How

History Influences Music

Curriculum Guide
This curriculum guide is designed to help you use the MPR Class Notes video How History Influences Music as a
teaching tool in your classroomspecifically as a means to help teach the Minnesota Academic Standards
highlighted below.
Because much of the teaching done in the music classroom crosses into other curricular areas, it is possible to
teach to other academic standards while meeting those of music. Many classical works composition is rooted in
rich historical and cultural contexts, offering music specialists as well as classroom teachers a reason to further
explore interdisciplinary connections.
This particular video and accompanying curriculum covers elements of both music and social studies in its
exploration of the life of Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and pedagogue Zoltn Kodly (1882-1967) and
the context of his 1933 composition Dances of Galnta. Kodly was highly influenced by his childhood exposure to
both classical music and the traditional folk and Romani music of his homeland. His work as an ethnomusicologist,
and use of revolutionary technology like the wax cylinder and phonograph, to collect recordings of Eastern
European music preserved these melodies from the otherwise permanent loss
that would have occurred as a result of World War I and World War II.
Kodly contributed significantly to the pedagogy resources still heavily used
today in music classrooms around the world. He had a great interest in
improving music education for young children, and helped set in motion
reforms in the Hungarian system in the 1940s. The principles that he used to
shape these reforms later became known as the Kodly Method, though Kodly
himself did not actually develop a comprehensive method. He adapted teaching
methods already in existence such as the Curwen/Glover Hand signs,
moveable-do tonic solfa, stick notation, and Emile-Joseph Chevs rhythm syllables, tailoring them to fit with his
principles and own instructional ideas. Using folk music as a tool in music instruction was a key component of his
philosophy.


Teach music and singing at school in
such a way that it is not a torture, but
a joy for the pupil; instill a thirst for
finer music in him, a thirst that will
last a lifetime. Zoltn Kodly

Full length example of Dances of Galnta:

Video: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-OySwLpIfA

Audio only : Philharmonia Hungarica conducted by Antal Dorti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0PYn1KzJ_4

Social Studies and Music Standards to Highlight in Zoltn Kodlys Dances of Galnta:

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Social Studies 2011 Grade 3: Foundations of Social Studies
2008 Revised Minnesota Academic Standards in the Arts; Perpich Center document adapted from the
Minnesota Department of Education Minnesota Academic Standards in the Arts 2008

Social Studies Standard

Curricular Connection

Music Standard

3.3.1.1.1 & 3.3.1.1.2 Identify countries, equator,

four hemispheres, Prime meridian, oceans,
continents, states.

Identify and put Galanta, Slovakia on a

map by hemisphere, continent, and
country. Identify also the Czech
Republic, Austria, Hungary, and
Slovakia.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.1.1.1.1 Democratic government depends on

informed and engaged citizens who exhibit civic
skills and values, practice civic discourse, vote and
participate in elections, apply inquiry and analysis
skills and take action to solve problems and shape
public policy.

The names and borders of Eastern

European countries shifted
considerably throughout Kodlys
lifetime due to the political results of
WWI and WWII.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.4.1.1.1 Reference different time periods using

correct terminology, including the terms decade,
century and millennium.

The musical periods will be referenced

using the stated terminology. Kodly
th
composed in the 20 century.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.4.1.1.2 Create timelines of important events in

three different time scalesdecades, centuries
and millennia.

A timeline of the late 19 and early 20

century can convey the drastic changes
taking place in music and political
power.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.4.1.2.1 Examine historical records, maps and

artifacts to answer basic questions about times
and events in history, both ancient and more

Artifacts such as music recording

systems can highlight the realities of

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical

th

th

recent.

the 1930s.

contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.4.1.3.1 Explain how an invention of the past

changed life at that time, including positive,
negative and unintended outcomes.

The telephone (1876), the phonograph

(1877and radio (1890s) all become
commonly used during Kodlys lifetime

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

3.4.2.5.1 Identify examples of individuals or

groups who have had an impact on world history;
explain how their actions helped shape the world
around them.

Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Thomas

Edison and Zoltn Kodly each had an
th
impact on the early 20 century in
shaping the world around them.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the

personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

Within this curriculum, you will find visual aids accompanied by the respective standard that you can use with your
students. These images can be formatted into any presentation software (Microsoft PowerPoint, Smart,
Promethean, etc) that you may use in your classroom.
MAPS
Use the maps below to establish geographical context for Kodlys life and work.

