Háry János suite Zoltán Kodály
The work
Háry János – who he? There is flaky historical evidence that he may actually have existed – an army veteran of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s sequence of (usually losing) Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century. He then evidently became a local hero by regaling listeners with his extremely tall stories of his (always winning) exploits against the enemy, enabling the triumph of his Hungarian homeland and people.
The music has an irresistible
