What was happening roughly a century ago? Well, we are living it. Global Pandemic? Check. War in Europe? Check. Performance of a new quartet by Hungarian superstar composer Zoltán Kodály? Happily, check! While the quartet isn’t new anymore— it’s a hundred years old— it still sounds new, and that’s a comfort compared with the other two examples of history repeating itself.

If history is to repeat, we would do well to take up another of Kodály’s great musical contributions, the education of elementary and middle school children in the foundations of music. Kodály made it his life’s work and revolutionized the field. His method is taught to this day (where support for compulsory music education exists). With its folk influence, modal harmonies, and energetic country dance finale, this great quartet is a reminder to us all that history can repeat in all the right ways if given a chance.

Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967)

String Quartet No. 2 (1918)

I. Allegro

II. Andante. Quasi recitativo - Allegro giocoso

Artists: Girsky Quartet — Natasha Bazhanov, violin; Timothy Christie, viola; Artur Girsky, violin; Rowena Hammill, cello