Kadosa, Pál

Kadosa, Pal, esteemed Hungarian composer and pedagogue; b. Léva, Sept. 6, 1903; d. Budapest, March 30, 1983. He studied piano with Arnold Székely and Kodály at the Budapest Academy of Music (1921–27). After a brief career as a concert pianist, he taught at Budapest’s Fodor Music School (1927–43), Goldmark Music School (1943–44), and at the Academy of Music (from 1945). He won the Kossuth Prize (1950) and the Erkel Prize (1955, 1962), and was made a Merited Artist (1953) and an Honored Artist (1963) of the Hungarian People’s Republic. In his music, he combined the elements of the cosmopolitan modern idiom with strong Hungarian rhythms and folklike melodies; in his treatment of these materials, and particularly in the energetic asymmetrical passages, he was closer to the idiom of Bartòk than to that of Kodály. The lyrical element in modal interludes adds to the Hungarian charm of his music.

Works

dramatic:Opera: A huszti kaland (The Adventure of Huszt; 1949-50; Budapest, Dec. 22, 1951). orch: Chamber Sym. (1926); 4 piano concertos: No. 1 (1931; Amsterdam, June 9, 1933, composer soloist), No. 2 (1938), No. 3 (1953), and No. 4 (1966); 2 violin concertos (1932, rev. 1969-70; 1940-41, rev. 1956); 2 divertimentos (1933; 1933-34, rev. 1960); Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orch. (1936); Viola Concertino (1937); 8 syms.: No. 1 (1941-42; Budapest, 1965), No. 2, Capriccio (Budapest, 1948), No. 3 (1953-55; Budapest, 1957), No. 4 for Strings (1958-59; Budapest, 1961), No. 5 (1960-61; Hungarian Radio, 1962), No. 6 (Hungarian Radio, Aug. 19, 1966), No. 7 (1967; Budapest, 1968), and No. 8 (1968; Hungarian Radio, 1969); Partita (1943–4); Morning Ode (1945); March, overture (1945); Honor and Glory, suite (1951); Suite (1954); Pian e forte, sonata (1962); Suite for Small Orch. (1962); Sinfonietta (1974). chamber: Solo sonatinas for Violin (1923) and Cello (1924); Sonatina for Violin and Cello (1923); 2 violin sonatas (1925, rev. 1969-70; 1963); Suite for Violin and Piano (1926; rev. 1970); 2 string trios (1929-30; 1955); Partita for Violin and Piano (1931); Suite for Violin (1931); 3 string quartets (1934-35; 1936; 1957); Wind Quintet (1954); Piano Trio (1956); Improvisation for Cello and Piano (1957); Flute Sonatina (1961); Violin Sonatina (1962); Serenade for 10 Instruments (1967). Piano: (1921; 1921-23; 1923, rev. 1970); cycles: 7 Bagatelles (1923), 8 Epigrams (1923–24), 5 Sketches (1931), 6 Hungarian Folksongs (1934–35), 6 Little Preludes (1944), 10 Bagatelles (1956–57), 4 Caprichos (1961), Kaleidoscope (8 pieces, 1966), and Snapshots (1971); 4 sonatas (1926, rev. 1970; 1926-27; 1930; 1959-60); Sonatina (1927); Sonata for 2 Pianos (1947); Suite for Piano Duet (1955); also albums for children. vocal: Cantatas; songs, including 3 Radnoti Songs (1961) and 7 Attila Jozsef Songs (1964); folk-song arrangements.

Bibliography

F. Bònis, K P. (Budapest, 1965).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire