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October 2024--December 2024

The String Quartets of Zoltan Kodaly

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Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) is Zoltan Kod�ly (1882-1967) and Bela Bartok are widely regarded as the two most important Hungarian composers of the 20th century. Kod�ly was born in town of Kecskem�t and from his father, a keen amateur musician, learned to play the violin as a child. In 1900, he entered the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest where he studied composition with Hans Koessler. After graduating, he began a serious study of Hungarian folk melody. In 1905, he started visiting remote villages and collecting folk songs. Folk melody plays an important part in his music. Kod�ly later went to Paris where he studied with Charles Widor and was greatly impressed by the music of Debussy and the French impressionists. He composed in most genres, and while he did not write a great deal of chamber music, what he wrote is invariably engaging. He wrote two string quartets.

Kodaly's First String Quartet, composed in 1909, was the direct product of the researches he undertook with Bela Bartok of Hungarian folk melodies. String Quartet No.1 in c minor, Op.2 was a landmark work in that it broke with German Romanticism, using original Hungarian folk melody with modern harmony. The opening Andante poco rubato serves as an introduction to the main movement, Allegro, and quotes an actual Hungarian folk song in the statement of the main theme. In the Allegro where our sound-bite starts, the cello announces the theme to a throbbing accompaniment. The second movement, Lento assai tranquillo, is an unhurried fugue. It has as its main theme, a modified version of the opening quote of the Andante, but now in the major. Kodaly creates some very telling tone color episodes with his alternating use of arco and pizzicato passages. Next comes an energetic and exciting scherzo, Presto. The finale, Allegro, is in the form of a theme and an elaborate and brilliant set of variations. This fine work has been totally and unjustly ignored by performing groups outside of Hungary and Austria which is a shame because it is a masterwork.

Kodaly's String Quartet No.2, Op.10 was composed during the First World War and completed in 1918. It was premiered shortly thereafter to much confusion. Some critics thought the music too simple, others found it too complex and modern. However in many ways, it resembles his First String Quartet, especially in its use of folk melody. However, in other ways it is quite different. For one thing, its structure is no longer traditional but quite free formed. It is in two movements, but in reality each movement consists of several sections and the second movement might well have been divided into at least two if not more. The opening Allegro is characterized by its use of interwoven melodies, none quite independent of the others. The second movement, Andante, is marked 'Quasi recitativ' and begins with the first violin playing a rhapsodic solo. The music proceeds in rather halting sections each strikingly different. Slowly the tempo picks up and the music morphs into an Allegro giocoso. There are more than a dozen sections to this lengthy movement.

You can hear soundbites from each movement on our website by clicking on the boldface links above. The parts are available from Edition Silvertrust.

String Qts Dedicated to Haydn-Part 1---March 2012

String Qts Dedicated to Haydn-Part 2---April 2012

3 New Beethoven Quartets?---May 2012

Hermann Berens String Trios---June 2012

2nd Movt Bruckner Str Qnt too hard---July 2012

Arriaga The Spanish Mozart---August 2012

Johan Wikmanson's String Quartets---Sept 2012

Dubois' Piano Trios---October 2012

Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano---Nov / Dec 2012

Bargiel Piano Trios---January / February 2013

John Antes String Trios---March / April 2013