The Kodály Quartet is a
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
founded in 1966 in
Budapest
Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, originally as ''Sebestyén Quartet''. In 1969, with the approval of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of the Hungarian Republic, the quartet assumed its present name in honour of the Hungarian composer
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education.
...
.
The ensemble tours internationally, and has recorded the complete cycles of
Haydn,
Beethoven and
Schubert for the
Naxos
Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...
label. Its discography exceeds sixty recordings, mainly for Naxos.
Members
The quartet's present members are:
* Attila Falvay ''1st
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
''
* Ferenc Bangó ''2nd violin''
* Zoltán Tuska ''
viola''
* György Éder ''
violoncello''
Awards
* Ferenc Liszt Award (1970)
* Artist of Merit of the Hungarian Republic (1990)
* Bartók-Pasztory Award (1996)
* Classic CD Magazine's Best Chamber Music Release (1993)
Select Notable Reviews
* BBC Music Magazine's Pick of the Month, April 2000
* American Record Guide, July/August 2000
* Strad Magazine, February 2001
* MusicWeb UK, February 2001
* Gramophone, December 2002
* Classic Today, June 2005
* The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs (several listings, including one "Rosette")
Sources
* Archives of the Ferenc Liszt Society
* Archives of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic
* Archives of the Bartók-Pásztory Foundation
* Archives of the publishers of Classic CD Magazine
* Archives of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC Music Magazine
* The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs,
* Archives of the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary
*
Kodály Quartet entry in the German edition of Wikipedia
Naxos discography
External links
Kodaly String Quartet homepage*Facebook: Kodály String Quartet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kodaly Quartet
Musical groups established in 1965
Hungarian string quartets
Artists of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic