41. évfolyam / 1. szám (2003)

”Staccato Stroke?” – Sign and Subtext
László Somfai

Speculating on the intended meaning of stroke and/or dot in the articulation of 18th-century notation (cf. Ex. 1: 1-2, 5, 11), the study focuses not on the often-discussed treatises but on autograph notation and its presumed message for the musician of the time. The combined use of the word staccato plus strokes indicated above the notes in J. Haydn’s and W. A. Mozart’s string parts (Ex. 2) is a meaningful starting point: it suggests that the word indicated the so-called staccato bow stroke whereas the strokes not so much shortness but an equal accentuation of notes, in spite of the 18th-century traditions of Betonung. In general in J. S. Bach’s notation a series of dots also indicate equal accentuation (Ex. 2: 2-3, 5, 7-8). Occasionally, in an ouverture, its meaning is: play the rhythm as written (4); or an individual dot: don’t embellish the note (6). The modern typography of notation (according to which the stroke belongs to the note side, not the stem side) weakens the clear meaning of a stroke in the autograph given above the staves of two hands as an overall accent (Ex. 4). Mozart’s differentiation between stroke and dots (Ex. 5) in a string part may represent a refined notation of the two detached bow strokes (described among others by Quantz): the one lifting the bow, the other executed on the string. Finally, thirty-three examples taken from J. Michael Haydn’s autographs show a surprisingly conscious differentiation between stroke and dot (Ex. 6). Among others he used the stroke to point to the accented measure in two-bar or four-bar phrases (14, 17-18, 20-22).

The Kodály-dominant?
A new interpretation
Anna Dalos

The concept of the Kodály-dominant was introduced into the theoretical literature by Ernõ Lendvai when writing about Kodály’s oeuvre (in Lendvai’s book on Bartók’s and Kodály’s system of harmony, 1975). Although Lendvai sharply observed that this type of chord appears many times in Kodály’s compositions, he did not mention its belonging to the family of the augmented sixth chord. This paper attempts to demonstrate that Kodály interpreted the chord as a subdominant and not as a dominant. In the most significant source of his theory on harmony, the lecture notes of his pupil, Irma Bors, between 1935 and 1938 – a source that has not been dealt with as yet –, Kodály gives a detailed explanation of the augmented sixth chords, and characterizes them as typically subdominant chords. Moreover, it is obvious that he uses the chord in his compositions in the place of the subdominant chord: the music examples of this paper (Kodály’s String quartet No. 1., Te Deum of Budavár, Méditation) verify, that the family of the augmented sixth chord did not function as a possibility of further expansion of the functional system, as Ernõ Lendvai conceptualized, but played the role of alienation from it. In this respect Kodály – and this seems now easy to prove – belonged to a tradition which is characterized by such names as Schubert, Wagner, Schoenberg and Debussy.

Some Problems in 16-17th Century Hungarian Court Music Research
Peter Király

This study underlines the need for extensive research an the court music of Hungary. In particular there is a need for further research on the court music of the high nobility, which (with the exception of the famous Esterházy family) has not yet become a subject of thorough musicological research. In this short general survey, based on the present state of knowledge, the author draws attention to some features of musical life in residences of the Hungarian aristocracy, first of all to the notably frequent employment of foreign musicians. They came mainly from southern Germanic lands (Vienna here played a noteworthy transmitting role), others were from Italy or Poland. A few musicians from other neighbouring countries or territories are also documented. Their role and influence is briefly discussed. Difficulties concerning their identification are also observed, as well as problems caused by the sparseness of available data on their earlier or later careers abroad. The mixed international make-up of court music ensembles contradicts previous views about the solely Hungarian character of the music in residences of the high nobility in Hungary.

The Individual Point of View
András Wilheim

This essay attempts to illustrate the formation and evolution of a modern, 20th-century style through the career of composer András Szõllõsy. This style is candidly attached to deliberately selected traditions and the individual point of view, which comprises an original arrangement of previously known stylistic elements and features originating from various sources, and emerges from the organic interdependence and mutuality of works. There is a novel classicistic attitude to be observed in Szõllõsy’s compositions which could even seem surprisingly anachronistic at the time it first appeared in the 1970’s. In retrospect, however, it is obvious that its radical gesture was not without peers in its own generation – what is more, several of its features heralded the prevailing eclectic styles of the end of the 20th century.

Notizen über András Szõllõsy
János Breuer

Der Adressant als Redakteur, früher Rezensent des in Clausenburg (Kolozsvár – Siebenbürgen) zwischen 1936-1943 in 50 000 Exemplaren gedruckten Taschenbuch ungarischer Volkslieder. Die Tätigkeit von András Szõllõsy, Musikreferent des Ministerium für Kultur zwischen 1946-1950, mit Akzent auf seine Bemühungen zur Revitalisierung des ungarischen Musikverlagswesens. Die Rolle von Szõllõsy in eines nicht gegründeten Musikwissenschaftlichen Instituts (1948) und einer gleichnamigen existenten Organisation an der Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik (1950-1952).

Address Given at the Press Introduction of the First Volumes of the Edition of Erkel’s Operas
Miklós Dolinszky

Bátori Mária (1840) was one of the first romantic national operas in Eastern-Europe. Contrary to the widely held belief, contemporary critics expressed their appreciation even after the premiere of Erkel’s two other operas that had been played with prolonged success, and Erkel himself even quoted from this piece in the score of Bánk Bán. Nonetheless, Bátori Mária was definitively removed from the repertoire of the Hungarian National Theatre in 1860. This was due to the ever increasing radicalism of the demand for national music on the one hand, and to the change of taste that ensued from Wagner and Offenbach coming to the fore in Hungary on the other. Even so, the work fulfilled its mission: it proved that a national language was compatible with international musical idioms and the typical plots of opera as a genre.