"Kodály's life, which the reader can trace through the pages of this volume, may be likened to a series of variations in that in all his compositions, writings and speeches one can find a central theme or idea running through them. This central idea can be described as the realization of a specifically Hungarian musical art and culture of universal significance."--Dust jacket.
First Published in 1998. This book serves as the key to study of Kodaly for an English-speaking audience. The volume presents a biographical outline, a catalog of his compositions according to genre, and over 1,400 annotated primary and secondary sources. Three indexes cover listings by author and title, Kodaly's compositions, and proper names. Primary sources include Kodaly's own essays, articles, lectures on folk music and art music, letters and other documents, and his folk music collections and facsimiles. Secondary sources include: biographical and historical studies; theoretic, analytic, stylistic, and aesthetic studies of his music; discussions of folk music influences and art music influences; studies of his compositional process; and discussions of the Kodaly concept. Doctoral dissertations and Masters theses pertaining to Kodaly are included in this guide. This annotated, topically organized book is the first to draw together the most important primary and secondary bibliographic sources that cover his varied activities as composer, ethnomusicologist, linguist, and educator.
Hungarian composer and musician Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) is best known for his pedagogical system, the Kodály Method, which has been influential in the development of music education around the world. Author Anna Dalos considers, for the first time in publication, Kodály’s career beyond the classroom and provides a comprehensive assessment of his works as a composer. A noted collector of Hungarian folk music, Kodály adapted the traditional heritage musics in his own compositions, greatly influencing the work of his contemporary, Béla Bartók. Highlighting Kodály’s major music experiences, Dalos shows how his musical works were also inspired by Brahms, Wagner, Debussy, Palestrina, and Bach. Set against the backdrop of various oppressive regimes of twentieth-century Europe, this study of Kodály’s career also explores decisive, extramusical impulses, such as his bitter experiences of World War I, Kodály’s reception of classical antiquity, and his interpretation of the male and female roles in his music. Written by the leading Kodály expert, this impressive work of historical and musical insight provides a timely and much-needed English-language treatment of the twentieth-century composer.
In the last decade of the 19th century, modernist sensibilities reached a critical mass and emerged more frequently in music as composers began employing dissonance, polyrhythm, atonality, and densities. Conversely, many 20th-century composers eschewed modernist devices and wrote accessible works in a tonal idiom, which drew chiefly on classical, romantic, and folk models. Then the postmodern sensibility followed, with its enthusiasm for the unprecedented availability of virtually every type of music, andit engendered numerous sub-groups, including multiculturalism, minimalism, multimedia, and free improvisation. Historical Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Classical Music focuses on modernist and postmodern classical music worldwide from 1890to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 400 cross-referenced dictionary entries, with more than 60 entries explaining the methods, styles, and acoustic and electronic media peculiar tonew music, and over 350 entries giving essential information on the lives and work of the people who have composed and performed that music. Those entries also include pop, jazz, and rock composer/musicians whose work either overlaps the realm of classical music or else is so radical within its own field that it merits discussion in this context. This book is a must for anyone, musician or non-musician, student or professional, who seeks to research and learn more about any significant aspect of modern and contemporary classical music worldwide.
With an emphasis on the musical history of the last 150 years, this book presents scholarly information about the great schools of guitar design, together with down-to-earth discussions of such practical subjects for guitarists as the problems of practicing and making a career. The author not only furnishes detailed technical information on the design and construction of every major international make of fine guitar, but offers a useful thumbnail refresher course on the great luthiers and marketing trends of the last 150 years, covering all the famous names in anecdotal detail.
