Hello all!

I have the understanding that many of you are very curious as to what I’ve been up to here in Europe, and I realize how long it’s been without an update. I want to make sure I can keep you all in the loop of not only the big events, but also the interesting little daily details of life in Hungary. I also have wished I could share videos and audio with you all.

SO! I have a solution.

I will be switching over in large part to a WHATSAPP GROUP! I use Whatsapp for a lot of communication with my classmates and family already, so I am 100% sure that this format will work for me to keep you all regularly updated. I hope this will not be a hindrance but a convenience for you all, too.

I would kindly request those of you who do not already have Whatsapp to set up a free account with your phone number (I in fact did not use my “real” phone number, but a google voice number that I set up, also for free). There is a Whatsapp app for smartphones, as well as an application for your desktop computer that can also be downloaded and used.

IMPORTANT: https://chat.whatsapp.com/H81cFrtV0BqCAqELem7SuX

This is the link to the group chat, by which you can join. The chat is called “Hungary4Harmony: Samuel R.” You are more than welcome to share the link with anyone you know who would be interested!

I have set it up so that only I and a few select admin are able to post directly, so that the chat stays centered around my updates without becoming a spam source for you. If you have comments or questions, please DO message me directly on Whatsapp and I will reply as soon as I can, and perhaps even add my reply to the group chat if it makes sense.

My Whatsapp number is (+1) 321-754-3212, or rather (+1) 321-7-54321-2 😉

If you would like to join but are having technical issues troubles, please reach out to me or even better someone techy who’s closer to you. 🙂 I want to make sure I can share what I’m up to with each of you!

Also, I can imagine that in some family situations where some are less comfortable with the technology side, it might be most convenient for one person to set up an account on their phone, and then have multiple other people use that number/account to access the group chat on their own computers. Just a suggestion.

I hope to see you there! Let me know if there are any problems on my end I need to fix.

Sincerely,
Samuel Rausch

It’s been a while now, but for the autumn holiday I and a few other classmates planned and went on a six day trip to Croatia: a day and a half in Budapest, a day in Zagreb, a day and a half in Split, a day at the Plitvice Lakes, and then back through Budapest again to Kecskemét! Special thanks to Beth Hermann, Kate Kogler, Anja Sorsak, and my Uncle Jonathan for giving input and advice!

After spending the day walking around Basel (largely in the rain–thankfully I’m definitely the Washington duck!), my former boychoir classmate Anselm and I spent the night at his sister’s for one more night, and then headed out the next morning to the mountains through Lucerne to Langis, up the mountain from Sarnen.

Once we got up past the snow line and to the lodge, the snow cam down hard with quite a bit of wind. I was very glad Anselm had an extra hat, because the train had rolled away with mine on the first day.

We had a 10k loop that we were planning to do, but on the ground the directions were not obvious, so we took our chances on the most likely looking trail posts that started up into the mountain forest on one side. For the next few hours we explored up and around that peak, nearly all the time making our own way underneath the cover of the forest: under the trees there was less snow to wade through, and the strong wind was whipping around far above our heads. With at least 8 inches or so of snow on everything, everything was beautiful, made even better by our complete freedom to explore anywhere we chose (with the tracks we left plus the orientation of the mountain, we had no doubt of easily making our way back. In the end we exited the forest a few meters from our start point even without seeing our old tracks more than once). After working our way most of the way around and up that peak we stopped for a simple lunch in a sheltered corner of the hill, and enjoyed the juxtaposition of enjoying dried banana and mango in their environmental opposite. A robust loaf of bread, bell peppers, and some sliced meat filled out the fare.

We emerged at a high open point on the mountain finally and after wading through the wind and deeper snow layered across the open space, we found a very solid little structure of logs that had collapsed when the tarp roof had filled in with water. Along with, no surprise, a VERY neatly Swiss-stacked pile of firewood (even at a few thousand meters they are consistent) we found waterproof bags with camping supplies as well as some sheep skins when I pulled back the tarp to look under. Anselm and I both baptized the hike by consecutively stepping by accident into the puddles in the tarp by accident, and then with Anselm’s feet getting a bit damp and cold after all the trailblazing, we headed back “from whence we came.” It was a little while yet until the bus back down came, so since I had cards along we played for a while, remembering “Egyptian Ratscrew,” “Spit,” and a few others that had been so popular when we were both at the American Boychoir.

It seemed like with all the snow and wind the valley MUST have been whitened while we were up under the clouds, but although we followed a snowplow for a few minutes, the snow line came like a straight edge, and so we entered back into the wetter, greener, warmer half of Switzerland again.

A few hours by train, and we were back in Geneva again: a very satisfactory trip!

Obviously I’ve had quite a gap in posts, but with the definitely extra time this Christmas break, I’ll see what I can do to update for the past few months. My plan is to work backwards and take advantage of the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”

I reached out to Anselm Lohmann, an old classmate of mine from the American Boychoir School who I haven’t seen since 2014. He and his family live in Geneva, and when he offered to host me for Christmas and show me around Switzerland, I jumped at the offer.

I flew up from Budapest on the 20th. The whole airport process took a fraction of the time as it would have in the US. Although I had no bags to check and could go straight through security (which took 5 minutes tops) with my pre-printed out ticket, I WAS surprised that NO ONE requested to look at my passport, at all.

In Geneva the staff for our entrance into the airport (we walked across the tarmac from the plane) was nowhere in sight. Perhaps they had just forgotten about this whole flight, but the whole plane of people had to wait behind the closed glass doors for 20 minutes before word got through to some security people, and one to another staff member who ended up just opening a side door and letting everyone through.

I met Anselm, and spent the night at his family’s apartment. I realized that I had assumed several things about the weather in Geneva because I was surprised by the relatively warm temperature and the rainy weather. It was relatively similar to the winter weather at home around Seattle.

The next day we took a train to a small, non-touristy village in the mountains called Grandvillard, by Gruyères (like the cheese), and hiked up to a high point, starting on a small road, and eventually continuing up over a fence at the dead end of a steep path. We had lunch up on a watering trough for the cattle which are herded up in these mountains during the summer, and got a quite good view as the clouds cleared completely out. The stars (or rather, sun, clouds, and snow/rain) aligned, and we even got a rainbow added to the already beautiful scene.

We headed back on the road going down a different way from where we’d had lunch, and ended back at our origin point after 1.5 hours or so (we had a bit of an adventure and detour trying to find a bridge over the river, which included some bushwacking). We both agreed that this all was much better than any museum visit: exploring around on the ground really gives a nice, direct taste of a country.

Finally another post!

Every Monday at 5pm about twenty-five of us gather in the Concert Hall, take our shoes off, and spend an hour and a half with Katalin Körtvési (also my Solfege teacher) immersed in Kokas pedagogy. What is “Kokas”? Klára Kokas, one of Kodály’s students, “saw the need of children for movement and self expression” in the music education programs she saw. She developed a mode of interacting with music that for us has melded spontaneous creativity, music listening, free improvised movements, and profound self expression, all generally through the underrated avenues of non-verbal communication. Kokas said “I could use the children’s imagination to help their movement…the movement is a tool [that] helps us to absorb the music. You can observe the deepest, heaviest music if you listen to it that way.” Specifically, she was looking for movement not for the “beauty of the move or look of the movement,” but for “the wish, the dream, the longing for self expression.”

When I was asking one of the second-year students about Kokas, she said that it is not uncommon for people to drop the class in the second semester, from something like “creativity overload.” The class definitely doesn’t allow for any sort of calcified grownup-ism (I think of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry). I think it is brilliant.

Here are a few stories of the classes from the summaries I’ve submitted, and a few pictures.

---

7 October 2019

“We came together as a class physically at the beginning with the Bluebird Through the Window song, during which we joined hands and created a “snake” that wrapped in and out of itself. We all got tied up in a knot, which then gave us all the opportunity to solve the puzzle together and unwind the knot.

For the second part of the lesson we played another naming game, where each person spoke their name in whatever character and with whatever movement that they chose. It was impressive to see how perfect the connection was between the person and the performance of their name. Each seemed like a symbol that encapsulated the essence of each person. After one person spoke their name, everyone else would repeat it as accurately as possible. We were practicing putting on another character, as well as appreciating each individual through their name. Kata emphasized the importance of imitating the facial expression as well as the sound of the name and the movement of the body. We were encouraged to notice every detail that made up the aura of the person. When I think about it, this sort of game is a profound way of getting to know other people, because instead of labeling ourselves with words after words, and facts about ourselves, the form of self-expression through one’s name gives a window straight into who a person is. Each name is like an excellently written short story.

After one time around doing this with the names, we continued around again, but this time all silently, and replicating each person’s name by memory. Considering how appropriate to each person their “name” was, perhaps I should not have been surprised at how easily we had immediately memorized the “name” of each of the 25 or so people around the circle. In the next two repetitions (an important element in each of the classes), we played around with different ways that we could change the expression of the “names” while still keeping the character: faster and slower tempos, and silently. For this Kata instructed us to do our name at whatever was the natural ending transition point of the previous person’s. We were not to explicitly change our “name” to pass it along to the next person, but just be aware of the people around us, and connect the continuity of their name to the continuity of our own.

The last segment of the class was of course music listening with movement. For this Kata told us all to find a partner and choose an “A” person and “B” person. The excerpt of the music was repeated several times as usual with occasional changes of Kata’s input for our movements. First the instructions were for the “A” person to lead, and then the “B” person the next time. As Kata reminded us, leading did not have to mean mirroring. Then over a few more repetitions it was for both people to lead and follow each other in an organic way. For the last times Kata opened up the parameters so that we could either choose to stay with our partner or move to others as we pleased. All of this for us was done without language, so all our communication was based on a heightened sensitivity and awareness of ourselves and of the intents of those around us.

Afterwards, Kata put forward several ideas and questions inspired by the exercise. Really, they were questions that each of us had engaged with and come to terms with just by participating. In my opinion, to have such profound questions at the core of something is a testament to its value. What we were doing in Kokas was not just music listening or moving, but in many ways an exploration of philosophy and self knowledge.

Which is better for you, to be a leader or to be led, or to lead and follow together with another person?

How well are you able to give up the leadership role or remain always the boss?

How well can you change yourself in this way and remain confident?

Were you really able to listen to the music with your whole body, or just come up with a movement and stick to it?

Did you build your movement to to music yourself, or just imitate someone else?

Which is better, to be with one person (lead & follow), or to work with others?

Were you able to lead someone without touch?

What does it mean to touch someone? With your soul, heart, eyes?

Are your fingers, hands, eyes, head, etc. strong enough to lead someone? Even without physical touch?

Which is stronger: physical touch, or the non-physical ways of touching?”

---

14 October 2019

“As so many of the Kokas classes have begun, this one started organically with no explicit directions. Without language, we all simply saw what Kata was doing, and followed all the non-verbal cues. It is a good reminder of all that can be “said” and done even without, or better without speaking. We were all in a circle, with Kata in the middle. She began walking around and got one person to join her. Gradually those in the middle drew in more and more people from the outer ring until the whole group turned upon the last few that remained and engulfed them. The activity had developed and formed an identity in the way that the first few people walked, looked, and expressed themselves in the center. First it was two or three doing the same thing, and as Kata and the others added little impulses and motifs into the drama, more complex relationships and unspoken narratives appeared. These included the expression of many emotions, moods, body percussion, singing, etc.

Once this all had run its course and everyone was milling about in the room, Kata began singing, and transitioned everything over to “Oh how Lovely is the Evening.” As she teaches the song, she plays around with what character she (and then we) sing the phrases in. We are constantly molding ourselves into different characters and exploring how these different characters shape what we are doing. In a very short time we had all learned the song, and were singing it together. We all began to walk in a big circle, with nearly all of the people going the same way. It was interesting to see who were the small minority that walked the opposite direction, or even sometimes moved outside the circle pattern. Kata initiated canon singing be starting in canon herself, upon which a subset of the students joined her. An even smaller subset started and sang a third part to the canon.

As this reached a point of completion (with us all following Kata’s lead as she slowed and quieted her singing), Kata began a naming game, where she performed her name in both speech and action. Soon we all were doing the same with our names, at which point she added the impulse of sometimes imitating someone else’s name. This developed through all the students. As we ended, there were 4-5 “name” groups of varying sizes. Again, it was interesting to see whose names these were centered on, as well as the kind of expression that each had. Kata mentioned that it was “good that it wasn’t just one” group!

