SCRIABIN AND KODÁLY IN THE READING OF ANTAL MOLNÁR, IMRE MOLNÁR AND EMIL HARASZTI

Abstract

This study examines how Kodály, his student Antal Molnár and his colleague Imre Molnár, and their adversary Emil Haraszti saw Scriabin’s music throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Audiences were responsive, as seen by the continuous performance of his works by Hungarian and international musicians beginning in 1906. There was a great deal of curiosity in his orchestral pieces, but only four of them were played ten times throughout the course of a century. Rêverie and Le Poème Divin debuted in Budapest in 1910, followed by Le Poème de l’extase in 1919, although Prometheus did not make its appearance until 2001. Kodály found his music peculiar and disinteresting, judging it to be a poorer disciple of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. However, following the composer’s death, his pupils discovered new values in him, characterizing him as mythical (like A. Molnár A.) and mystical (like I. Molnár). And Haraszti thought it was excellent music. A different interpretation referred to Scriabin as the "Russian Bartók." He was regarded as "one of the most inventive experimenters of his time", which was a mixed acclaim. After 1945, newspapers mostly complimented his piano pieces and symphony conductors. Marxist aesthetes after 1949 saw his work as a failure due to his spiritual goals, which A. Molnár regarded as a distinctive value. Two pioneering conductors, who considered Kodály their distant teacher, Z. Kocsis and A. Ertüngealp, gave the first performances of his hitherto unperformed pieces after 1990.