Zoltán Kodály, like Bartók, investigated Eastern European folk music and drew on it in concert pieces. He retained a basically late Romantic idiom and did not think through the tonal implications of his material as Bartók did, with the result that his work has been somewhat neglected. Yet Bartók certainly knew Kodály's work, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta perform a major service here by recording Kodály's comparatively rare Concerto for orchestra, written three years before Bartók's. Did ...
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Zoltán Kodály, like Bartók, investigated Eastern European folk music and drew on it in concert pieces. He retained a basically late Romantic idiom and did not think through the tonal implications of his material as Bartók did, with the result that his work has been somewhat neglected. Yet Bartók certainly knew Kodály's work, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta perform a major service here by recording Kodály's comparatively rare Concerto for orchestra, written three years before Bartók's. Did Bartók know the work? Surely. Did he borrow from it? Probably not. But consider the second theme of the Dances of Galánta, the rhythmic shape of which is close to that of the Bartók Concerto for Orchestra finale: perhaps it was a case of covering the tracks of influence a little bit. The Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song of Kodály are also well worth a hearing: zippy little takes on the song that approach Bartók for economy. And if it's beautiful tunes you're after, the final...
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