Kata asked what kind of building would go with the song, and after someone said “church!” we incrementally built one with ourselves. Some were the doors, some chairs, some windows, some the organ, alter, etc. Both Kata and students suggested what they could be, and once everything was in place she brought in every character set by set until we all were singing (in some cases characters were shifted: chairs to congregation, etc., so that they could sing). We then sat down, and had an imaginary meal, food suggested by all. It was a very realistic representation. Some people wouldn’t have liked the food in real life, or would have been allergic to it, so they acted accordingly. The fish chowder put forward by Lara got mixed reviews, even by Kata. We stayed authentically ourselves.

Then, we had to form a bridge because Kata looked out the doors, and “saw” that we were surrounded by water (instantly populated by some students as alligators as soon as they heard this).  We all had turns going under this bridge, where we sang the song again in the way that each person went through.

At the end, music listening and dramatization. As usual, we listened to the segment multiple times, and had several “goes” at it. However, the instructions from Kata were to move opposite to the music, and then after a few repetitions, that we could choose to move with it or still against. At the end, Kata observed how some experimented with different kinds of opposition that paired with different aspects of the piece, and that moving contrary to the music really required us to concentrate it, to determine its particular aspects to go against. We “maybe don’t have to focus so much on what is in the music when we move with it,” said Kata. I found it in many ways easier than moving with the music, although this also depended which section of the music I was in. I found that the calm section was easier to pick up and appose than the second bit, which was quicker and had more moving parts, and more possibilities for segmentation.

A few student “performance” of what they had done concluded this session of Kokas.

Theresa and Despina were polar opposites, one calmly apathetic and the other frantic, who switched roles when the music changed in the middle.

Clodagh and April found themselves shut in glass boxes, and tried to get out. Clodagh broke out, but neither she or April combined could open the box that April was in. Clodagh tried an ax and a key, but neither worked. However, April eventually stopped struggling to get out and fell asleep, upon which the box became unlocked. The symbolism here is interesting to consider. The drama ended with a tea party.

I (Samuel) had the last performance. To the pacific music at the beginning, I acted contrary as an awakening butler of sorts who briskly and bruskly prepared my toilet and dressed. As the music changed to a faster tempo, I became calm and in my element, unlocking doors and straightening curtains: I was preparing the room. However, near the end I realized that something was wrong with my shirt, and after much debate with myself, hid behind a floor plant.

---

16 September 2019

Reflection on four open expression dances

            While the subject matter in each of the dances performed at the first Kokas class was varied, each seemed to have similar thematic complexity as those in folk stories. The psychologist Carl Jung  believed in a “collective subconscious,” and I would argue that as we put on our “childish skin again” (Kokas) and reconnected with our innate creativity, the motifs of our humanity from this so called “collective subconscious” rose to the surface in the same way that they did for folk tales.

            In Teresa’s dance, she appeared to take out materials for food, and to start mixing the ingredients together on the ground, while showing another girl how to help. This transitioned into motions like kneading dough. The climax of the music was reflected as the two attempted to carry the huge weight of what they had been making. They seemed to have created more than they could handle, because there was a degree of tension over the division of the labor, and in the end their level of cooperation could not really match the weight of their load.

             In his dance, Gareth appeared to wake up into consciousness in a world of fantasy, with a few sprites moving around him, blowing something sparkling out of their hands and then eagerly watching it as it floated away on the air. Gareth’s character appeared at first to be glad to join the sprites, but his joy in what they all were doing seemed to transition into selfishness. He seemed to want to keep some of that beautiful material all to himself, although it was not his to keep to himself but only to enjoy without ownership. The climax in the music coincided with his efforts to snatch the spangles from the other sprites as they continued playing with it.

            In my dance, my character woke to consciousness in a strange and empty room, without any sense of the time or place, and with his feet stuck to the floor. After struggling to free himself on his own and calling for help, Despina arrived to the rescue. With our combined efforts she was able to help me out of the area where I was stuck. Although my feet were then free, my hands had become stuck to hers while we worked together. At the last moment, we pulled apart from each other.

