Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967) and Béla Bartók are widely regarded as the two most important Hungarian composers of the 20th century. Kodály was born in town of Kecskemét and from his father, a keen amateur musician, learned to play the violin as a child. In 1900, he entered the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest where he studied composition with Hans Koessler. After graduating, he began a serious study of Hungarian folk melodies and around 1905 started visiting remote villages and collecting folk songs. Folk melody plays an important part in his music. Kodály later went to Paris where he studied with Charles Widor and was greatly impressed by the music of Debussy and the French impressionists. He composed in most genres, and while he did not write a great deal of chamber music, what he wrote is invariably engaging.
The Intermezzo for String Trio dates from around 1905, about the time time he began his travels to collect folk melody. It abounds with the sounds of real Hungarian folk tunes rather than the ersatz Gypsy music which Austrian and German composers such as Brahms popularized. The one movement Intermezzo is in the character of a relaxed serenade.
