Introitus op. 70 - in memoriam Kodály Zoltán
Introitus op. 70 - in memoriam Zoltán Kodály (2022)
- for organ
The work was composed for the Philharmonia Hungary composers’ competition in April, in Balatonlelle. It reached its final form — particularly regarding the registrations — in February 2023, with the assistance of András Gábor Virágh.
The call for the composition competition required that the spirit of Zoltán Kodály should be reflected in the work. However, the use of any direct quotation of Kodály’s melodies was strictly forbidden.
The compositional concept therefore turned to those pentatonic scales that Kodály published in 1917 in Zenei Szemle under the title The Pentatonic Scale in Hungarian Music. These are related to the Japanese kumoi scale, which is also based on a pentatonic structure.
The Introitus — given that numerical structures naturally arise in connection with pentatony — also engages with mathematical number sequences, specifically 1–2–3–4. In the presentation of the pentatonic scales, these numbers determine the durations of the pitches and allow for various permutations (4–3–2–1; conversely 1–2–3–4; or in combined forms such as 4–3–2–3–4, etc.).
Within the 4/4, a subdivision into five units also appears — again in connection with the pentatonic scales (in the accompaniment of the two interludes). This results in a five-quarter subdivision within 4/4, thereby creating periodically returning, larger-scale sections (five measures of 4/4).
First performance: Zagreb, 4 December 2022
Duration: 4 minutes
Publisher: Hangvarázs Bt. - No. 79 (hangvarazsbt@gmail.com)
