Encore Livestream: Kodaly & Schubert - Listen Notes - New Listener

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ZOLTÁN KODÁLY
(1882 – 1967)
COMPOSER PROFILE
• Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music
educator and linguist
• Played a prominent role in Hungarian public life,
held several public posts and was a member or
head of numerous boards and committees
• Much of the music he composed was based on folksongs
he collected on his travels around Hungary
• He formed the ethnomusicological branch of the
Hungarian Academy of Arts and Sciences
THE DANCES OF GALÁNTA
Inspired by his pleasant childhood experiences,
Kodály returned to Galánta as an adult in 1905 and
transcribed at least 150 melodies from the region.
These songs, together with an album of old Hungarian
folk music that was compiled in the 1800s, comprise the
main source material for the Dances of Galánta. They
were written as a follow-up to the successful Dances
of Marosszék of a year before, which were composed
initially for piano and then orchestrated.
On one level, the Dances of Galánta are a medley
of folk tunes, skilfully wrought into a suite lasting
around 15 minutes, making it the perfect filler
for a typical concert programme. On another,
more symbolic level, they form a unified musical
celebration of the resurgence of a Hungarian
nation after years of Austrian oppression.
The Dances of Galánta unfolds in five sections,
typically lasting about fifteen minutes.
As a device to build tension, the violins often play
busy stepwise fast notes over a sustained note.
As with any folk music, there is much repetition of
melodic and rhythmic ideas, and the main solos are
given to the violin or clarinet/tárogató.
DID YOU KNOW?
A typical Google search for ‘Kodály’ will yield the
top results for him as an educator, not a composer.
He is often referred to as the most important and
influential music educationalist of the 20th century.
OTHER FOLK INSPIRED MUSIC
YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
Aaron Copland excerpts from Rodeo (Western folk tunes)
Frederic Chopin various mazurkas (Polish folk dances)
Bela Bartok Three Rondos or excerpts from 15 Hungarian
Peasant Songs
A common misunderstanding is to attribute Kodály
with the creation of the hand signs that accompany
pitch and singing.
These signs were actually developed by John
Curwen, a British priest and music educator. Kodály
made use of them along with other physicalisations
of musical language to help young children
understand pitch and embody rhythm.
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FRANZ
SCHUBERT
(1797 – 1828)
COMPOSER PROFILE
• An Austrian composer from the Romantic period
• Won a place in the Vienna Imperial Court chapel choir
at age 10
• After leaving school in 1815, Schubert followed his
father into teaching. He did not enjoy this job, and he
spent all of his free time composing.
• The same year he started teaching, he wrote his
famous ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade’ (‘Gretchen at her
spinning wheel’)
• He composed 145 lieder (songs), his Second and Third
Symphonies, two sonatas and a series of miniatures for
solo piano, two mass settings and other shorter choral
works, four stage works, and a string quartet
• The only public concert Schubert gave was on
26 March, 1828. It was such an artistic and financial
success that Schubert at last purchased a piano
• He died in 1828 at age 31, of typhoid from drinking
tainted water
SYMPHONY NO.9 ‘THE GREAT’
A symphony is a musical composition for full orchestra;
typically in four movements or sections.
The title ‘The Great’ was applied by a 19th-century
publisher to distinguish between this symphony and
Schubert’s earlier work of 1818. Today, ‘The Great’ has
become an accepted part of the work’s title. Schubert’s
Ninth Symphony has four movements:
I. Andante
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
IV. Allegro vivace
The first movement, Andante (At an easy walking pace,
Allegro – fast) starts with a theme from the horns. This is
followed by the strings playing a rhythmic triple figure. The
theme is then passed around the orchestra. The section
continues to explore themes and assembled rhythmic
material.
Finally, as the Andante moves towards its close, you can
hear a fragment of what is to become the Allegro section’s
theme. As the Andante is brought to a full orchestral close,
the Allegro (fast) section follows immediately. Strings,
trumpets, and timpani introduce the Allegro’s first theme.
Schubert introduces a second theme – rising and falling,
with the woodwinds and horns playing a triple rhythm.
Finally, the movement’s third theme is introduced by oboes
and bassoons, accompanied by violin.
The final section is marked ‘Piu Moto’ (more movement).
It starts with the second theme in the strings, with an
accompanying triple figure. The movement ends with the
introductory horn theme played by the full orchestra.
The second movement, Andante con moto (At an easy
walking pace with motion) is slow, however the ‘con moto’
direction creates a march-like character. It is possible that
Schubert was influenced by the Allegretto movement of
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.
This movement has four sections and four main themes.
The oboes play the theme first, followed by the clarinets,
violins, and violas, moving to an orchestral climax. Next,
the oboes and clarinets enter with the second theme. This
theme is slightly slower, and the strings break in with a
third theme, with a military feel.
The second and third themes are developed, and the
lower strings introduce the fourth theme. Lyrical and more
sonorous, this theme is played by the bassoons, second
violins and basses. The movement ends quietly, with
harmony from the three trombones.
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The third movement, Scherzo (Allegro vivace, playful,
light and very fast) opens with the first theme played by
the strings. A second feature of the movement is the
waltz themes that keep appearing – the first of these
constitutes the second theme.
The second section opens in the woodwinds and brass,
with a short, detached string accompaniment. This section
ends with two loud chords. The Trio section then starts
with horns, clarinets, bassoons, and trumpets playing
together and the movement’s fourth theme is played by
a woodwind choir. Next, the flutes and bassoons play the
Trio’s opening theme again. The Trio then repeats back to
the start of the Scherzo to finish that movement.
The final movement, Allegro vivace (very fast), has two
main themes. It begins with a call to attention, with very
loud notes. The second theme also has a running rhythm
in the strings while the woodwinds play the melody.
There are fragments of this theme until both main
themes are heard again in their entirety.
A final section expands some of the melodic material
with a short episode where strings, horns and bassoons
play with the full orchestra answering in different keys.
The final section is unusually long and the movement’s
introductory rhythm returns before a very sudden, loud
chord that gradually fades away to the end.
DID YOU KNOW?
In March 1827, Schubert was a torchbearer at
Beethoven’s funeral.
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WHAT’S THE
NEED FOR SPEED?
IN MUSIC, WE USE ITALIAN NAMES TO TELL US HOW FAST,
OR SLOW, TO PLAY. THIS IS CALLED THE TEMPO.
Here are some of those names – or tempo
markings – used in classical music:
SLOWER
FASTER
LARGO
(40-60 BPM)
ADAGIO
(66-76 BPM)
ADANTE
(76-108 BPM)
ALLEGRO
(120-168 BPM)
VIVACE
(168-176 BPM)
PRESTO
(168-200 BPM)
You will notice that there is a number after each tempo and
the letters BPM. This stands for Beats Per Minute. You
can use the second hand of a clock, or a watch, to roughly
work out how fast the speeds are.
60 BPM is 60 beats per minute – or one beat per second.
Allegro is 120 beats per minute – or two beats per second.
Presto is around three beats per second.
And so on!
Look at the tempo markings for the Violin Concerto, or
Symphony No.9 and see if you can tap your foot in time
with the tempo for each piece.
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