''Kállai kettős'', also referred to in English as ''Double-Dance from Kálló'', ''Kálló Two-Step'', ''Two Folksongs'', or its French form ''Kálló's pas de deux'', is an early vocal composition by Hungarian composer

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" ...

. It was composed in 1950 and is one of Ligeti's collections of Hungarian pieces which the composer himself conceived as a whole.

Composition

This composition was written in 1950, when Ligeti was still living in Hungary. As Hungarian composer

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

, Ligeti was very interested in adapting and arranging Hungarian traditional music with his own style. During this period, Hungary was going through a repressive Stalinist era. Ligeti himself commented once on one of its performances: Ligeti also composed other early vocal compositions based on Hungarian folksongs, such as Bujdosó and Mátraszentimrei dalok. This composition was never given a formal premiere, even though it was published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

in 1952.

Analysis

The compositions is in two movements, which are the two different dances featured in it. It takes approximately three minutes to perform. Both of its movements are joined with an

attacca A variety of musical terms are likely to be encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special mus ...

. The movement list is as follows: * 1. ''Fellülről fúj az őszi szél''. Andante * 2. ''Eb fél, kutya fél''. Allegro molto It is scored for a mixed choir consisting of

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

s, and

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

. The songs arranged in this composition are traditional songs from the Hungarian area of Kálló. The text has been translated into English by Laurie Anne McGowan as an adaptation, that is, not for performance.

References

External links

A preview of the score
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kallai Kettos Choral compositions Compositions by György Ligeti 1950 compositions Contemporary classical compositions

Composition

Analysis

See also

References

External links