A Hungarian Master on the Road of Modernity and Tradition

Exhibition in the 2nd room of the Museum of Music History

Curator: Anna Dalos

The exhibition is open: From 23 November 2017

Commitment to modernity and respect for tradition is the intertwining clew running along the life and work of Zoltán Kodály. Both are directly related to his fight for the cultural emancipation of the Hungarian nation. This cultural emancipation - from the vantage point of Kodály - was the only and hence inevitable condition for the elevation of the nation, for its coming to age, independently of the actual political environment, the frequent succession of regimes in the 20th century. This guiding principle inspired the long row of his works worrying for the nation and confronting it with its foibles, this is what urged him to discover and scientifically elaborate folk culture and kindled his interest in the Hungarians of the future: children. The jubilee exhibition of the Archives for 20th - 21st Century Hungarian Music presents the most important stages of Zoltán Kodály's life path along the road of modernity and tradition, leading the visitor from the Budapest of the 1900s through the disasters of the two world wars to the general recognition of the decisive public figure and to the serene resignation of the old master. The exhibition pays tribute to this peerlessly influential, compelling figure of Hungarian culture and history, and shows seven decades of 20th century Hungarian history filtered through the oeuvre of Kodály.

Curator: Anna DALOS

Collaborators: Ádám IGNÁCZ, Veronika KUSZ, Anna LASKAI, Viktória OZSVÁRT, András RÁNKI, Ferenc János SZABÓ, Zsuzsanna TIHANYI, Eszter Emília WUTZEL

 Sponsor: Institute for Musicology, RCH, HAS

Pictures of the exhibition:

Pictures of the opening ceremony: