Hungary Kodály 143: Symphony Orchestra and Alma-Mater Chorus of the Franz Liszt Academy / Matyas Antal (conductor). Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, 16.12.2025. (AK)
Kodály – Nyári Este (Summer evening) (1906/1928); The Music Makers (1963); Symphony in C major (1961)
Since 2013, Kodály’s birthday (16th December) is celebrated each year with a public concert at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest. For his 143th birthday the all-Kodály programme included some of his early as well as late works, performed by mostly current students but also some alumni of the Academy. The full orchestra and chorus were under the direction of Mátyás Antal who was an excellent choice for this birthday concert for numerous reasons.
Antal graduated from the Liszt Academy as flute player and conductor in 1971. Immediately after graduation, in 1972 he joined Hungary’s premier orchestra (Hungarian State Orchestra) as a flautist but from 1984 Antal held premier positions as orchestral and choral conductor. Bearing in mind that in his student’s days he also played double bass and percussion, later he led his wind quintet, furthermore he teaches at the Academy, Antal was more than fully qualified to lead this concert.
After his graduation at the Academy, from 1907 Kodály himself taught there – among other topics – composition, music theory and ethnomusicology for almost fifty years. At various times he also acted as vice-Principal and Chair of the Academy. With the addition of his philosophy of music education – often referred to (in my view incorrectly) as the Kodály method – Kodály’s influence on his as well as future generations of Hungarian musicians is immense.
Nyári Este (Summer evening) was composed for Kodály’s diploma concert at the Academy and was premiered in October 1906. After the premiere Kodály placed the score in his desk. In 1928, when Toscanini asked him for an orchestral composition, Kodály revised the piece and dedicated it to Toscanini who performed it with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1930. Kodály’s folklore research is evident in this piece as it is based on folkloristic elements.
The Music Makers, composed by Kodály four years before his death, is one of about fifteen compositions set to Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s poem, best known among them being Elgar’s setting (Op.69, 1912). The poem was first published in the collection Music and Moonlight (1874).
The Symphony in C took a long time, some thirty years, for Kodály to compose and he dedicated it to the memory of Toscanini. First performed by the Swiss Festival Orchestra (Lucern) under Ferenc Fricsai in 1961, it was published in 1962. As the Nyári Este (Summer evening), this substantial symphony – lasting about thirty minutes – still shows folk elements within classical structure.
The programme chosen for this concert was excellent in many dimensions. It gave a chance for the Academy’s students (current and alumni) to show their strength in demanding but lesser-known compositions. It also aired compositions which are not performed as frequently as other Kodály works. Many in the audience might have heard all three works for the first time. My mother was among the first Kodály teachers in Budapest some eighty years ago, I was brought up with the Kodály language which I have been teaching for the past many decades. Yet, and I hardly dare to admit, this was my first encounter with all three pieces on the programme.
The standard of this concert was surprisingly high from a student body. Their respect for their conductor Mátyás Antal as well as for Kodály was pulpable. With his consummate knowledge and skills, Antal drew out the best from his performers. I was privileged and proud to be there (even though I never had the chance to study at the Academy).
The best way to describe the feeling conveyed by all on stage is to quote at least the first stance from O’Shaughnessy’s poem:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
May such music makers, as seen at this concert, shape our future world…
Agnes Kory