In Franklin’s dance, his character met Alvaro’s. They shook hands and were very cordial to each other. However, they shifted over to the window, where it soon became clear that Franklin’s character was trying to get behind Alvaro without his knowing it, to push him out. Alvaro began to sense something wrong, and as the climax of the music got closer and closer, they both began to try to slyly push the other out of the window. The other would look back at just the wrong moment, and so the antagonist would put on a sweet face and pretend nothing was happening. This dance of dishonesty continued until finally at the end of the piece, Franklin indicated that he had successfully pushed Alvaro out the window, to his apparent death.

Each of these dances dealt with different forms of human relationships and how they play out. The situations were different as well as the outcomes, but the core to each story was the interaction between the central individual and the secondary character. The representations of these interactions were surprisingly complex and true to real life. The solo beginnings (and often endings) to the dances portrayed the isolation for individual that exists even through cooperation. Theresa never could perfectly meld with her partner to equally cooperate in carrying the load. Gareth was born into a peaceful, wonderful world, but this was ultimately corrupted by individual selfishness. In my dance I was alone in the beginning but was only able to move through the relationship with Despina: “No man is an island entire of itself” (John Donne). Relationships were necessary for each of the stories, but for each there was the complexity in the interaction of individuality and cooperation.

TILL NEXT TIME! (Expect lots of good pictures from Budapest and Croatia)

I have been enjoying all my classes so far.

I placed into Solfege VI, which is the highest regular solfege class this quarter. There are six level, but Solfege V is specially for the Chinese students, and is taught in Chinese. It is nice because two of my roommates placed into Solfege VI as well, and the third moved up this past week, so all four of us are going to be doing the same things there. There are 11 students in the class, and it’s fun to think that our flat makes up a third of that. I’m glad that I’ve gotten roommates who are at a similar level as me.

We have 5 hours of Solfege every week. Of all the classes it is probably the most overarching musicianship development class, with many threads woven together. It is impressive to see how every part of Katalin’s lessons fit with all the other parts, and seamlessly build and transition from beginning to end. In the Institute I think it is relatively common for the more senior students to sit in on a class just to observe the teaching style of the professor. There are definitely some very good role models on the faculty.

I think homework assignments tell a lot about a class, so I’ll include some of mine here.

1. Sing and play a canon learned in class in canon with yourself, in solfege syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) and then letter names (C, Cis, D, Dis, etc.). Do this in the original major key, then in minor, then in locrian (the mode that practically no one composes in because it sounds unstable). Do this all 2-3 times, with the same starting pitch for each set. Be musical
2. Record the vocal parts of Schubert’s 4-part Litanei. Play three of the lines, sing alto or tenor. (as you can see here, the music for the class is excellent in its own right: https://open.spotify.com/search/Litanei schubert ralph allwood (favourite classics by chopin)
3. Play the beginning chord progression of the Schubert in several keys in both major and minor
4. Sing and play the first page of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater by memory (just the two vocal lines with the chord outline in the bass), and then continue by playing the walking bass and soprano lines on the second page while singing the alto part.

European Music History class with Ádám Czinege is very good. Although there is a similar class with a larger group of the diploma students, I have one with just the other two BA1 students, Teresa (Portugal) and Jae-eun (South Korea). Ádám has said that we will do a sort of spiral learning: we’ll go over the history timeline several times, each time with greater definition. I think this structure will be very good for getting an understanding of the overall progression into long term memory.

1. Listen to two pieces of music per week and write up a short response to each. The purpose of this is largely just to develop a broad palette of repertoire. (This brings to mind all the professional musicians I have known to say how important active listening is)
2. Give an end of the semester presentation–topics TBD

Kokas is fascinating, and a bit crazy compared to the other classes–it is a method to interact with music and develop creativity (among other things) in a largely kinesthetic way. I’ll post my homework for that in a separate post (a reflection on the first class). Katalin (my solfege teacher) is the teacher for this.

