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KÁLMÁN NÁDASDY AND GÉZA PÁRTOS: FREE WIND, 1950
claim that the work "does not spring from the post-World War I tradition of
operetta. But it does spring from a tradition, from a much more valuable and
significant one, the tradition of classical operetta", his claim aimed to give an
example of raising it to a socialist standard.’”’ Dunayevsky’s music was praised
for its extensive and dense texture, the ambition of its dramatic expressivity, its
operatic heights and the wide range of moods in its score. It was admired as it
“lasts more than a full two hours, so it is as long as The Bat or The Gypsy Baron”,
yet the music never stops the plot and can even become action itself.'”? Therefore
it shows that operetta music is also capable of conveying serious drama, as
“songs continue dialogues, and [...] most questions are resolved in the musical
parts, which reach the culmination of the operetta”.'”* That’s why it gets close to
opera at certain points, especially in recitatives accompanied by the orchestra
and in lyrical parts too, but even “where the author composes a mass song”.!
Besides summoning the language of old grand operettas, “bouncing marches,
melodic waltzes and fiery rhythms of Italian group dances alternate with choral
moments constructed impressively”, and “intimate expression” (Klementin’s
song) is followed by “poetic warmth” (the duet of Marké and Stella), “heroic
feelings” (Marko's partisan ballad) and “exuberantly high spirits” (duets of Pepita
and Miki)."" The easy-to-remember, colorful and dynamic nature of melodies,
as well as the “popular internationalism” of Free Wind were also appreciated, "7
ie. the fact that the composer did not give his music “overemphasized Russian
character”, only when the ideological content of the events came to the fore,"
and that he incorporated folk elements from the music of the Mediterranean.
Even if it was not exactly the “little task of eliminating jazz”! that musical
adaptation accomplished, it sought to increase the sense of the exceptionally
monumental character of the work in the “spectauditeur” (Patrice Pavis).
17
Székely, Szövetségi vita, 1.
12 Tbid., 2.
13 Sebestyén, Szövetségi vita, 12.
Székely, Szövetségi vita, 3. "Its worth taking a closer look at the Free Wind Song. It has
a much wider form of music than mass songs, which are usually based on a simple form:
there is a ‘verse’, there is a refrain, then comes a ‘verse’ again and the refrain with the same
text. But we see a very different form here. There are three variants of a theme with an
introductory recitative before them, which is an integral part of the whole song. Then we
have two ‘verses’ and the refrain is the third, each beautifully unfolded, with a very nice
soaring melody. This song could be an example for composers and lyricists alike of how to
write a popular mass song in a grandiose form.” Ibid.
Jemnitz: Szabad szel, 4.
176 L.J.: Szabad szél, 6.
17 Székely, Szövetségi vita, 3.
18 Jemnitz: Szabad szél, 4.
19 Bános: A színigazgató, 26.
17
a
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