Kodaly: Háry János Suite / Summer Evening / Symphony in C major

Zoltán Kodály's life was largely occupied with collecting his country's folk music and devising the internationally renowned method of music education that bears his name. His orchestral output is therefore a relatively small but astonishingly colourful and rhythmic legacy, brimming with Hungarian spirit. Háry János is the charming story of a veteran soldier and the 'tall tales' he spins about his life, while Summer Evening is a timeless evocation of that gentle moment in the day. The Symphony in C major occupied Kodály for over 20 years, the composer's disarming explanation being, 'I was busy with more important work.'