“VEA” stands for “Vocal Ensemble A”. I’m in a group of 5 (SSATB): we were the first group to get put together on the first day (hence, VEA). We set up a few hours of rehearsal every week, and then have 30 minutes of training with the wonderfully energetic and eager Dr. Árpád Tóth. This has already been a lot of fun, especially because all our five voices fit together well, and we all are able to handle the music. It was funny because Árpád told us right away that he could tell we had all pretty much just sung in choirs, just by each of our approaches of where we tried not to breath (i.e. to a certain extent, our attempts to do stagger breathing on an individual basis!). We sound good already, he said, and I am really looking forward to learning more and more about the stylistic aspects of good ensemble singing.

Another thing when we were rehearsing on our own: we confirmed a suspicion that not all of our tuning forks matched. Our tenor had an A442 (what?!), instead of the regular A440. Of course the first thing we did on finding this out was to stick both up to our ears at the same time and cringe.

My piano lesson is fantastic. The slightly eccentric Orsolya Szabó is wonderful at creating a focused but non-stressful atmosphere to her teaching. I’ve memorized Il Penseroso (Liszt), have started in on Bach’s 3-part invention No. 2 in C minor, and also have the Beethoven Sonata in c-minor, Bartók Hungarian Dance No. 1, and a Kodály piece on the list.

The “projects for the semester” in choir are a Christmas concert, and Faure’s Requiem. It has been interesting and informative to see how Laszlo Nemes applies solfege to the score. One of the purposes of “movable-do” solfege is to inherently reveal the harmonic structure of the piece, and Laszlo’s way of applying the solfege does this better than anything else I’ve done.

Score reading is an individual lesson: it is not easy, but so far the most fun. My assignment this week was to read through 30 excerpts of music that use at least one C clef (to learn the clef), and to play BWV 628 (Bach), but with the alto and tenor lines switched: alto line played down an octave in the same hand as the bass, and tenor played up an octave in the same hand as the soprano. It’s a very satisfying mind game.

That’s all for now! The folk music class had an amount of tangents in the discussion that require more time, and another post. Also, there’s the class on Zoltan Kodaly and his philosophy.

Also, there’s the non-academic things that have been going on, including a folk music festival!

All to come shortly.

Sincerely,
Samuel Rausch

As I promised in the intro to this website, here is the brief explanation of the Kodály Concept put out by the Kodály Institute.

The first class we all started at the Institute is one on Kodály and his philosophy, so I am starting to gain a more explicit appreciation for and understanding of the Kodály Concept. Here are a few insights from my notes.

---

As the article below mentions, using a country’s folk songs to teach music is a central aspect of the Concept. I was flipping through a book of Kodály’s writings that has just been translated into English, and my eye caught one part where he talks about starting music education with the simple little musical threads that young children are exploring with. This is the original capital that the teacher begins to draw out and mold. This made the logic of using folk songs much clearer, for folk songs would be the next “closest to home” form of music.

“Folk songs…mirror the Hungarian soul.”

Zoltan Kodály

I really like this philosophy of starting with the musical motifs already in a child’s soul, rather than teaching only in some sense by imposing music onto a student. It respects the divine individuality of each human soul, where a student is not a mere minion of the teacher. I would argue that only when this relationship between teacher and student is in place can true synergy take place.

If music is a Muse, she would not be represented by a single figure with many limbs.

Nor is the Muse lifeless. Kodály believed that theory must be linked to practice: theory not for theory’s sake, but only that which is supports practice.

I’ve told my mom that my preference is to teach middle school age students because I think we could make more progress than starting the clock with older, say college, students. Having been in the American Boychoir, I know that if taught well, 9-15 year olds are capable of a professional level of music making. This all meant that I enjoyed seeing a quote from Kodály’s 100 Year Plan: “The future can be shaped only by children.”

As the article below states, it is the Kodály Concept, not method, and should be translated into other countries and cultures (America, cough, cough) as such. If it is a “mode of production” it will become rigid, which is where criticism of the “Method” really latches on. It can be “evolved and developed” without being sacrilegious.

Samuel

---

KODÁLY CONCEPT

Method or principles?

Zoltán Kodály’s ideas on music education are usually mentioned under the name Kodály Method. It is more accurate to say Kodály Concept because the composer himself did not work out any complete and detailed methodological process of teaching music. He formulated principles rather than teaching techniques or a step-by-step process or advice for teachers. The adaptation of the principles to the reality was elaborated and developed by his disciples and his followers. The basic principles of the concept were formed, articulated and gradually put into practice after the composer’s attention had turned to music pedagogy, especially in the frame of general schooling around 1925.

