Duo, Op.7 for violin and cello by Zoltan Kodaly
Published by Universal
Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) was a leading Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and pedagogue. Early in his career, he traveled between Hungarian villages, recording their folk music with his friend and compatriot Bela Bartok, later incorporating this music into his compositions. Later, he developed principles for early music education based on language acquisition and universal accessibility, which was eventually developed into the Kodaly method. As a composer, he was known for his colorful, imaginative, and intensely expressive writing. Bartok wrote that his works ''are the perfect embodiment of the Hungarian spirit''.
As with his Solo Cello Sonata, Op.8 (1915) from the same time, Kodaly's extraordinary Duo for Violin and Cello, Op.7 (1914) is a landmark work for the duo repertory, predating Ravel's better-known Sonata by eight years. It combines expressive depth and intensity, Hungarian folk music, and idiomatic, substantial, and challenging writing for violin and cello-elevating the form from a light diversion to a dramatic, serious work of art, the first for the form. Includes two performing scores. Master level, grade 6.
