The works heard in this program were written surprisingly late, some of them a decade or more after the dawn of the Modern era: Kodály 1914; Ravel 1922; Schulhoff 1925.
Although these three works can scarcely be regarded as avant-garde for their time, a new spirit is in the air: a freely ranging search on all levels for new forms and means of expression, coupled with a love of experimentation with extremely sparse scoring. It is also noteworthy that all three works succeed in their own way in reflecting a national character in their musical idiom. Ravel offers typical immaculately groomed French elegance; Kodály writes against a background of folk music; Schulhoff stands out for the way he experiments with complex combinations of rhythms.
Here is Ms. Fischer in the Passacaglia by Halvorsen:
