Galanta (Hungarian: Galánta) is a small town situated in Slovakia. Its distance to Slovak capital Bratislava is 50 km.
Galanta is an old town where historical buildings were unfortunately destroyed during the communist era of Czechoslovakia (1948-1989). There are two important historical buildings left. The first one is the Esterhazys' Castle and the second one a Renaissance castle. The Esterhazys' Castle is almost in ruins now as opposed to the Renaissance castle that was renovated in the 1990s.
The Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály spent most of his childhood in this town and has composed the Dances of Galanta (1933, for orchestra) based on the folk music of this region.
Galanta lies in Podunajska nizina, southern and warm part of Slovakia. There are many agricultural fields around Galanta, where wheat, corn and other vegetables and fruits are being grown.
Even with such fine music as Dances of Galanta to confirm so positively his compositional skills, it is as an educator that his influence has had such a profound resonance through the Western world.
Born in Kecskemet, a small town in central Hungary, Kodály showed an early aptitude for music which was encouraged by his music-loving father.
Kodály wrote his Dances of Galanta in 1933 explaining their origins thus: "Galanta is a small Hungarian market-town, known to travellers from Vienna to Budapest, where the composer passed seven years of his childhood.
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