An educational philosophy

Kodály’s ideas on reform are rooted in the problems and opportunities of the historical, social and cultural circumstances of Hungary of that time. Several of his ideas are connected with other theories or methods of music-education. However, Kodály’s music educational philosophy can be recognized as his own. It is rooted in Hungarian soil, nevertheless the Kodály Concept can be adapted to other musical-cultural situations.

Music is part of universal human knowledge

While standing up for the rightful place of music education in the school curriculum, Kodály also fought for the appreciation of music among the arts in society. “There is no sound spiritual life without music.” “Music is an indispensable part of universal human knowledge.” This is why he formulated a slogan: “Let music belong to everyone!” Then “it is only natural that music has to be made part of the school curriculum.”

When to start?

Once when Kodály was asked about the right time to start music education, he answered: “Nine months before the birth of the child,” moreover “nine months before the birth of the mother.” Within the school-system “music teaching should be started in the kindergarten, so that the child can grasp the fundamentals of music at an early age” since the development of musical hearing can only be successful if started early before the age of six in a playful way.

Not a torture but a joy

The first task for the teacher is to “teach music and singing in school in such a way that is not a torture but a joy for the pupil; instill a thirst for finer music in him, a thirst which will last for lifetime.”

Train good teachers first

According to Kodály’s concept “teaching in schools will improve if we first train good teachers who develop the student’s ear and give a general musical knowledge.” For this reason “we also need good music which is available for children and for beginners in ear training”. But this “technical” demand is only one important aspect.

Active understanding through singing

In the century of audiovisual technology it has been quite obvious that Kodály emphasized that “only activity can lead someone to a real understanding and appreciation of music. Simply listening to music is not enough.” Several times he emphasized that “if one were to attempt to express the essence of this education in one word, it could only be – singing.” He explained his opinion with two arguments: First, the human voice is the only “instrument” which is available for everyone. Second, “our age of mechanization leads along a road ending with man himself as a machine; only the spirit of singing can save us from this fate.”

Valuable art for children: folksongs as starting point

As Kodály pointed out, “music is intellectual food that cannot be replaced by anything else”, therefore it is essential that “only art of intrinsic value is suitable for children!” Where can we find good material which represents the “art of intrinsic value” and, at the same time, is suitable for musical activity based on vocalism? Kodály’s answer to this question is that “each nation has a great many songs which are especially suitable for teaching. If we select them well, folk songs will become the most appropriate material thought which we can present and make conscious new musical elements.”

Open the soul to all peoples

These thoughts make Kodály’s ideas open towards more points: “If we want to understand other nations, we first must understand ourselves. There is no better means for this than folk music. Getting acquainted with the folk songs of other countries is the best way to get acquainted with other peoples. […] on this foundation can be built a musical culture which is national but which also opens the soul to the great works of all peoples.”

Musical literacy

All these factors are not enough to build an up-to-date musical culture: “The way to the understanding of music is available to all: it is musical reading and writing.” Through musical literacy “everyone may join in great musical experiences.” Of course, all the musical elements should be introduced and practiced. He suggested practicing rhythm “much earlier and much more thoroughly than is customary today.”

Relative solmization – fluent sight-reading

Help should be given to the students to establish a conscious ability of musical reading and writing: “with solmization […] one reaches fluent sight-reading faster. This is, naturally, true for relative solmization only, since here, by singing the name of the tone, we have already defined its function in the tonality.”

Part singing: hear and appreciate music

Musical abilities and skills should also be developed by “part singing, which develops the capacity to hear and appreciate music and opens up the masterpieces of world literature even to those who do not play any instrument at all.” This is why Kodály composed hundreds of two-part and dozens of three-part singing exercises for all levels of music education.

Creativity

Today, creativity is known as an important factor of pedagogy. Zoltán Kodály, as early as in 1929, wrote in one of his articles: “all healthy children would improvise if they were allowed to” […], but “they cannot be left to their own resources in forming their concept of music”. He also did not forget another field very close to music.

