Hungary will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the great Hungarian composer and music teacher's birth and the 40th anniversary of his death with a series of events throughout the year. Kodály was born on December 16, 1882 and died on March 6, 1967.
Participating at the opening ceremony were the patrons of the jubilee year, President of the Republic László Sólyom and Kodály's widow Mrs. Sarolta Péczely Kodály, as well as Foreign Minister Kinga Göncz.
In a speech to mark the occasion, Hiller held up Kodály's work as "the clearest example of how a work of art, a culture does not exist in and of itself, but by connecting to cultures of other parts of the world." He added that Europe is not interested in how Hungary can mimic it, but in what Hungary can contribute to European culture.
Reflecting on Kodály's cultural contribution, Hiller remarked that the director of the Shanghai music conservatory told him during an official visit to the city in the autumn that Kodály's oeuvre is required learning at the school.
Hiller said the ministry wants Kodály to be remembered this year in all parts of the world, from Athens to Shanghai.
The ministry as well as the National Cultural Fund will see to financing for events in Kecskemét, the city of Kodály's birth, Hiller said. A Hungarian and English website to commemorate the year, www.kodaly125.hu, will be launched on March 19, he added.
Among the events planned for the year is a concert of Kodály's choral work Te Deum by the National Philharmonic under the baton of Zoltán Kocsis. Also on the programme will be the premiere of Kocsis's arrangements of 20 Hungarian folk songs.
Budafok's Dohnányi Orchestra, the Székelyfonót ensemble and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will perform Háry János.
The Hungarian Academy of Science's musical research institute will organise an exhibition in the Castle District and digitalise a collection of Kodály's folk songs.
Hungarian record label Hungaroton and public broadcaster Hungarian Radio will publish more CDs in a series of new recordings of Kodály's works.
Kecskemét mayor Gábor Zombor said the city has put together a cultural heritage working group which will announce programmes during the year on the website www.kodalyvarosa.hu. From July 20, the city's Kodály-Bartók Youth World Orchestra will play a series of concerts, under the direction of Tamás Vásáry, in Hungary and abroad. The city will also host the jubilee year's final event: a gala evening on December 17.
A number of Kodály evenings are planned in the spring as part of Ungarischer Akzent, the Hungarian cultural season in Germany.
In the United States, Ohio State University will host a Kodály symposium starting August 3.
Göncz said she would attend concerts to mark the jubilee year in Washington, Belgrade, Tehran and Athens. She said she would participate at Kodály seminars in Copenhagen and Seoul.
