Beneath the Surface #8 - Zoltán Kodály: String Quartets

Composer: Zoltán Kodály (Hungarian, 1882-1967)

Works: String Quartet no.1 Op.2 (1908-9); Intermezzo for string trio (1905); Gavotte (1952); String Quartet no.2 Op.10 (1916-18)

Performers: Dante Quartet [Krysia Osostowicz, Giles Francis (violins), Rachel Roberts (viola), Richard Jenkinson (cello)]

Label: Hyperion

Audio

Clips from this new recording can be heard at the Hyperion website

Background and Critical Reception

It is an increasingly commonly held perception that Zóltan Kodály is the greatly overlooked composer in twentieth-century Hungarian music. His contemporary Béla Bartók gets a lot more attention on all sides, and takes considerably more credit for the successful appropriation of the country’s many folk themes within classical frameworks.

Perhaps it is because Bartók offered a stronger challenge to formal designs and harmonic boundaries, often distorting his folk melodies away from instant recognition. My experience with Kodály's music, however, is that he is often more instantly accessible and more heart-on-sleeve in the sense that very little stands between the listener and his music.

This is especially true in the case of orchestral pieces such as the Dances of Galánta from 1933, using themes from an area that now lies within Slovakia, and the Dances of Marosszék from 1930. With Bartók it is sometimes a case of needing to peel away a layer or two to see what lies beneath.

Both composers were good friends, meeting in 1905 – the same year in which the Intermezzo on this disc was written. Both Kodály and Bartók wrote with great imagination and flair for strings, completing highly expressive solo sonatas for stringed instruments (Bartók for the violin and Kodály for the cello), then completing folk-inspired duets (Bartók for two violins in 44 Duets and Kodály in the form of a Duo for Violin and Cello) but their primary form of expression in chamber music became the string quartet.

This is where the two composers' fortunes could hardly be more different, for while Bartók's cycle of six is rightly revered as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – of the twentieth century, Kodály's two contributions are hardly ever heard. This may be in part due to the sheer size of the first, which runs to over forty minutes, making it one of the longest quartet works in the repertoire. There is much less of an excuse for the neglect of the Second, though, for only the Hagen and Melos Quartets have made major label recordings of the work.

This disc from the Dante Quartet therefore fills a gap in the repertoire, including not just the two quartets but the short Gavotte and the Intermezzo for string trio.

Thoughts

Kodály is not one to do things by halves! The musical language on this disc is direct, sometimes harrowing, and sometimes reckless – but never dull.

Neither is he short of a tune or two, and even in a massive work such as the String Quartet no.1, there is a continuous melodic invention, a refusal to go back and simply repeat the ideas already set out.

This work dominates the disc, a huge presence that reveals some of the composer's other influences alongside folk song. The Slavic language of Dvořák and Borodin can be heard in glimpses here, as can some of the quartet writing of Debussy, who wrote his only quartet in 1893. Kodály tends to score ambitiously for his stringed instruments, with the result that in this work it often feels as if eight people are playing, thanks to the frequent use of double stopping.

The first movement is bracing, out of the blocks with a forceful cello utterance that sets the tone of feverish intensity. This does let up, though, and as the movement progresses there is graceful nobility to its second theme. The slow movement leaves a lasting impression, a tender piece of music that is affecting, reducing itself almost to silence on occasion through its intense contemplation before building by way of a fugue to an impressive unison statement. The third movement, a scherzo, is much shorter and more obviously folk influenced, while the finale, after a feverish introduction, presents a disarmingly simple theme in C major, which Kodály subjects to some increasingly outlandish variations and a no-holds barred ending.

At times the sheer length of this work can be daunting, and the ear can lose some of the melodies in the packed central parts of the longer movements as the music becomes notable for its gritty determination. But there is much to enjoy here, and a strength of character that remains with the listener.

The String Quartet no.2, a wartime work, has a much more compact design, the composer finding more compressed but equally direct ways of expressing himself. This is a very fine work, packed into three movements that keep the folksong influence but introduce a more elusive emotional element. The language is not as direct or heart-on-sleeve as the first quartet, but on repeated hearing becomes just as meaningful, bound together with tighter structural control and more complex harmonies. The elusive, wiry first movement and the free form second, where the instruments take on more soloistic roles, find their release in the rustic finale, where the cello leads off a dance-themed movement with gusto, its main theme reminiscent of the Dances of Marosszék.

The two 'fillers' are very attractive, the tuneful Intermezzo working really well with its noticeably 'younger' style after the weighty first quartet. The Gavotte, a much later piece, is a winsome trifle, very light on its feet and with a tinge of melancholy, but a nice encore piece.

Verdict

If you are familiar with the six quartets of Bartók then this disc is an excellent complement to that cycle. This is music that is never less than forthcoming with its feelings, and the incredibly high standard of playing from the Dante Quartet gives Kodály's music its best possible vehicle.

Further listening

There are no recordings of the String Quartet no.1 on Spotify but a Kodály playlist including the String Quartet no.2 can be accessed here, also featuring some of the composer’s best-loved orchestral and choral works – the Dances of Galánta, the Dances of Marosszék, the Psalmus Hungaricus and the Sonata for Solo Cello.