Dance

According to him, “folk dances must be given a place in physical education in the schools.” Of course to preserve the complexity of folk tradition does not mean to go “backwards towards an archaic state but forwards from civilization towards culture.”

Vocal music first, then instrumental

His pedagogical concept determined a link between the vocal basis and instrumental teaching as well: “He who was taught vocal music first and then instrumental playing, will be more ready to grasp the melos of any kind of music […] Through singing the student acquires a reading ability which makes it easier for him to get close to the work of great spirits.”

Constant practice required

To carry out all these tasks and the whole complexity of the aims of music teaching in the school, a certain number of music lessons should be given in the frame of general education as well. Kodály himself always fought for a minimum of two singing lessons a week both in elementary and high school. But “in the case of a subject requiring constant practice”, short everyday meetings with the teacher “would be worth more than two hours a week.”

The good musician’s features

Kodály’s music educational concept is known as a system for general schooling. It is true because he wanted to give real musical culture to everybody and also to educate a demanding audience as large as possible. But we cannot forget that, as a professor of the Academy of Music, he also did a lot for the training of would-be professionals and paid attention to highly gifted music students. In one of his speeches at the Academy of Music in Budapest (1953), he described a many-sided demand for professionals: “The characteristics of a good musician can be summarized as follows:

A well-trained ear,

A well-trained intelligence,

A well-trained heart,

A well-trained hand.

All four must develop together, in constant equilibrium. As soon as one lags behind or rushes ahead, there is something wrong […] Sol-fa and the science of form and harmony together teach the first two points. To complete this teaching, a musical experience as varied as possible is indispensable; without playing chamber music and singing in choirs, nobody can become a good musician.”

---

https://kodaly.hu/kodaly_en_kodaly/kodaly-concept-107384

15 September 2019

Just a short snippet on the past week–it’s late as I write this here, and classes start today.

Piano, Aural, and Written placement evaluations took place this past week.

Piano evaluation: this was mostly for the 1-year Diploma students and the exchange program students here for the semester. Since BA students had already done the audition and been accepted, we didn’t technically need to do this for placement. However, since my audition was irregular, being in California with just Laszlo Nemes, the plan was for me to play my piece (Bach 3-pt Invention No. 3), sing my aria (Gratias Agimus Tibi, BWV 235), and Folk song (Streets of Laredo) so the other professors could hear me. However, the schedule was running extremely late, so when my turn came, they waved me aside and went on to the next person.

The written test was very easy, except for the atonal melody at the end. There was a brief rhythmic dictation, melodic dictation (perhaps I should have waited and done it by memory, but I had the solfege written down by the time he finished playing it the first time). There was a two part dictation, and a short segment of a Bach chorale to dictate at least two parts, and then analyze. I managed to dictate all four parts (spending 24 hours transcribing the King’s Singers arrangement of Kelele sharpened up my ears quite a bit, thankfully), so analysis was not bad, although I forgot to label one chord. I think I might have gotten the atonal mostly down correctly, but I’m pretty sure I “corrected” myself into a mistake in the last two minutes. It was really a repetition of the same material that was in the BA audition, so on the whole, I was quite comfortable with it.

My aural test took only about 3 minutes, which was a surprise considering the average before me had been closer to 10. I think Laszlo Nemes was able to give me sight reading and sing-and-play exercises right at my level, having taught me over some previous summers in Oakland, CA at Holy Names University. There was a bit of figured bass I muddled through (although I did get some right), which I am particularly looking forward to learning more of. “We’ll teach you how to play that.”

Classes and placements were posted this evening, so there was a rush to the Institute to see, and to sign up for times (voice lessons, piano lessons, and score reading for me). I am in Solfege VI, the highest level, which I am quite happy about. It is also nice, because two of my three roommates (Jackson and Filipe) are also at that level and in that class. I am glad that the Kodály background I have been given by my mom, middle school teachers and directors at the American Boychoir, and those during my high school years have allowed me to start off this well. It confirms the worthwhile benefits of long term investment with compound interest. I am the happy beneficiary.

I’ll post my classes soon.

We also had two choir sessions with the music director of the institute, László Nemes, to learn and memorize a short piece for the opening ceremony (we got another piece as well as the Hungarian National Anthem that morning which we used music for).

Sincerely,

Samuel
Rausch