Bartók and Kodály - anno 1910
– Exhibition
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A centenary exhibition
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Béla Bartók
and Zoltán Kodály first met at their private composition student
Emma Gruber-Schlesinger’s salon in 1905. A year later they
jointly published their first arrangements of Hungarian
folksongs for voice and piano. Their close friendship was
eventually marked by two concerts, 17 and 19 March 1910, devoted
to their works respectively. The date of the first concert fell
on Emma Gruber’s birthday; Kodály, later that year, married her.
These concerts featured chamber and piano music emphasizing
their new stylistic orientation based on the combined influence
of folk music and contemporary western composition, particularly
that of Debussy. The exhibition investigates this youthful
friendship through memorabilia, embroidery and articles for
personal use, as well as invaluable original documents,
autograph letters and compositional manuscripts.
We are grateful to Mrs. Sarolta Péczely Kodály not only for
the innumerable documents and memorabilia she kindly made
available but also for her involvement in the preparations for
this exhibition, and to Ms. Teréz Kapronyi, head of the Kodály
Archives, for her expert help with musical manuscripts of Emma
and Zoltán Kodály. Special thanks are due to Mr. Gábor
Vásárhelyi, heir of Béla Bartók, Jr., making available
indispensable documents from his private collection. We are also
grateful to the Gödöllő Városi Múzeum (Municipal Museum of
Gödöllő) for generously lending a selection of art works from
their rich collection and especially to Cecília Őri Nagy for her
expert help in selecting the right items to exhibit.
Invitation card of the Exhibition | Pictures from the Exhibition | Pictures from the Night of the Museums
Concept and Organization by:
Anna Baranyi
Sarolta Péczely-Kodály
László Vikárius
Sponsored by:
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Ministry of
National Resources, Hungary
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Mensator Restaurátor KKT