Zoltan Kodaly Biography

Zoltn Kodly (December 16, 1882 March 6, 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator,
linguist and philosopher.
Though born in Kecskemt, Kodly spent most of his childhood in Galnta and Nagyszombat (now Trnava, Slovakia).
His father was a keen amateur musician, and Kodly learned to play the violin as a child. He also sang in a cathedral
choir and wrote music, despite having little formal musical education.
In 1900, Kodly entered Budapest University to study modern languages, and began to study music at the Franz
Liszt Academy in Budapest, where Hans Koessler taught him composition.
One of the first people to undertake the serious study of folk song, Kodly became one of the most significant early
figures in the field of ethnomusicology. From 1905 he visited remote villages to collect songs and in 1906 wrote his
thesis on Hungarian folk song ('Strophic Construction in Hungarian Folksong'). Around this time he met fellow
composer Bla Bartk, to whom he introduced Hungarian folk song. The two went on to publish several collections
of folk music together, and they both show the influence of folk music in their own compositions.
After gaining his PhD in philosophy and linguistics, Kodly went to Paris where he studied with Charles Widor. There
he discovered, and absorbed influenced from, the music of Claude Debussy. In 1907 he moved back to Budapest,
and gained a professorship at the Academy of Music there. He continued his folk music-collecting expeditions
through World War I without interruption.
Kodly had composed throughout this time, producing two string quartets, his sonatas for cello and piano and for
solo cello (Op. 8, 1915), and his duo for violin and cello, but had no major success until 1923 when his Psalmus
Hungaricus premiered at a concert to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest ( Bartk's
Dance Suite premiered on the same occasion.) Following this success, Kodly travelled throughout Europe to
conduct his music.
Kodly subsequently became very interested in the problems of music education, and wrote a good deal of
educational music for schools, as well as books on the subject. His work in this field had a profound effect on
musical education both inside and outside his home country. Some commentators refer to his ideas as the 'Kodly
Method', although this seems something of a misnomer, as he did not actually work out a comprehensive method,
rather laying down a set of principles to follow in music education.
He continued to compose for professional ensembles also, with the Dances of Marosszk (1930, in versions for solo
piano and for full orchestra), the Dances of Galanta (1933, for orchestra), the Peacock Variations (1939,
commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary) and the Missa Brevis (1944, for
soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ) among his better known works. The suite from his opera Hry Jnos (1926)
also became well known, though few productions of the opera itself take place.
Kodly remained in Budapest through World War II, retiring from teaching in 1942. In 1945 he became the president
of the Hungarian Arts Council, and in 1962 received the Order of the Hungarian People's Republic. His other posts
included a presidency of the International Folk Music Council, and honorary presidency of the International Society
for Music Education. He died in Budapest in 1967, one of the most respected and well known figures in the
Hungarian arts.
In 1966, the year before Kodly's death, the Kodly Quartet, a string quartet named in Kodly's honour, formed.
Zoltn Kodly
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Hungarian
Wikipedia. (January 2011)
Don't speak Hungarian? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Hungarian article.
Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating.[show]
"Kodaly" redirects here. For other uses, see Kodaly (disambiguation).
The native form of this personal name is Kodly Zoltn. This article uses the Western name order.

Zoltn Kodly monument in Pcs

Zoltn Kodly (Hungarian: Kodly Zoltn, [kodaj zoltan]; 16 December 1882 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian
composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator
of the Kodly Method.

Contents

1 Life

2 Selected works

3 See also

4 References

5 Further reading

6 External links

Life
Born in Kecskemt, Kodly learned to play the violin as a child.
In 1905 he visited remote villages to collect songs, recording them on phonograph cylinders. In 1906 he wrote the
thesis on Hungarian folk song ("Strophic Construction in Hungarian Folksong"). Around this time Kodly met fellow
composer Bla Bartk, whom he took under his wing and introduced to some of the methods involved in folk song
collecting. The two became lifelong friends and champions of each other's music.

Bust in Balatonlelle, Hungary

Duo for violin and cello (Op. 7, 1914)
Performed by the U.S. Army Band Strings.

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

All these works show a great originality of form and content, a very interesting blend of highly sophisticated
mastery in the Western-European style of music, including classical, late-romantic, impressionistic and modernist
tradition and at the other hand profound knowledge and respect for the folk music on Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria,
Albania and other Eastern-European countries. Due to the outbreak of the First World War and subsequent major
geopolitical changes in the region and partly because of the personal shyness Kodly had no major public success
until 1923 when his Psalmus Hungaricus premiered at a concert to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the union of
Buda and Pest (Bartk's Dance Suite premiered on the same occasion.)
Kodly was very interested in the problems of music education, and he wrote a large amount of material on music
education methods as well as composing a large amount of music for children. Beginning in 1935, along with
colleague Jen dm, he embarked on a long term project to reform music teaching in the lower and middle
schools. His work resulted in the publication of several highly influential books. The Hungarian music education
method that developed in the 1940s became the basis for what is called the "Kodly Method". Kodaly himself did
not write a comprehensive method, but he did establish a set of principles to follow in music education. See also:
Kodly Hand Signs.

Commemorative plaque in Andrssy Avenue, Budapest

His notable students include Anne Lauber and John Verrall.
In the motion picture Close Encounters of the Third Kind a visual learning aid distributed to members of a
conference of UFOlogist was named "Zoltan Kodaly" and referenced musical notes as hand signals.
His wife was Emma Gruber, the dedicatee of Ern Dohnnyi's Waltz for piano four-hands, Op. 3, and Variations and
Fugue on a theme by E.G., Op. 4 (1897).[1]
Selected works
Operas

Hry Jnos, Op. 15 (1926)

Szkelyfon (The Spinning Room) (19241932)

Orchestral

Summer Evening (1906, revised 1929)

Hry Jnos Suite (1926)

Dances of Marosszk (1930)

Dances of Galnta (1933)

Variations on a Hungarian Folksong Flszllott a pva (The Peacock) (1939)

Concerto for Orchestra (19391940)

Symphony (1930s1961)

Chamber/instrumental
Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 3. Allegro molto vivace
Alisa Weilerstein performs Kodly's Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 3. Allegro molto vivace at the White
House Evening of Classical Music on November 4, 2009.

Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 3. Allegro molto vivace

Audio only

Problems listening to these files? See media help.

Adagio for violin (or viola, or cello) and piano (1905)

Intermezzo for string trio (1905)

String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 2 (19081909)

Cello Sonata, Op. 4 (19091910)

Duo for violin and cello, Op. 7 (1914)

Sonata for solo cello, Op. 8 (1915)

String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (19161918)

Szerend (Serenade) for 2 violins and viola, Op. 12 (19191920)

Pange lingua, Praeludium for organ (1931)

Organoeida ad missam lectam (Csendes mise) (1944)

Epigrammak (1954)

Choral

Este (1904)

Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13 (1923)

Matrai kepek (1931)

Jzus s a kufrok (1934)

Te Deum (1939)

Missa Brevis for soloists, chorus and organ (1942, 1948)

Laudes organi for chorus and organ (1966)

Adventi nek (Veni, Veni Emmanuel) for mixed choir a cappella

Zoltn Kodly (Composer, Arranger)

Born: December 16, 1882 - Kecskemt, Hungary
Died: March 6, 1967 - Budapest, Hungary
Zoltn Kodly was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, educator, linguist, and philosopher. His father was a
stationmaster and keen amateur musician, and Kodly learned to play the violin as a child. He also sang in a
cathedral choir and wrote music, despite having little formal musical education. In 1900, Kodly entered the
University of Budapest to study modern languages, and began to study music at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
in Budapest, where Hans Koessler taught him composition.
One of the first people to undertake the serious study of folk tales, Zoltn Kodly became one of the most
significant early figures in the field of ethnomusicology. In 1905 he visited remote villages to collect songs recording
them on phonograph cylinders. In 1906 he wrote the thesis on Hungarian folk song ("Strophic Construction in
Hungarian Folksong"). Around this time Kodly met fellow composer Bla Bartk, whom he took under his wing and
introduced to some of the methods involved in folk song collecting. The two became lifelong friends and champions
of each other's music.
After gaining his PhD in philosophy and linguistics, Zoltn Kodly went to Paris where he studied with Charles Widor.
There he discovered and absorbed various influences, notably the music of Claude Debussy. In 1907 he moved back
to Budapest and gained a professorship at the Academy of Music there. He continued his folk music-collecting
expeditions through World War I without interruption.
Zoltn Kodly had composed throughout this time, producing two String quartets (Op.2, 1909 and op.10, 1917
respectively), Sonata for cello and piano (Op.4, 1910) and Sonata for cello solo (Op. 8, 1915), and his Duo for violin
and cello (Op.7, 1914). All these works show a great originality of form and content, a very interesting blend of

highly sophisticated mastery in the Western-European style of music, including classical, late-romantic,
impressionistic and modernist tradition and at the other hand profound knowledge and respect for the folk music on
Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Albania and other Eastern-European countries. Due to the outbreak of the World War I
and subsequent major geopolitical changes in the region and partly because of the personal shyness Kodly had no
major public success until 1923 when his Psalmus Hungaricus premiered at a concert to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the union of Buda and Pest (Bartk's Dance Suite premiered on the same occasion.) Following this
success, Kodly travelled throughout Europe to conduct his music.
Zoltn Kodly was very interested in the problems of music education, and he wrote a large amount of material on
music education methods as well as composing a large amount of music for children. Beginning in 1935, along with
colleague Jen dm, he embarked on a long term project to reform music teaching in the lower and middle
schools. His work resulted in the publication of several highly influential books and he had a profound impact on
musical education both inside and outside his home country. The Hungarian music education method that
developed in the 1940s became the basis for what is called the "Kodly Method". Kodaly himself did not write a
comprehensive method, but he did establish a set of principles to follow in music education.
Zoltn Kodly continued to compose for professional ensembles also, with the Dances of Marosszk (1930, in
versions for solo piano and for full orchestra), the Dances of Galanta (1933, for orchestra), the Peacock Variations
(1939, commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam to celebrate its 50th anniversary) and the Missa
Brevis (1944, for soloists, chorus, orchestra and organ) among his better known works. The suite from his opera
Hry Jnos (1926) also became well known, though few productions of the opera itself take place. It was first
performed in Budapest and conductors such as Arturo Toscanini, Willem Mengelberg and Wilhelm Furtwngler have
included this piece in their repertoires.
Zoltn Kodly remained in Budapest through World War II, retiring from teaching in 1942. In 1945 he became the
president of the Hungarian Arts Council, and in 1962 received the Order of the Hungarian People's Republic. His
other posts included a presidency of the International Folk Music Council, and honorary presidency of the
International Society for Music Education. He died in Budapest in 1967, one of the most respected and well known
figures in the Hungarian arts. In 1966, the year before Kodly's death, the Kodly Quartet, a string quartet named in
Kodly's honour, formed. His notable students include Anne Lauber and John Verrall.
Selected Works
Orchestral:
Summer Evening (1906, rev. 1929)
Hry Jnos Suite (1926)
Dances of Marosszk (1930)
Dances of Galanta (1933)
Peacock Variations (1939)
Concerto for Orchestra (1939)
Symphony (1930's - 1961)
Chamber/Instrumental:
Intermezzo for String Trio (1905)
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 2 (1909)
Cello Sonata, Op. 4 (1910)
Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 (1914)
Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8 (1915)[1]
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 10 (1917)
Serenade for 2 Violins and Viola, Op. 12 (1920)
Operas:
Hry Jnos (1926)
The Transilvanian Spinning Room (1932)
Choral:
Missa Brevis, for soloists, chorus & organ
Laudes organi, for chorus & organ
Este (1904)

Psalmus Hungaricus, Op. 13 (1923)

Matrai kepek (1931)
Jzus s a kufrok(1934)
Te Deum (1939)
Source: Mostly Wikipedia Website (October 2010)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (October 2010)

Zoltn Kodly, Composer

Dates
Born

December 16, 1882 in Kecskemt, Hungary

Died in Nationality

Hary Janos Suite, Song

Budapest, Hungary, March 6, 1967

-

Hungarian

Style/Period - Modern 1920-Present

Famous Works
Hry Janos Suite, the Peacock Variations, Concerto for Orchestra, Symphony in C major
Bio
Zoltn was one of three children born to Frigyes and Paulina Kodly. Although the father worked as an official for the
railway, both parents were amateur musicians: his father was a violinist and his mother played the piano. Zoltn
studied piano, violin, viola, and cello as a child and often played cello in his father's quartet. Even though his family
moved quite frequently, Zoltn sang in the choir at Nagyszombat Cathedral and played cello in the orchestra there.
He composed his first overture at the age of 15 and entered the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest in 1900,
earning a teaching diploma in 1905.
During his years at the Academy he studied composition and was influenced by the music of Brahms and Debussy.
However, the biggest influence on Kodly's music came from Hungarian folk music. In 1905 he and Bla Bartk
began to collect Hungarian folksongs, including field recordings. His ongoing work of collecting, analyzing, editing,
and organizing this vast body of folk material was his way of preserving the Hungarian culture.
In 1907, he was appointed a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest and, along with Bla Bartok,
wrote a paper titled "A Project for a New Universal Collection of Folk Songs." This project continued until restricted

by World War I. During the war years, Kodly lost his academic position due to political reasons, but resumed his
teaching at the Academy in 1922. In 1923 he was commissioned to write a new work in celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the combining of the individual cities of Pest, Buda, and Obuda into Budapest. His oratorio, Palmus
Hungaricus, written especially for this occasion, was the first of a series of larger choral works that brought him
international recognition. His reputation as a significant composer became established with his opera, Hary Janos,
and his orchestral works including: Dances of Marosszk, Dances of Galnta, and the Peacock Variations. He
composed his Concerto for Orchestra to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Zoltn Kodly was a pioneer in the field of music education. He believed that music belonged to everyone and to
achieve a higher level of musical understanding, musical training must be developed within school systems. He
devoted himself to training future musicians at the Academy and improving the overall music education of
Hungarian children. Kodly advocated a love of music supported by a knowledge about music. Because the folk
song was an accessible product of the people, especially in children's singing games, he suggested it as the place
where music education should begin. Kodly wrote many essays in support of music education. He also composed
new choral works as an attempt to provide materials for use in the music education programs within the school
system.
Kodly officially retired in 1942 at age 60. At that point in his life, he toured England, the United States, and the
Soviet Union as a conductor of his own works. He received many awards and honors and continued his efforts to
improve Hungarian music education by writing new works for children and adult choirs. His many essays on music
education and the use of the folk song in teaching children have influenced teachers and music curriculum all over
the world and continue to do so today.
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What is the Dalcroze Teaching Method?

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The Dalcroze method, also known as Dalcroze Eurhythmics, incorporates the basic elements of musicrhythm,
melody, harmonywith body movement, to provide a multi-dimensional approach to music learning. Unlike most
traditional methods, improvisation is a major component of the Dalcroze approach and one of its three aspects:

Eurhythmics trains the body in rhythm and dynamics

Solfege (sight singing) trains the ear, eye and voice in pitch, melody and harmony

Improvisation brings all elements together according to the student's own invention, in movement, with
voice, at an instrument. (Dalcroze Society of America)

Beyond musical intelligence, the Dalcroze approach engages and exercises several other aspects of intelligence.
Musical games and experiments engage logical thinking. Eurhythmics appeals to kinesthetic and spatial types of
learners. The social quality of music-making develops communication, feeling, and empathy. Dalcroze is fun! It has
the physicality of sports, aesthetic appeal of the arts, and is mentally challenging, for all ages. Unfortunately,
programs are not widespread, and where they exist, they are frequently for children only.
The Dalcroze concept of improvisation is close to the nature of childhood play. According to Dictionary.com,
improvisation means to compose and perform or deliver without previous preparation; to compose, play, recite, or
sing (verse, music, etc.) on the spur of the moment. Improvisation frees a child to relate directly and spontaneously
to music within a range of musical knowledge. Improvising with full-body movement, singing or playing an
instrument, helps the child internalize complex elements of rhythm, pitch, tone and dynamics without having to
read a musical score. Through improvisation, composing becomes a personal and immediate creative act. A child
enhances his creative spirit through improvisation and carries that spirit into his daily life.

Emile Dalcroze was a visionary 19th-century pedagogue. He did not like his approach to be labeled as a method. In
fact, there is really no set curriculum. Teachers are trained in techniques and principles, which they adapt to the
characteristics, needs and abilities of their students. Dalcroze certificates and licenses are conferred by master
Dalcroze teachers who hold the Diploma from the Dalcroze Institute in Geneva, Switzerland
http://www.dalcrozeusa.org/. In California, two established musical institutions that teach the Dacroze method are
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (415-864-7326) and The School of Performing Arts Division of The Colburn
School (213-621-2200).
Included in: Teaching Methods
Kathy Butera is Lecturer/Supervisor of the Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Department at Columbia
College Chicago. She was formerly Executive Director of Sherwood Conservatory of Music (now merged with
Columbia) and has held management positions with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Chicago symphony
orchestras.

Carl Orff
(July 10, 1895) ? March 29, 1982) was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his oratorio Carmina
Burana (1937). In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for
children.
Early life
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)
Orff was born in Munich on July 10, 1895. His family was Bavarian and active in the German military.
Orff started studying the piano at age five and also took organ and cello lessons. However, he was more interested
in composing original music than in studying to be a performer. Orff wrote and staged puppet shows for his family,
composing music for piano, violin, zither, and glockenspiel to accompany them. He had a short story published in a
children's magazine in 1905 and started to write a book about nature. In his spare time he enjoyed collecting
insects.
By the time he was a teenager, Orff was writing songs, although he had not studied harmony or composition; his
mother helped him set down his first works in musical notation. Orff wrote his own texts and he learned the art of
composing, without a teacher, by studying classical masterworks on his own.
In 1911, at age 16, some of Orff's music was published. Many of his youthful works were songs, often settings of
German poetry. They fell into the style of Richard Strauss and other German composers of the day, but with hints of
what would become Orff's distinctive musical language.
In 1911-12, Orff wrote a large work for baritone voice, three choruses and orchestra, Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus
Spoke Zarathustra) op. 14, based on a passage from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel of the same title. The
following year, he composed an opera, Gisei, das Opfer (Gisei, the Sacrifice). Influenced by the French Impressionist
composer Claude Debussy, and began to use colorful, unusual combinations of instruments in his orchestration.
World War I
Moser's Musik-Lexikon states that Orff studied at the Munich Academy of Music until 1914. He then served in the
military in World War I, during which he was severely injured and nearly killed in a trench cave in. Afterwards, he
held various positions at opera houses in Mannheim and Darmstadt, later returning to Munich to pursue his music
studies.

The Twenties
In the mid-1920s Orff began to formulate a concept he called elementare Musik, or elemental music, which was
based on the unity of the arts symbolized by the ancient Greek Muses (who gave music its English name) and
involved tone, dance, poetry, image, design, and theatrical gesture. Like many other composers of the time he was
influenced by the Russian-French emigr? Igor Stravinsky. But while others followed the cool, balanced "neoclassic"
works of Stravinsky, it was works like the composer's Les noces (The Wedding), a pounding, quasi-folkloric
evocation of prehistoric wedding rites, that appealed to Orff. He also began adapting musical works of earlier eras
for contemporary theatrical presentation, including Claudio Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo (1607). Orff's German
version, Orpheus, was staged in 1925 in Mannheim, Germany, under Orff's direction, using some of the instruments
that had been used in the original 1607 performance. The passionately declaimed opera of Monteverdi's era was
almost unknown in the 1920s, however, and Orff's production met with reactions ranging from incomprehension to
ridicule.

From 1925 until the end of his life, Orff was the head of a department and co-founder of the Guenther School for
gymnastics, music, and dance in Munich, where he worked with musical beginners. This is where he developed his
theories in music education, having constant contact with children. In 1930, Orff published a manual titled
Schulwerk, where he shares his method of conducting. Prior to writing Carmina Burana, Orff edited 17th century
operas. He had previously founded a school for gymnastics with Dorothee G?nther in 1924.
Carmina Burana
Based on the Carmina Burana, an important collection of Latin and German Goliard poems discovered in 1803 in the
library of the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern, near Munich. Written by monks and minstrels, the
collection appealed to Orff because of the variety of its humorous, sad, and suggestive verses. He selected about
twenty featuring the wheel of fortune and arranged them into bawdy songs for soloists and chorus, accompanied by
instruments and magic images.
This work exemplifies Orff's search for an idiom that would reveal the elemental power of music, allowing the
listener to experience music as an overwhelming, primitive force. Goliard poetry, which not only celebrates love and
wine, but also pokes fun at the clergy, perfectly suited Orff's desire to create a musical work appealing to a
fundamental musicality that, as he believed, every human being possesses. Eschewing melodic development and
harmonic complexity, and articulating his musical ideas through basic sonorities and easily discernible rhythmic
patterns, Orff created an idiom which many found irresistible. The perceived "primitivism" of Carmina Burana
notwithstanding, Orff believed that the profound appeal of music is not merely physical.
Carmina Burana forms the first part of a trilogy of staged cantatas called Trionfi (Triumphs), all based on Latin texts.
The other two parts are Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. The first performance, in 1937, was a stylistic
breakthrough, and brought Orff instant fame. Orff regarded Carmina Burana as the real beginning of his career, and
ordered his publisher to destroy all his previous works (an instruction that fortunately was disregarded).
The Nazi Era
Orff's relationship to German fascism and the Nazi Party has been a matter of considerable debate and analysis. His
Carmina Burana was hugely popular in Nazi Germany after its premiere in Frankfurt in 1937, receiving numerous
performances. But the composition with its unfamiliar rhythms was also denounced with racist taunts. He was one
of the few German composers under the Nazi regime who responded to the official call to write new incidental
music for A Midsummer Night's Dream after the music of Felix Mendelssohn had been banned ? others refused to
cooperate in this. Defenders of Orff note that he had already composed music for this play as early as 1917 and
1927, long before this was a favour for the Nazi government. Critics, however, note that writing music for the play
in those years, when the Nazis were not in power, is not the same as writing such music in response to a request
from the Nazi party, following the party's racist attacks on Mendelssohn because he was a Jew.
Carmina Burana made Orff's name in Nazi cultural circles. After some initial official discomfort about the work's
frank sexual innuendos, Orff's cantata was elevated to the status of a signature piece in Nazi circles, where it was
treated as an emblem of Third Reich "youth culture". The Nazi newspaper, the V?lkischer Beobachter, once pointed
to Orff's cantata as "the kind of clear, stormy, and yet always disciplined music that our time requires".

Orff was a personal friend of Kurt Huber, one of the founders of the resistance movement Die Wei?e Rose (the
White Rose), who was condemned to death by the Volksgerichtshof and executed by the Nazis in 1943. Orff by
happenstance called at Huber's house on the day after his arrest. Huber's distraught wife begged Orff to use his
influence to help her husband, but Orff denied her request. If his friendship with Huber came out, he told her, he
would be "ruined". Huber's wife never saw Orff again. Wracked by guilt, Orff would later write a letter to his late
friend Huber, imploring him for forgiveness.
Post War
After World War II, Orff, faced with the possible loss of royalties from Carmina Burana, claimed to a denazification
officer that he was a member of the White Rose, and was himself involved in the resistance. There was no evidence
for this other than his own word, and other sources dispute his claim. Canadian historian Michael H. Kater made in
earlier writings a particularly strong case that Orff collaborated with Nazi authorities, but in Composers of the Nazi
Era: Eight Portraits (2000) Kater rescinded his earlier accusations to some extent. Orff's assertion that he had been
anti-Nazi during the war was accepted by the American denazification authorities, who changed his previous
category of "gray unacceptable" to "gray acceptable", enabling him to continue to compose for public presentation.
Most of Orff's later works - Antigonae (1949), Oedipus der Tyrann (Oedipus the King, 1958), Prometheus desmotes
(1967), and De temporum fine comoedia (A Play for the End of Time, 1971) - were based on texts or topics from
antiquity. They extend the language of Carmina Burana in interesting ways, but they are expensive to stage and are
not operas in the conventional sense. They are occasionally performed, most often in Germany.
Personal life
"He had his life and that was that," his daughter, whom he rejected, tells Tony Palmer in the documentary O
Fortuna. The composer sought to avoid personal and moral responsibility in most things, and then wished to be
forgiven for his failure to accept these responsibilities.
He was married four times: Alice Solscher (m. 1920, div. 1925), Alice Willert (m. 1939, div. 1953), Luise Rinser (m.
1954, div. 1959) and Liselotte Schmitz (m. 1960). His only child Godela, from his first marriage, was born in 1921.
Death
When Carl Orff died in 1982 at the age of 86, he had lived through four epochs in the course of his life: the
Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi Third Reich and the post World War II West German Bundesrepublik. Orff
was buried in the Baroque church of the beer-brewing Benedictine priory of Andechs, south of Munich. His
tombstone bears his name, his dates of birth and death, and the Latin inscription "Summus Finis" (the ultimate
goal).
Musical work
Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi
From Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
Orff is most known for Carmina Burana (1937), a "scenic cantata". It is the first of a trilogy that also includes Catulli
Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. Carmina Burana reflected his interest in medieval German poetry. Together the
trilogy is called Trionfi, or "triumphs". The composer described it as the celebration of the triumph of the human
spirit through sexual and holistic balance. The work was based on thirteenth-century poetry found in a manuscript
dubbed the Codex latinus monacensis found in a Bavarian monastery in 1803 and written by the Goliards; this
collection is also known as Carmina Burana. While "modern" in some of his compositional techniques, Orff was able
to capture the spirit of the medieval period in this trilogy, with infectious rhythms and easy tonalities. The medieval
poems, written in an early form of German and Latin, are often racy, but without descending into smut. Fortuna
Imperatrix Mundi, commonly known as O Fortuna, from Carmina Burana is often used to denote satanic forces, for
example in the Oliver Stone movie The Doors.. The work's association with Fascism also led Pier Paolo Pasolini to
use the movement Veris Leta Facies to accompany the concluding scenes of torture and murder in his final film Sal?
o le 120 giornate di Sodoma .
With the success of Carmina Burana, Orff disowned all of his previous works except for Catulli Carmina and the
Entrata, which were rewritten until acceptable by Orff. As an historical aside, Carmina Burana is probably the most
famous piece of music composed and premiered in Nazi Germany. Carmina Burana was in fact so popular that Orff
received a commission in Frankfurt to compose incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was

supposed to replace the banned music by Mendelssohn. After the war, he claimed not to be satisfied with the music
and reworked it into the final version that was first performed in 1964.
Orff was reluctant to term any of his works simply operas in the traditional sense. His works Der Mond (The Moon,
1939) and Die Kluge (The Wise Woman, 1943), for example, he referred to as "M?rchenoper" ("fairytale operas").
Both compositions feature the same "timeless" sound in that they do not employ any of the musical techniques of
the period in which they were composed, with the intent that they be difficult to define as belonging to a particular
era. Their melodies, rhythms and, with them, text appear in a union of words and music.
About his Antigone (1949), Orff said specifically that it was not an opera, rather a Vertonung, a "musical setting" of
the ancient tragedy. The text is an excellent German translation, by Friedrich H?lderlin, of the Sophocles play of the
same name. The orchestration relies heavily on the percussion section, and is otherwise fairly simple. It has been
labelled by some as minimalistic, which is most adequate in terms of the melodic line. The story of Antigone has a
haunting similarity to the history of Sophie Scholl, heroine of the White Rose, and Orff may have been
memorializing her in his opera.
Orff's last work, De Temporum Fine Comoedia (A Play of the End of Time), had its premiere at the Salzburg music
festival on , 1973, performed by Herbert von Karajan and the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. In
this highly personal work, Orff presented a mystery play, in which he summarized his view on the end of time, sung
in Greek, German, and Latin.
Musica Poetica, which Orff composed with Gunild Keetman, was used as the theme music for Terrence Malick's film
Badlands (1973). Hans Zimmer later reworked this music for his True Romance (1993) score.

List of compositions
Operas
Der Mond (1939)
Die Kluge (1943)
Antigonae (1949)
Ein Sommernachtstraum (1952, reworked 1962)
Prometheus (1968)
De Temporum Fine Comoedia (1973)
Bairisches Welttheater (Bavarian World Theatre)
Die Bernauerin (1947)
Astutuli, eine bairische Kom?die (1953)
Easter Play
Comoedia de Christi Resurrectione (1956)
Nativity play
Ludus de nato Infante mirificus (1961)
De Temporum Fine Comoedia, Vigilia (1973, reworked 1977)
Trionfi (Triumphs)
Carmina Burana (1937)
Catulli Carmina (1943)
Trionfo di Afrodite (1953)
Treatments
Claudio Monteverdis Klage der Ariadne, Orpheus (1925, reworked 1940)
Entrata f?r Orchester, nach ?The Bells? von W. Byrd (1928, reworked 1941)
Classics
Antigone (1949)
Oedipus der Tyrann (1959)
Prometheus (1968)
Orff-Schulwerk
Musik f?r Kinder (with Gunild Keetmann) (1930?35, reworked 1950?54)

Pedagogical work
In pedagogical circles he is probably best remembered for his Schulwerk (1930-35), translated into English as Music
for Children. Its simple musical instrumentation allowed even untutored child musicians to perform the piece with
relative ease. Much of his life Orff worked with children, using music as an educational tool ? both melody and
rhythm are often determined by the words.
Orff's ideas were developed, together with Gunild Keetman, into a very innovative approach to music education for
children, known as the Orff Schulwerk. The term Schulwerk is German for "school work". The music is elemental and
combines movement, singing, playing, and improvisation.
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Carl Orff; it is used under the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you
comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl Orff

The Kodly Concept

Darren Wicks
The Kodly concept is an approach to music education that strives to achieve a synthesis of all the skills necessary
to develop complete musicianship (Bacon, 1993, p.75) and to cultivate a love and appreciation for music that is
supported by understanding and direct musical experience (Choksy, 1999a). The approach was inspired by the
philosophies of the Hungarian composer and educator, Zoltan Kodly (1882 1967).
The Kodly concept encompases two key elements.
1It is a philosophical approach to teaching music, and
2 It is a unique course of sequential musical instruction (Bacon, 1993).
Philosophy
Throughout Kodly's writings are the notions that a person cannot be complete without music and that music serves
to develop a person on all levels emotionally, spiritually and intellectually (Kodly, 1994). Kodly believed that
musical aptitude is a characteristic of every person and that, ideally, a music education should begin as early as
possible in a person's life - first at home and then later within the school curriculum.
He believed that children should first learn their own musical mother tongue - the folk songs of their own cultural
heritage. It is through this musical mother tongue that the skills and concepts necessary to achieve musical literacy
can be taught (Choksy, 1999a). As these skills develop, children are given the opportunity to study and perform Art
Music of all periods and styles. The process of children arriving at a conscious knowledge and understanding of
masterworks of all cultures through the music of their own culture is a unique idea that comes directly from Kodly
himself (Bacon, 1993, p.77)
Kodly believed that singing should be the foundation of all music education.
It is a long accepted truth that singing provides the best start to music education; moreover, children should learn
to read music before they are provided with any instrumenteven the most talented artist can never overcome the
disadvantages of an education without singing. (Kodaly, 1974).

The use of the voice is one of the most defining features of the Kodly approach. The voice is the most accessible of
all instruments and this makes it most suitable for musical instruction. It offers direct access to the world of music
without the technical problems associated with the playing of an instrument. Moreover, singing without the aid of
an instrument is a powerful pedagogical tool that, in the hands of a good teacher, can lead to a highly developed
musical ear.
Kodly stated the principal goal of music education as to make the masterpieces of world [music] literature public
property, to convey them to people of every kind and rank (1994, p.160). And later, in a lecture presented at the

University of Toronto on the occasion of his being granted an honorary doctorate, he said The final purpose of all
this must be to introduce the students to an understanding and love of great classical music - of the past, present
and future (as cited by Choksy, 2003, p.4). In order to achieve these ends, Kodly envisioned a structured and
sequential system of music education that would make music accessible to all students and affirm each student as
being innately musical.
Sequential Music Instruction
The Kodly Method is highly structured and sequenced, with well-defined skill and concept hierarchies in every
element of music. These sequences are both drawn from and closely related to child development the way in
which young children progress naturally in music as shown through research (Choksy, Abramson, Gillespie, Woods,
& York, 2001, p.83).
Kodly believed that musical instruction should reflect the way that children learn naturally. Just as one learns to
speak first and then read and write later, so the sound should be taught first before the symbols. The developed
inner ear will then be able to recall the sounds when they are presented later as symbols (Choksy, 1999a). He also
advocated that musical skills should be carefully sequenced into patterns that reflect an understanding of child
development. Great care is taken to lead the child from the known to the unknown and from direct experience to
abstract concepts and symbols.
Traditionally, Kodly curriculums are structured by beginning with a repertoire of folk songs (Choksy, 1999a) and
themes from Art Music (Choksy, 1999b). The teacher first analyses this repertoire, observing the frequency and
occurrence of various musical elements such as rhythmic, melodic and harmonic patterns. Using this analysis as a
starting point, pedagogical objectives are formulated and the musical elements are organized into a sequence that
takes into account the developmental stage of the students, the musical abilities of the student, and the need to
progress logically from the known to the unknown (Tacka & Houlahan, 1995).
Children's songs, singing games and folk dances are an integral part of early training and are used to enhance
learning and enjoyment.
Kodly musical training always involves active music-making. Musical learning evolves from a variety of
experiences including singing games and dances, folk songs and art songs; singing songs in unison, rounds, canons
and in parts; singing themes from great instrumental music; and listening and moving to music. All these are the
cornucopia from which musical concepts are drawn and through which musical skills are practiced (Choksy et al.,
2001, p.101).

Music literacy remains a key component of the approach and is developed gradually and sequentially. Kodly
envisaged a deep literacy that went beyond just knowing letter names. Instead, the musically literate should be
able to look at notation and think sound. The good musician understands music without a score as well as
understands the score without the music. The ear should not need the eye nor the eye the (outer) ear (Schumann
as quoted by Kodly (1994)).
Sol-fa syllables and the moveable-do system are used to teach skills in pitch discrimination, intervals, harmony and
analysis. These skills are reinforced with a system of hand signs originally developed by John Curwen in England.
Rhythmic skills are developed by means of a system of rhythm duration syllables (French time names) in which
common rhythmic patterns are given a sound name that reflects the way they sound.
Emergence

Although he was a major figure in the transformation of music education in Hungary during the early to mid 1900s,
Kodly never set out to create a Kodly Method. Instead, he sought to address what he saw as some major
weaknesses in the music education offered in his country. These weaknesses were evidenced by a low level of
musical literacy amongst Hungarian musicians, a glaring ignorance of the musical traditions of their own heritage
and the inadequate training of music teachers (Wicks, 2002).
Under Kodlys guidance, an approach to music education evolved that sought to address these weaknesses and
that drew upon the best of educational thought from around the world. The approach was later codified by Kodlys
students and adopted in a great many Hungarian schools with remarkable success. As a result, the 1964 Budapest

Congress of the International Society for Music Education held up Hungary's methods and achievements as worthy
examples to be followed by music educators of the world (Bacon, 1993). The musical literacy of the generation of
Hungarian youth that emerged now became a model and an incentive for educators all over the world to adapt the
Kodly concept for their own culture and students.
References
Bacon, D. (1993). Hold Fast to Dreams: Writings Inspired by Zoltn Kodly. Masachusetts: Kodly Center of America.
Choksy, L. (1999). The Kodly Method I (Third ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Who was Zoltn Kodly?

Zoltan Kodly was a prominent Hungarian composer, educator, ethnomusicologist, linguist, author and philosopher.
Along with Bartk and Ligeti, he is one of the three major figures in Hungarian music this century. Kodly's many
compositions show a strong affinity with the folk traditions of his country and include ballad operas, orchestral
works, chamber music, choral works, songs, folk song arrangements and music for children.
Kodly was born on December 16, 1882 in Kecskemt, a small town in central Hungary. Much of his childhood was
spent in the Hungarian villages. It was here that Kodly developed a great love for the Hungarian countryside and
for the folk traditions of his culture.
From a young age Kodly showed great aptitude and interest in music. His father, an amateur musician, encouraged
this interest, particularly the young boy's interest in composition. By the time Kodly reached secondary school he
was composing his own music. After completing his school education, Kodly studied at The Franz Liszt Academy
(Hungary's most prestigious music institution) and the University of Hungary where he earned a degree in
Hungarian, German and then, later, a Doctor of Philosophy in linguistics.
As a composer, Kodly did much to bridge the gap between Hungarian folk music and the European art music
tradition. The political climate of Hungary during the 1900's was such that it had strong economic ties with Austria.
The music of the Hungarian upper class was Viennese Classical music and the language spoken by educated
Hungarians was German. The peasant population, on the other hand, spoke Hungarian and had a thriving folk music
tradition of its own. Yet this distinctly Hungarian music was not regarded highly by both professional musicians and
the upper class that made up the concert audiences.
In the early 1900's, Kodly and his colleague, Bla Bartk turned their backs on the European music culture of
Hungary and focused their attention on their own native folk music traditions. In 1905 they set off on the first of
many expeditions to collect and gather traditional Hungarian folk music. Within a year they had arranged and
published a collection of twenty folk songs.
Kodaly's work was not immediately accepted by " the establishment" who regarded this folk music to be uncultured,
and unrefined. Yet, undeterred, Kodaly went on many more expeditions to collect and transcribe folk music. In a
number of his compositions he began to incorporate actual folk melodies that he had gathered. In 1921 and 1937,
Kodly and Bartk published two significant books on the subject of Hungarian folk music. The quality and
scholarship of these works caused them to receive worldwide recognition in the field of ethnomusicology.
In later years Kodly was president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, president of The International Folk Music
Council, and honorary president of the International Society for Music Education. In addition to his more than busy
schedule, Kodly spent a lot of time visiting schools and talking to music educators. He was actively involved in the
development and refinement of music textbooks and other materials for use in the classroom. On the day he died,
March 6, 1967 he was to carry out one of his many school visits.