Emma Kodály: Variations for Piano (1907) -- meeting and parting

Emma Kodaly (1863-1958), known as the wife of Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodaly (1882-1967), was an accomplished pianist and composer.

They met in 1905 and fell in love at Emma's home music salon. Emma already had a husband, and there was a potential problem of age difference between Emma and Zoltan. In 1910, they married, and for the rest of her life, Emma fully supported Zoltan's musical and educational activities, including accompanying him in his folk song collections.

This set of piano variations was completed in 1907, when Zoltan was Emma's composition teacher, and was published under Zoltan's name the year before Emma's death. The theme is based on a descending scale reminiscent of the Funeral march of a Eroica Symphony. The following ten variations sound like Brahms and Schumann occasionally. The final fugue is filled with a variety of emotions--it seems as if Emma's emotional turmoil facing her future husband was crystalized.

It is curious that some variations (var1, 3, 6, part of Finale) are apparently written for big hands (which can grasp ten-th), and others for smaller hands (by which one has to "bang" octave). As Zoltan is known as a tall man, it is possible to guess the composer of the former ones is Zoltan. My impression is that the first half of the variations are leaves of exchange diary. Studying this set of variations is like reading a good mystery with colorful backstories.

  Apart from the love story between Emma and Zoltan, Ernő Dohnányi is among such backstories. Emma was running a kind of salon in Budapest, and Dohnányi, Bartok and other composers visited her salon. Dohnányi "Variationen und Fuge on a Theme of Emma Gruber" was composed in 1897. The theme is tender and anticipating happiness like blossoms are just coming out. Variations are supporting the idea and something concrete and convincing appears. This should be the composition of a happy man. Somehow nothing serious happened to Grubers, but Emma later decided a divorce for the sake of Zoltan. Yes, Bartok also wrote a set of variations in when he was 20 years old (1901), I do not know about the backstories.

What I am sure is that Emma studied Dohnányi's Variations. Dohnányi's writing in general is more mature, and the technical demand is heavier. (I am not quite sure. Dohnányi, like Medtner is known as being pianistically efficient: Pieces by these composers sound more difficult than they really are.)

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I came to know the piece by recording by Ilona Prunyi. As far as I understand she is the only pianist who is allowed to play Emma's work by Sarolta Kodaly, Zoltan's later wife. Her playing is energetic and moving.

  This was the first time I played a set of variations with a fugue as the finale. The finale, with its story-telling and tragic nature, is difficult to play, but somewhat rewarding than that of Handel Variation, which sounds rather playful and a bit showy (Brahms's technical requirement is generally too high to me). I added some notes in the finale, to keep consistency in fugue part, and to avoid bare octaves and to enhance the symphonic effect in later part.

A friend of mine among the audience commented that "I felt as if have heard this piece before." Maybe climax of the fugue is somewhat similar to Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss (1945).

I cannot help writing about our departed muse in the piano circle. Ms. N.Y. ran the piano circle "Gakuyu" and thanks to her I came back to regular performance. She was so encouraging, open minded and did not hesitate to start new things, such as Jazz improvisation, drums, singing, Ravel, walking, ... I can remember well the way she explained in a tavern how to cook "Mustard lotus root". It was good I could play some of Emma's variations before her weeks before the she left us. May her soul rest in peace.

instrument: Yamaha C7