It was one hundred years ago this week—October 16, 1926—that saw the premiere, at the Royal Hungarian Opera House in Budapest of Háry János, a Hungarian folk opera (or "Singspiel" as it was known) in four acts by Zoltán Kodály. With a libretto by Béla Paulini and Zsolt Harsányi, the work is based on János Garay's comic poem "The Veteran." about a drunkard named Háry János who spends most of his time in a local tavern spinning fantastic tales (mostly tall tales at that) of his heroic exploits and adventures, in what has become one of the iconic works of Hungarian culture and the arts. It was on the advice of his friend and fellow-composer Béla Bartók that Kodaly extracted the six-movement orchestral work from the opera that the world knows and loves as the Háry János Suite, and the rest, as the say is history. The suite—which finds Kodaly making memorable use of the traditional Hungarian hammer dulcimer, or cimbalom—has become one of the most popular pieces in all of classical music, and we'll hear it, and much more, on this afternoon's Classical Music With Foley Schuler.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selections—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
