The later world-famous composer, Zoltán Kodály, was born in Kecskemét on 16 December 1882, but he could not spend a long time in his hometown, because his father was first transferred to Szob and then to Galánta in today's Slovakia as station master. The family lived in Galánta for only seven years, as they had to move again in 1892: his father was appointed station chief of Nagyszombat (Trnava, Slovakia). Kodály, ten years old at the time, began his secondary school studies at the Archbishop's High School in Nagyszombat. He studied Latin, Greek and German, loved literature and history, and was also a member of the school choir.

Zoltán Kodály in the 11 January 1928 issue of the Tolnai Világlapja

Music played an important role in his life from childhood: his father passionately loved to play the violin, his mother played the piano and sang well.

"Even though the piano was there, I did not feel like playing it. Sometimes I did hit the keys on it, but I much preferred to sing freely, just to myself, without lyrics: these were obviously my first compositions, which at the time gave me more joy than any of my later compositions. I only started learning the violin when I was ten years old [...] It was never important for me to be able to play an instrument. From the beginning, I composed much more than I played"

- Kodály's words were quoted by Magyar Szó on 8 March 1872.

Zoltán Kodály at work (Source: FSZEK Budapest Collection)

In June 1900, he passed his matriculation exam with distinction and said goodbye to Nagyszombat: he came to Budapest to study as a musician and teacher. He applied to the composition department of the Academy of Music, where he was accepted. Back then, education took place in the Neo-Renaissance palace at 67 Andrássy Avenue, designed by Adolf Láng. This was the second home of the institution founded in 1875: the young talents first studied in Liszt's Hal Square apartment on the Danube. Only four years later, in 1879, were they able to take possession of the Andrássy Avenue building. Kodály graduated here in 1904.

Ferenc Liszt's apartment on Hal Square, which was the first home of the Academy of Music (Source: Vasárnapi Ujság, 12 May 1907)

The old Academy of Music building is on the corner of Andrássy Avenue and Vörösmarty Street. Zoltán Kodály continued his studies and obtained a diploma in this building (Source: koncert.zeneakademia.hu).

Ten years after the handover of the Andrássy Avenue building, it was already discussed that a new, larger headquarters should be built, but for a long time, there was not much progress in the matter. The construction of today's Academy of Music palace on Liszt Ferenc Square was finally started only in 1904, and it was handed over on 12 May 1907. This building can be considered Kodály's second home since in the fall of 1907 he was inaugurated as a teacher at the Academy of Music.

The building of the Academy of Music on Liszt Ferenc Square, where Kodály taught from 1907 (Photo: Balázs Both/pestbuda)

During his years at the Academy of Music, he met and made a lifelong friendship with Béla Bartók. They were connected not only by their passion for music but also by their trips to collect folk songs. Their joint book Népdalok [Folk songs] was published in 1921, which contained 150 Transylvanian folk songs. Bartók always acknowledged his friend, which he expressed in the magazine Nyugat in 1921 as follows:

"..I do not respect Kodály as the best Hungarian musician because he is my friend, but he became my only friend because (apart from his great human qualities) he is the best Hungarian musician. The fact that I, and not Kodály, saw the best benefit of this friendship only proves once again his great abilities and altruism. In my career, which was not exactly devoid of struggles, he always stood by me bravely and openly, and never spared fatigue when it came to asserting myself."

The young Zoltán Kodály is sitting and studying his papers, behind him is his best friend, the young Béla Bartók. Both continued their studies at the old Academy of Music (Source: Ferenc Bónis: Béla Bartók's life in pictures, Budapest, 1956)

In addition to his studies at the Academy of Music, he also applied to the Hungarian-German department of the Pázmány Péter University Faculty of Humanities. In 1906, he was awarded a doctorate in humanities for his dissertation entitled 'The stanza structure of Hungarian folk songs'.

During his university years, Kodály lived in the Eötvös Collegium, founded in 1895. The institution is the oldest college of advanced studies of ELTE, which has helped the academic progress of talented young scientists, including Zoltán Kodály. At that time, the Collegium did not operate in its present-day Ménesi Road building (it was handed over only in 1911), but in Ferencváros, in the building under 2 Csillag Street (today's Gönczy Pál Street). Imre Garai writes in his book 'A teacher's elite training workshop' that after 7 pm, the college building could only be left with the principal's permission. At that time, only Kodály had permission to do this because of the Academy of Music performances and concerts.

