Slovenská hudba, Vol. 39, No 2, p.189-208

Kodály and Slovakia
Zoltán Kodály belongs to significant composers, teachers of music and most distinctive personalities of the 20th century music.

Zoltán Kodály’s life and his work were also connected with Slovakia for certain periods of his life. His childhood and student years are joined with Slovakia, as well as his extensive ethnomusicological work. In the period 1885 – 1892 he lived in Galanta, where he attended the municipal elementary school, and he spent the following period (1892 – 1896) in Trnava. His relation to his future artistic vocation began to be formed right in this town, during his studies at the Roman-Catholic archiepiscopal grammar school in Trnava, where he met and befriended Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský. His ethnomusicological activity also attached Kodály to the territory of Slovakia. Between the years 1905 and 1920 he regularly visited Slovakia and collected, wrote down and studied traditional vocal and instrumental music. His collector’s work he performed namely on the so-called Terra Mathei (Matúš’s Land – the lands belonging formerly to Matthew (III) Csák), in the vicinity of Galanta, Nitra, Gemer, and Tekov. This activity resulted in more than 2,000 Hungarian and 140 Slovak folk songs recorded, 18 of which he further elaborated and quoted in his compositions. They are namely the choral works Two Folk Songs from Zobor, Scenes from Mátra, Hungarian Folk Songs (published jointly with Béla Bartók). Also Kodály’s most famous work, Dances of Galanta, belongs to them, as well as educational work Bicinia Hungarica, dedicated to Kodály’s “bare-foot schoolmates from fifty years ago”. Kodály as a researcher also studied folk songs collected on the territory of Slovakia and he released the results of his ethnomusicological activity in publications, e.g. Mátyusföldi gyűjtés (Collection from the Terra Mathei) 1905, Zoborvidéki népszokások (Folk Customs, Traditions from around Zobor) 1909, Régi karácsonyi ének – Nyitra-megyei községek karácsonyi miséi (Ancient Christmas Chant – Christmas Masses from the Villages of Nitra District).
Kodály visited Slovakia, Galanta, for the last time in 1943, when he was solemnly awarded the Honorary Citizenship of Galanta. Especially the city of Galanta in Slovakia is credited to a great extent with the promotion of Zoltán Kodály’s music heritage. To this city Kodály’s Days Festival is bound, as well as International Meeting of Choirs named after Zoltán Kodály, Zoltán Kodály International Violin Competition, Zoltán Kodály Choir. A street, the elementary school and grammar school in Galanta are named after the Maestro. The relations of Kodály and the city are affirmed by the plaque and Kodály’s bust, and bibliographies compiled in the Galanta library.
The creation, artistic as well as paedagogical legacy by Zoltán Kodály have thus acquired their respectable place in Slovakia. His works sound in many theatres and on concert stages, his pedagogical works are used for teaching of music at all levels, and his ethnomusicological results are presented on many scientific platforms and in scientific publications.