Neveléstörténet, 2017 (14. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2017 / 3-4. szám - Tanulmányok - Pethő Villő: Life-reformelements in Kodaly’s and his successors’music pedagogy
Life-reform elements in Kodály’s and his successors’ music pedagogy great enthusiasm to Bartók about his days spent near Dresden with gymnastics, eating vegetarian food: What are we doing here? We are bathing in water (there is no swimming pool), in the air and under the sunshine, while we are eating a lot (one’s appetite doubles) and we are diving head over ears into fruit and a dish of vegetables... Let’s start a new life on this rotten Earth.”2 (Legány, 1982. 43. p.) So it might not be accidental that he was also planning to visit the Monte Verita (near Ascona) which had been experimenting with the creation of the new form of living. (Legány, 1982. 45. p.) Kodály, the “life-reformer”, assumed an active role in several new intellectual workshops as well. In 1904, thanks to Béla Balázs, he joined as a musical counsellor the Thália Society, created in 1903, presenting experimental theatre performances. The Thália Society can be considered as the intellectual precursor of the Sunday Circle directed by György Lukács. Kodály also attended the meetings of the group characterised by Arnold Hauser as a “very loose intellectual grouping”. The members of the circle tried to reach a continuous intellectual improvement and self-learning, analysed Fichte’s works, but they were influenced by the instructions of theosophy as well. (Karády; Vezér, 1980. 28. p.) The members of the circle were also involved in the Free School of Intellectual Sciences founded in 1917, among the performers we can find Béla Balázs, György Lukács, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály as well. Kodály gave a lecture on the Hungarian folk song, while Bartók presented the relationship between folk music and modern music. Kodály’s music pedagogical conception Kodály had been interested in musical educational questions already as a teacher at the Academy of Music; according to Breuer (Breuer, 1972) the ideas concerning the reform of musical education had already been conceived during his trip to Berlin3. His findings concerning music pedagogy can be followed in his writings from 1911 onwards, whereas the basic principles were formulated after 1925, for the first time in his study entitled Children’s Choirs (1929). He did not summarize his educational conceptions in one publication, the transposition of the conception into practice became the task of his successors. First of all, Kodály wanted to give incentives and act as a guide with his pedagogical works: ‘ Already twenty-five years ago I published a song collection editedfor schools... Though this has not contained instructions concerning the method, but we have compiled the pieces in such an order that the method has implicitly turned out. ’’ (Kodály, 1969. 71. p.) However, if we still want to outline the basic principles formulated by Kodály, these are the following: „ 1. every child should get musical education; 2. the basis 2 Kodály’s letter to Bartók, Dresden, 26.07.1908. 3 1906-1907. PETHŐ VILLŐ 18