- Háry János originated as a folk opera, or “Singspiel,” by Kodály. The opera premiered in 1926, and Kolday’s orchestral suite using music from the work quickly followed in 1927.
- The orchestral suite consists of six movements:
- Prelude. The Fairy Tale Begins
- Listen for – an orchestral “sneeze” at the start of the work, based on a Hungarian superstition that a sneeze before the telling of a story indicates the story’s sincerity.
- Viennese Musical Clock
- Song
- The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon
- Intermezzo
- Entrance of the Emperor and His Court1
- Prelude. The Fairy Tale Begins
- Synopsis of Háry János from the published score:
- Háry is a peasant, a veteran soldier who day after day sits at the tavern spinning yarns about his heroic exploits…the stories released by his imagination are an inextricable mixture of realism and naivety of comic humor and pathos.
Though superficially he appears to be merely a braggart, essentially he is a natural visionary and poet. His stories are not true and that is irrelevant, for they are the fruit of a lively imagination, seeking to create, for himself and for others, a beautiful dream world. We all dream of impossible deeds of glory and grandeur, only we lack the naive courage of Háry and dare not reveal them. A deeper significance is given to the story by regarding Háry as symbolic of the Hungarian nation, whose strivings and ambitions can be fulfilled only in dreams.2
- Háry is a peasant, a veteran soldier who day after day sits at the tavern spinning yarns about his heroic exploits…the stories released by his imagination are an inextricable mixture of realism and naivety of comic humor and pathos.
- This opera/ orchestral suite displays Kodály’s dedication to understanding and interpreting Hungarian folk music, and bringing the culture of his homeland to the concert hall.
Sources
- “Háry János (suite) (Kodály, Zoltán),” IMSLP, accessed January 28, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/H%C3%A1ry_J%C3%A1nos_(suite)_(Kod%C3%A1ly%2C_Zolt%C3%A1n).
- David Guion, “Háry János, opera and suite by Zoltán Kodály,” Musicology for Everyone (2022), accessed January 28, 2025, https://music.allpurposeguru.com/2022/10/hary-janos-opera-and-suite-by-zoltan-kodaly/.
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