Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1979. január-június (33. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1979-04-19 / 16. szám
Thursday, April 19. 1979. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 9 ZOLTÁN IDEÁLT Some 25 years ago the distinguished Austrian musicologist Karl Geiringer wrote an excellent biography of Joseph Haydn bearing the subtitle “A Creative Life in Music." This apt description applies with equal validity to another great composer, Zoltán Kodály, whose career and accomplishments in the art of music have a breadth and depth unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries. And his colleagues were a distinguished lot, for Kodály was one of that extraordinary group of composers born in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s who were to dominate serious music during the first half of this century - Gliere, Ravel, Falla, Ruggles, Dohnányi, Respighi, Bloch, Bartók, Stravinsky, etc. Zoltán Kodály was born on December 16, 1882. The date itself was a good omen, for December 16 is also Beethoven’s birthday. Kodály's father, Frigyes /1 853-1926/ worked for the Hungarian State Railways as a traffic coordinator, a job that required the family to move about a fair amount. The composer himself remarked that he had no right to refer to Kecskemét as his native town since his family moved from there so soon after his birth. From 1884 to 1 892 the Kodály’s lived in Galánta, a city in western Hungary /now in Czechoslovakia/ where Zoltán “spent the best seven years of my childhood." It was here,while in elementary school, that he was first exposed to music. Not only did he grow up with the folk music of the era in his ears every day, but he also came to know the classical repertoire since his father, a fine violinist, and his mother, an accomplished pianist, took great pleasure in playing chamber music at home; Unlike Haydn, whose musical gifts were ignored if not discouraged by the disagreeable and mercenary Karl George von Reutter who ultimately expelled him from the choir of the Stefansdom in Vienna, Kodály found ample encouragement from his teachers. One of them, Béla Toldy, conducted a performance by the school orchestra of an Overture that Kodály wrote at the age of 15. The recollection of Toldy’s support stayed with Kodály for the rest of his life, and his gratitude is reflected in the dedications of more than one of his compositions. The turning point in Kodály’s career came in 1923 when his Psalmus Hungaricus was a popular success, despite the continued reservations of the “old guard”, some of whom had succeeded in securing his temporary dismissal from the Academy of Music for political reasons in the early 20’s. The success of the Psalmus Hungaricus which was championed outside Hungary by Wilhelm Mengelberg, and Arturo Toscanini /to whose memory Kodály dedicated his Symphony in 1960/was followed by that of the opera Háry János, based on a classic Hungarian fairy tale. The 1930’s saw an increased interest on Kodály’s part in the problems of the musical education of Hungary’s children. Believing that singing was of fundamental importance, Kodály advocated a program of musical education that blended exposure to native folk tunes with solmization training. In his later years, whenever a child requested his autograph, Kodály would ask, “Can you read sol-fa letters?” If the answer was “yes”, he would jot down a few on a piece of paper. If the chile was able to sing it, Kodály signed his name under the score. After World War II. Kodály achieved an international renown concomittant with his genius. Held in high esteem at home and abroad, he traveled widely and continued his work as composer, teacher and musicologist. His beloved Emma, who was some 15 or 20 years older than he, died, ironically on St. Cecelia’s Day, November 22, 1958. It was her wish that he remarry if she predeceased him, and on December 18, 1959, Kodály married the 19 year old Sarolta Peczely, the daughter of the old family friends with whom he and Emma had sought refuge during some of the blackest days of World War II. Sarolta Kodály looked after her husband and assisted him with his many projects with the same love and devotion as had Emma. Thus, like his old friend and supporter, Pablo Casals who visited him in Budapest in the early 60’s,. Kodály was kept young at heart by a young wife. By the time of his sudden death of a heart attack on March 6, 1967, Zoltán Kodály truly epitomized the description of him given by his friend Béla Bartók nearly 40 years before: If I were asked to name the composer whose works were the most perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit, I would answer Kodály. His work proves his faith in the Hungarian spirit. The obvious explanation is that Kodály’s composing activity is rooted not only in the Hungarian soil, but the deeper reason is his unshakable faith in the constructive power and future of his people. Teri Noel Towe Anca Vrbovska-Saitta THE HERALDS Lovely and proud they strolled through the summer-heat and smog enveloped New York City streets. The woman’s face — ebony-dark, her hair — night’s deep velvet. The man — fair, his hair — the rays of sunset-gold. Lovely were their children, The boy’s hair — polished copper, his eyes — black stars. The girl s hair — brown, her eyes — cool violets. The music of clear bells rang in their laughter, ushering in a New Age, presaging the emergence of a human race: The happy and beautiful • inheritors of Freedom’s Globe at peace. Facts and figures Population of Hungary 10,700,000 economically active 5,083,000, of whom 1,704,000 in industry 410.500 in the construction industry 080.000 in agriculture 40.4.500 in transport and communications 467.000 in commerce number of pensioners 1,900,000 In 1950 there were 10,229 doctors in the country at present: 29,000 Number of hospital beds in 1950: 53,326 at present: 91,000 Percentage of the population over 18 years with education at least to matriculation level in 1950 — 5.5% in 1978 — 20.8% ' Percentage of the population over 25 years with university or college degrees in 1950 — 1.7% in 1978 — 6% Real wages have increased by 243% since 1950 (taking into account price increases). Tourist Attractions in Hungary An ancient mosque in Fees, beautiful cultural and industrial center in Southern Hungary, at the foot hills of the Mecsek Mountains. The latest addition to the chain of beautiful, up-to- date hotels and health spas in Hungary, the Hotel Thermal on Margaret Island in Budapest.
