Pange lingua

Zoltán Kodály (1882 – 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.

Born in Kecskemét, Hungary, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child. In 1905 he visited remote villages to collect songs, recording them on phonograph cylinders. In 1906 he wrote a thesis on Hungarian folk song, "Strophic Construction in Hungarian Folksong". At around this time Kodály met fellow composer and compatriot Béla Bartók, whom he took under his wing and introduced to some of the methods involved in folk song collecting.

His works show great originality of form and content, a very interesting blend of highly sophisticated mastery of the western European style of music, including classical, late-romantic, impressionistic and modernist traditions, and on the other hand a profound knowledge and respect for the folk music of Hungary and the Hungarian-inhabited areas of Slovakia and Romania.

"Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium" is a Medieval Latin hymn written by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) for the Feast of Corpus Christi. It is also sung on Maundy Thursday during the procession from the church to the place where the Blessed Sacrament is kept until Good Friday. The last two stanzas (called, separately, Tantum Ergo) are sung at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The hymn expresses the doctrine that the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the celebration of the Eucharist.

It is often sung in English as the hymn Of the Glorious Body Telling, to the same tune as the Latin.

Kodaly's setting is an original work and does not use the plaingsong melody. The organ part is actually a prelude to the motet, and can be used as an introduction for the choral portion, or as an organ solo. The work dates from 1931.

The colors are interesting, and work very nicely on the Schulze organ.

Several interesting photos of Kodály are attached.