You can use Google Maps to create maps that isolate the areas you want to focus on in your lesson plans. Take
a screenshot of the image using the Print Screen button on a Windows machine or by pressing the Apple
key + Shift + 3 all at the same time on a Mac and paste it into your presentation.
(Follow this link to learn in more detail taking screenshots on an Apple device
http://www.printscreenmac.com/)

3.3.1.1.1 & 3.3.1.1.2 Identify countries,

equator, four hemispheres, Prime meridian,
oceans, continents, states.

Identify and put Galanta, Slovakia

on a map by hemisphere, continent,
and country. Identify also the Czech
Republic, Austria, Hungary, and
Slovakia.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of

the personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

Galanta, Slovakia
is the red marker
between Vienna
and Budapest, the
respective capital
cities of Austria
and Hungary.


3.1.1.1.1 Democratic government depends
on informed and engaged citizens who
exhibit civic skills and values, practice civic
discourse, vote and participate in elections,
apply inquiry and analysis skills and take
action to solve problems and shape public
policy.

The names and borders of Eastern

European countries shifted
considerably throughout Kodlys
lifetime due to the political results
of WWI and WWII.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of

the personal, social, cultural and
historical contexts that influence the arts
areas.


3.4.1.1.2 Create timelines of important events
in three different time scalesdecades,
centuries and millennia.

th

A timeline of the late 19 and early

th
20 century can convey the drastic
changes taking place in music and
political power.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of

the personal, social, cultural and historical
contexts that influence the arts areas.

TIMELINES

This timeline places the inventions, world events, and personal accomplishments of Kodlys lifetime into
historical context.

TIMELINE

1784 Invention of the steam locomotive
1876 Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone
1877 Thomas Edison invents the phonograph
1879 Thomas Edison patents the electric light bulb
1882 Kodly born on December 16 in Kecskemt, Hungary
1884-1891 Kodly family lives in Galnta, Hungary (now Galanta, Slovakia), later the inspiration for
Dances of Galnta
1890s Development of the transistor radio
1890s Development of the movie camera
1905 Kodly visits remote Hungarian villages making recordings on phonograph wax cylinders with his
friend, composer Bla Bartk
1914-1918World War I
1923 Kodly composes his breakthrough composition Psalmus Hungaricus to celebrate the joining of
the two Hungarian cities Buda and Pest. (The modern capital of Hungary: Budapest)
1933 Kodly composes Dances of Galnta
1939-1945 World War II
1940s Kodly leads a reform of the Hungarian music education system
1951 Kodly and Bartks comprehensive collection of Hungarian folk songs is published
1967 Kodly dies on March 6 at the age of 84
1969 American astronauts land on the Moon

3.4.1.3.1 Explain how an invention of the

past changed life at that time, including
positive, negative and unintended
outcomes.

The telephone (1876), the

phonograph (1877), light bulb
(1879), and radio (1890s) all
become commonly used during
Kodlys lifetime.

0.1.3.3.1 Demonstrate understanding of

the personal, social, cultural and
historical contexts that influence the
arts areas.

The steam engine was invented in 1784 and was the primary
mode for long distance travel during Kodlys lifetime. His
father was a railway official, so Kodlys family relocated often
throughout his childhood. The town of Galnta was on the
railway line and they lived there for seven years.

 Alexander Graham Bell makes the first coast-to-coast phone call on

January 25, 1915, using the brand-new AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) transcontinental
service. He called his former assistant Thomas Watson in San Francisco, CA from New York City, NY, repeating
his famous words from a previous communications experiment 39 years earlier Mr. Watson, come here. I want
to see you. In the previous experiment, Watson had been in the next room, so this time he answered It will
take me five days to get there now! The telephone took over from the telegraph as the machine that people
used to communicate over great distance and quickly. By 1914, the United States had the highest telephone
density in the world.
1937 telephone from the Hungarian Telephone Factory in Budapest. The
telephone exchange and multiplex switchboard, both components in early
telecommunications, were invented in 1877 and 1887 respectively by a
Hungarian named Tivadur Pusks. He had previously worked with both
Graham Bell and Edison.

Edison cylinder phonograph circa 1899.

Thomas Edison developed the phonograph in 1877 as a result of his work on the telegraph and the telephone.
This machine could record and playback sound. The sound vibrations from a persons voice speaking into the
mouthpiece were engraved by a needle onto the foil (later wax) wrapped around the cylinder. Edison first
tested his invention with the nursery rhyme Mary had a little lamb.

 Thomas Alva Edison with his lightbulb in 1911