Kodály's Melody
Identifieur interne : 001C21 ( Main/Merge ); précédent : 001C20; suivant : 001C22Kodály's Melody
Auteurs : András Sz Ll SySource :
- Tempo [ 0040-2982 ] ; 1963.
Abstract
It is a generally accepted view that the most striking features of Kodály's melodic structure may be explained by the influence of folk song. This is not borne out, however, by more detailed examination. It is true that there are certain features in his melodic types which later undergo a change, and of these a prime example is the precise periodic articulation of the melodies, which is much more consistent in his later compositions than in those of his youth. Such characteristics may indeed be attributed to the influence of folk music, but in general the typical Kodály melody existed before he could have come into close contact with folk music in the year when he made his first folk song collecting trip. Of his compositions from the years 1904–1906, the only work we can consider from the viewpoint of melodic structure is the ‘Adagio’ for violin and piano; the other two compositions, Evening for mixed voice choirs and Summer Evening for orchestra, are known only in their later revised form of 1930. This, however, is sufficient to convince us that the expansive declamation and the structural ornamentation which is an organic part of its idiom continue an instrumental tradition whose origin may well go back to chamber music of the Baroque age, with its broad-flowing slow movements. This also seems to be substantiated by the piano part, which replaces impressionistic harmonies with those which may be analysed in accordance with classical harmonic principles. This characteristic harmonisation requires mention here, although it is not closely connected with the problem of melodic structure, since even the most complicated of Kodály's harmonies, when stripped of their embellishments, reveal pure ‘classical’ chords as their basis. The role of the melody in this problem serves merely to emphasise that with Kodály, perhaps more than any other composer, harmony is never an end in itself, but is always the result of the movement of the melody. If the word did not have more significance than we wish to attribute to it here, we might say that Kodály's harmony is only secondary to melody. This word ‘secondary’, however, does not refer to expression, but merely attempts to shed light on the matter of origin, by stressing the supreme importance of melody for Kodály.
Url:
DOI: 10.1017/S004029820002725X
Links toward previous steps (curation, corpus...)
- to stream Istex, to step Corpus: 000325
- to stream Istex, to step Curation: 000325
- to stream Istex, to step Checkpoint: 001B29
Links to Exploration step
ISTEX:139801952119BE32FF856D94C388745318DE540DLe document en format XML
<record><TEI wicri:istexFullTextTei="biblStruct"><teiHeader><fileDesc><titleStmt><title xml:lang="en">Kodály's Melody</title>
<author><name sortKey="Sz Ll Sy, Andras" sort="Sz Ll Sy, Andras" uniqKey="Sz Ll Sy A" first="András" last="Sz Ll Sy">András Sz Ll Sy</name>
</author>
</titleStmt>
<publicationStmt><idno type="wicri:source">ISTEX</idno>
<idno type="RBID">ISTEX:139801952119BE32FF856D94C388745318DE540D</idno>
<date when="1963" year="1963">1963</date>
<idno type="doi">10.1017/S004029820002725X</idno>
<idno type="url">https://api.istex.fr/document/139801952119BE32FF856D94C388745318DE540D/fulltext/pdf</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Istex/Corpus">000325</idno>
<idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Istex" wicri:step="Corpus" wicri:corpus="ISTEX">000325</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Istex/Curation">000325</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Istex/Checkpoint">001B29</idno>
<idno type="wicri:explorRef" wicri:stream="Istex" wicri:step="Checkpoint">001B29</idno>
<idno type="wicri:doubleKey">0040-2982:1963:Sz Ll Sy A:kodaly:s:melody</idno>
<idno type="wicri:Area/Main/Merge">001C21</idno>
</publicationStmt>
<sourceDesc><biblStruct><analytic><title level="a" type="main" xml:lang="en">Kodály's Melody</title>
<author><name sortKey="Sz Ll Sy, Andras" sort="Sz Ll Sy, Andras" uniqKey="Sz Ll Sy A" first="András" last="Sz Ll Sy">András Sz Ll Sy</name>
</author>
</analytic>
<monogr></monogr>
<series><title level="j">Tempo</title>
<title level="j" type="abbrev">Tempo</title>
<idno type="ISSN">0040-2982</idno>
<idno type="eISSN">1478-2286</idno>
<imprint><publisher>Cambridge University Press</publisher>
<pubPlace>Cambridge, UK</pubPlace>
<date type="published" when="1963">1963</date>
<biblScope unit="issue">63</biblScope>
<biblScope unit="page" from="12">12</biblScope>
<biblScope unit="page" to="16">16</biblScope>
</imprint>
<idno type="ISSN">0040-2982</idno>
</series>
</biblStruct>
</sourceDesc>
<seriesStmt><idno type="ISSN">0040-2982</idno>
</seriesStmt>
</fileDesc>
<profileDesc><textClass></textClass>
<langUsage><language ident="en">en</language>
</langUsage>
</profileDesc>
</teiHeader>
<front><div type="abstract" xml:lang="en">It is a generally accepted view that the most striking features of Kodály's melodic structure may be explained by the influence of folk song. This is not borne out, however, by more detailed examination. It is true that there are certain features in his melodic types which later undergo a change, and of these a prime example is the precise periodic articulation of the melodies, which is much more consistent in his later compositions than in those of his youth. Such characteristics may indeed be attributed to the influence of folk music, but in general the typical Kodály melody existed before he could have come into close contact with folk music in the year when he made his first folk song collecting trip. Of his compositions from the years 1904–1906, the only work we can consider from the viewpoint of melodic structure is the ‘Adagio’ for violin and piano; the other two compositions, Evening for mixed voice choirs and Summer Evening for orchestra, are known only in their later revised form of 1930. This, however, is sufficient to convince us that the expansive declamation and the structural ornamentation which is an organic part of its idiom continue an instrumental tradition whose origin may well go back to chamber music of the Baroque age, with its broad-flowing slow movements. This also seems to be substantiated by the piano part, which replaces impressionistic harmonies with those which may be analysed in accordance with classical harmonic principles. This characteristic harmonisation requires mention here, although it is not closely connected with the problem of melodic structure, since even the most complicated of Kodály's harmonies, when stripped of their embellishments, reveal pure ‘classical’ chords as their basis. The role of the melody in this problem serves merely to emphasise that with Kodály, perhaps more than any other composer, harmony is never an end in itself, but is always the result of the movement of the melody. If the word did not have more significance than we wish to attribute to it here, we might say that Kodály's harmony is only secondary to melody. This word ‘secondary’, however, does not refer to expression, but merely attempts to shed light on the matter of origin, by stressing the supreme importance of melody for Kodály.</div>
</front>
</TEI>
</record>
Pour manipuler ce document sous Unix (Dilib)
EXPLOR_STEP=$WICRI_ROOT/Wicri/Musique/explor/DebussyV1/Data/Main/Merge
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_STEP/biblio.hfd -nk 001C21 | SxmlIndent | more
Ou
HfdSelect -h $EXPLOR_AREA/Data/Main/Merge/biblio.hfd -nk 001C21 | SxmlIndent | more
Pour mettre un lien sur cette page dans le réseau Wicri
{{Explor lien |wiki= Wicri/Musique |area= DebussyV1 |flux= Main |étape= Merge |type= RBID |clé= ISTEX:139801952119BE32FF856D94C388745318DE540D |texte= Kodály's Melody }}
![]() | This area was generated with Dilib version V0.6.33. | ![]() |