reading and writing music in early education, and promoting choirs based on local tradition. The Kodály Method of Music Education is now recognized and used throughout the world.

Zoltan Kodaly, composer, Kodaly method, music education, ethnography, music history, folk music