Intermezzo (1905)

The Intermezzo was written round about the time when Kodály’s mature style was beginning to take shape. He had just graduated from the Budapest Academy of Music and was already taking an interest in Hungarian folk music, which was to have a profound influence on his development. Even so, after its first performance at the Academy of Music in 1905 the Intermezzo was put on one side and apparently forgotten. Perhaps Kodály felt that it did not compare well with the remarkable Adagio for violin and piano written at much the same time. Certainly, it is not as serious-minded as the Adagio but – as it was revealed when the score was at last published, as part of the composer’s 75th birthday celebrations in 1957 – it is an entertaining work most resourcefully written for string trio (vioilin, viola and cello). It is interestingly put together too. On the surface, it is a charmingly melodious serenade with a contrasting middle section. On closer examination, the outer sections seem to be constructed like a theme and variations with short breaks between the several episodes. It is no ordinary middle section either, since it scarcely less serious than the Adagio and scarcely less prophetic of Kodály’s Hungarian-style future.