Zoltán Kodály (16 December 1882 Kecskemét – 6 March 1967 Budapest) was one of the most outstanding personalities of 20th century Hungarian culture: composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue and linguist. His internationally acknowledged concept of music education is the basis for general music teaching in Hungary and also plays an important role in the training of professional musicians. Zoltán Kodály played a prominent role in Hungarian public life, holding several public posts and being a member or head of numerous boards and committees. He was also acquainted with many influential public figures (musicians, artists, scholars and politicians).
This is a 25-min film on Kodály's life using archive footages and images only.
An overview of Kodály's compositions:
Zoltán Kodály's earliest compositions date from the 1890s and his last were composed in 1966. During this long and productive life he created hundreds of compositions in a variety of media and genres. His style was profoundly influenced by his collecting and study of Hungarian folk music and by the works of Debussy.
Most of Kodály's works are published by Universal Edition, Boosey & Hawkes, and Editio Musica Budapest and the CDs by Hungaroton.
Zoltán Kodály’s activity as ethnomusicologist developed parallel to his work as a composer, and fertilized it from 1905 onwards. Later folk music achieved an eminent place in Kodály’s music pedagogical concept as well.
He recognized that genuine Hungarian folksong can only be found at its original source, in the oral tradition of village people. His first folksong collecting tours led him to the Galanta region (North-West Hungary, today in Slovakia) where he spent his childhood, and where he received his first unconscious but deep impressions in folk music. A selection from his first findings was published in the academic periodical, Ethnographia in 1905. He defended his doctoral thesis, The Strophic Structure of the Hungarian Folksong in 1906.
