The New Hungarian Quarterly, 1982 (23. évfolyam, 88. szám)

Breuer János: Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967). Kodály and Britten

JÁNOS BREUER ZOLTÁN KODÁLY AND BENJAMIN BRITTEN The first Britten work planned to be introduced to Hungary was the Phantasy Quartet Op. 2. Its introduction was intended by the Hungarian section of the ISCM for March 14, 1940, but the concert never took place. Benjamin Britten’s popularity in Hun­gary was established with the premiire of his Peter Grimes at the Hungarian State Opera House on December 22, 1947. Zoltán Kodály appreciated it greatly, and referred to it in a lecture “English Vocal Music” at the British Embassy in Budapest on November 2, i960. The actual meeting of the two composers was anticipated by several years through an unusual encounter in musical works: Britten and Kodály set to music “Tell me where is fancy bred” from Shakespeare’s Tie Merchant of Venice for the European Song Book compiled by the Countess of Harewood and Ronald Duncan (the Kodály chorus was written in 1959, that by Britten in 1961). Benjamin Britten first visited Hungary at the end of April 1964. He provided the piano accompaniment of a recital by Peter Pears, he heard a performance of Albert Herring at the Opera House, visited primary schools of music and singing, music clubs for young people, and met Zoltán Kodály. The first letter from Britten arrived at the Hungarian master’s home late that summer. 15th August 1964 My dear Mr Kodály, It was a great honour, and a great pleasure indeed, for Peter Pears and me to meet you and Mrs Kodály in Budapest in the spring. As we said then we are looking forward greatly to a further meeting, if possible in England. Could we possibly persuade you to visit our Aldeburgh Festival? This happens each June, ten days of concerts, operas, lectures, and picture exhibitions. If you have the time and inclination to be present as our guest, possibly to talk—an illustrated lecture on a subject of your choosing, or to introduce a concert—it would be a highlight for our Festival audience, an interesting audience of old and young. We brought back from Hungary with us a record of the Kodály children’s chorus, by which we are very much attracted. It is a marvellous choir for musicianship, and with a beautiful, individual sound. It is our ambition to ask this choir to participate in next year’s Festival. We expect there may be prob­lems in transporting such a choir this distance, but we would make every effort to overcome these difficulties. Could you tell us with whom our Festival Secretary (Mr Stephen Reiss) should communi­cate—an agency or choir secretary ? The date we were thinking of was 19 June 1965—and if your own visit could coincide with this we should be doubly happy. With warm good wishes to you and Mrs. Kodály in which Peter Pears joins. Yours sincerely, Benjamin Britten M. Zoltán Kodály Nepkoztarsasag út. 89, Budapest VI, Hungary [A typed letter, in the Aldeburgh collection of the Britten Estate.] I take this opportunity to express my thanks to Miss Rosemund Strode, the Secretary of the Britten Estate, for sending me copies of the documents, and to Miss Strode and Mis Zoltán Kodály for permitting their publication.

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