Zoltán Kodály and his first wife, Emma Sándor (Source: Muzsika, 1 January 1959)

In August 1910, Kodály married Emma Sándor, who was 15 years his senior, with whom they lived in a happy, harmonious marriage for 48 years. Before their marriage, Emma was also involved in composing music:

"She won prizes in competitions in London and Paris with her piano works, and her compositions were printed by German publishers. But when she becomes Kodály's wife in August 1910, she devotes herself completely to the service of the great genius and retires from composing"

- wrote the magazine Új Kelet on 12 December 1958, when Emma's death was announced.

Their first home at 11 Áldás Street (Photo: Zsófia Viczián/pestbuda.hu)

In 1910, they moved to Rózsadomb, 11 Áldás Street, on the second floor. His works were created in this house, and he conducted his scientific research here. If he was tired, he could rest in the spacious garden and continue working.  It was in this apartment that he wrote one of his most significant works, Psalmus Hungaricus (the Hungarian Psalm). The work was presented for the first time on 19 November 1923, at the concert organised on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda in Vigadó in Pest. The success was extraordinary.

"It is also performed in several places in the countryside (first in 1929 in Sopron, on the centenary of the Sopron Music Association), it breaks through the borders of Trianon, conquers the successor states, and finally conquers all of Europe and America"

- wrote Zoltán Horusitzky in the magazine A Zene in a series of articles written in honour of Kodály's 60th birthday.

The play was presented for the first time in Zurich in 1926, from where it set off on its world-conquering journey.

89-91 Andrássy Avenue can be seen on the right side of the picture. The famous composer lived in this building from 1924 until the end of his life (Source: Fortepan/Nr.: 82458)

Zoltán Kodály's study in his former home in Kodály Körönd (Source: Magyar Múzeumok, Issue 4, 2007)

In 1924, Kodály and his wife moved into the apartment on the Körönd (89-91 Andrássy Avenue), which was owned by Emma's brother. The building was designed by József Kauser in 1883, and the master builder was Gyula Bukovich. The apartment building was completed in 1884.

Kodály and his second wife Sarolta Péczely in their home. He married Sarolta shortly after the death of his first wife (Source: Magyar Múzeumok, Issue 4, 2007)

The apartment was quite large: it consisted of four rooms, which also included toilets. The furnishings were rather puritanical, but there were many souvenirs of the past: the walls and shelves were full of ceramics and handicrafts from the travels of the folk song collector, statues revealing his professional successes, laurel wreaths and program booklets of foreign shows.

The visitor first entered the dining room, the bedroom opened to the left, and the innermost room was the study, i.e., Kodály's creative workshop.

The guests were warmly welcomed: if someone came to them at noon, another plate was placed on the table so that the guest could also have lunch and if someone arrived at five o'clock, they offered spearmint tea and cake.

In 1990, the Zoltán Kodály Memorial Museum and Archive were opened in the apartment, which preserves the memory of the famous composer.

Zoltán Kodály among his students (Source: Magyar Múzeumok, Issue 4, 2007)

In addition to composing, Kodály also took teaching very seriously and realised how little music education plays in Hungarian public education. For years, he worked on ways to introduce music into the elementary and middle school curriculum. His most important principle is that music education should start early in life, i.e., even before school age, because those years also play an important role in the development of musical taste and thinking. Kodály thought that kids do not need an instrument to deepen the music, because as he put it:

"Free singing without instruments is a true and profound school of musical ability."

He considered the folk song to be the most suitable for acquiring musical knowledge because it can be sung, is monophonic, and also carries national and aesthetic value. The important role of teaching music is relative solmisation, and that teaching music should not be a torment but a great experience for the children. The carefully constructed and well-thought-out method is now called the Kodály Method, and it is known and used in many parts of the world, UNESCO has declared it part of the intellectual cultural heritage.

At the concert organised on the occasion of Kodály's 83rd birthday in the Great Hall of the Academy of Music (Source: Fortepan/Nr.: 180148)

He was not lacking in recognition at the end of his life either. In 1946, he was elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and entrusted with leading the institution's post-war restoration. He held the position until October 1949. In 1948, 1952 and 1957, his work was recognised with the Kossuth Prize.

Zoltán Kodály's funeral on 11 March 1967 in the Farkasréti Cemetery (Source: Fortepan/Nr.: 198353)

One of the most significant figures of Hungarian musical life died on 6 March 1967 and was laid to rest in the Farkasréti Cemetery.

Cover photo: Zoltán Kodály (Source: Fortepan/Nr.: 210928)