When Kodály constructed a suite of music from his opera Háry János, he further immortalised the braggart soldier of the title. Dreamlike and fantastic, the...

When Kodály constructed a suite of music from his opera Háry János, he further immortalised the braggart soldier of the title. Dreamlike and fantastic, the six scenes are imbued with imaginative writing of sweeping intensity, embracing a love-duet, a mock-epic battle, a folk song, and a vigorous recruiting dance. In the Dances of Galánta he again employed the Hungarian verbunkos recruiting dance tradition to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the Budapest Philharmonic Society. The Konzertstück of his compatriot and nearcontemporary Ern? Dohnányi is a full-scale cello concerto of considerable lyric beauty.