Programme Notes

ZOLTAN KODALY 1882-1967

DANCES FROM GALANTA

'If I were to name the composer whose works are the most perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit,' wrote Béla Bartók, 'I would answer, Kodály.' Nowhere is the force of this observation more clearly demonstrated than in the Galanta Dances, composed in 1933 for the 80th anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society.

The indigenous music of Hungary was central to Kodaly¹s interests, First awakened to its existence during his schooldays, he was to become a zealous collector, and what Vaughan Williams, Percy Grainger and Holst did for the English folk song, Kodaly and his friend Bartok did for the dances and songs of their country. Kodaly in fact held a doctorate degree in the structure of Hungarian folk song but his interest was more than academic. His collecting tours began in 1905 when he fresh from the University of Budapest and were to continue for many years afterwards: from this common interest his friendship with Bartók grew, an early result of which was their publication of a joint paper on their country¹s folk songs in 1906.

Kodály¹s father was an official of the Hungarian state railway, and for a while he was station master at the town of Galanta, now in Czechoslovakia. But both Kodály Sr. and his wifewere musically talented: he played the violin, she sang, and Kodály himself exhibited a precocious talent, learning with little tuition the piano, violin, viola and cello. He was in his forties when he composed the works by which he is best known to British audiences: the suite Háry János from his singspiel of that name, the Dances of Marosszék, the Peacock Variations -- and the Dances from Galanta. The Marosszék Dances derive their style and content from the 17th century, but in the Galanta Dances Kodály had in mind a fresco of Hungarian life in the 1800s. He found his themes in various volumes of Hungarian national dance and the dances of Galanta gypsies, who were famous as musicians and much in demand in the houses of the aristocracy. This was the tradition, Kodály wrote in a preface to the score, he wanted to evoke.

As the title tells us, the music consists of a series of dances, and it was originally written for piano. The nationalistic spirit of the music is emphasised in Kodály¹s brilliant orchestration, with an especially prominent part for solo clarinet, and as the work proceeds, so does the excitement of the dances grow, culminating in a thrilling and colourful climax.

Programme Notes by Paul Vaughan ©

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