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Remembering Mrs Pulika János, Tankó Gizella (1933–2021 Feb. 1.) of Gyimesközéplok/Lunca de Jos, Harghita County, Romania. She met her husband traditional fiddler Pulika János when she was 14. Ten years older than her, he was already making his living as a local traditional fiddler. They eloped when she was 16. By the time she was 21 she had 4 children. Then according to custom in Gyimes, she learned to play hit cello (in Hungarian „ütőgardon”), so she could accompany her husband when he played at local events. The traditional band in Gyimes consists of two musicians: a fiddler with usually his wife playing hit cello. Together they played for balls, work parties, weddings, christenings, and other celebrations in the Gyimes region. Her husband died in 1989. Hungary recognized her as an excellent traditional musician with the title of „Master of Folk Arts” in 2009. She was an exceptionally kind woman, well known by the táncház movement. By András Orsolya.

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Farewell to Czilika György „Gyuszi” 1958–2021 traditional musician from Bogartelke/Băgara, Kalotaszeg Region, Transylvania (Cluj County, Romania); known as the last of the great lead fiddlers of the Czilika family dynasty of musicians. His son became a classical musician. Czilika György played at weddings, village balls, christenings in his region of Transylvania: Magyarvista/ Viștea, Türe/Turea, Bogártelke/Băgara, Nádasdaróc/ Dorolțu and Inaktelke/Inucu in Cluj County. From the mid 1990s he was often invited to Hungary to play for dance house events. His music is preserved on at least 3 recordings and on you tube.. Having the honor of accompanying him, the typical Czilika style ornamentation and his clear, honest and kind blue eyes are rememberd. By Henics Tamás.

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Interview with Ágoston Béla musician, composer and recipient of a Halmos Béla Program grant supporting creative work for folk musicians (especially welcome support for musicians during the COVID pandemic). Ágoston Béla is more than a folk musician however, he is active in jazz, world and underground rock music as well. He plays saxophone, bagpipe, clarinet, etc and his projects include bands named: Zuboly, Agostones, Mágustones, FLEMM, Aborder Klezmer Band and others. This grant allows him to work on a piece called „Csongor és Tünde”, an ’ethno operetta’ and not his first work in this genre. By Dömötör Endre.

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A bit of ethnography for the radio. A piece on the rules for living the old peasant life; all areas of life were regulated. Certain kinds of work were done on certain days of the week and there were the days when work was forbidden. Across Hungary baking bread and washing clothes was forbidden on Friday and Saturday. In many places spinning and sewing was not to be done on Friday or on Tuesday. A young man could go courting only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. A second piece tells about magic and spells. There were recipes for attracting a sweetheart, sending away a witch or a storm, casting a spell on someone, curing the ill. One example: it was said that the bones of a frog caught on Saint George’s Day worked very well for attracting a lover. Many of the things needed to cast spells or to cure the ill had to be collected either at dawn or at midnight, from 9 places, or from the cemetery, in silence and so on. By Pócs Éva from „Kis Magyar néprajz a rádióban” RTV, Minerva, Budapest. 1978.

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The playing technique of the fiddlers from Transylvania’s Gyimes region (Part I.). The study begins with a statement on why the author chose this topic (his travels from Budapest to the region, etc). It provides a brief description of the region and summary of history and population, then describes the traditional band, the instruments and fiddling techniques. Includes bibliography. This study was submitted in 2018 as part of the author’s application for the title of Young Master of Folk Arts. By Mihó Attila.

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„Science for the movement – the Jászberény example” This is a review of books by Bathó Edit recently published (in 2020) by the Jászberény Cultural Foundation. Bathó Edit, director of the Jász Museum since 1994, has apparently done outstanding work researching folk culture in her own area – Hungary’s Jászság Region. Putting the research to good use, she has also been instrumental in preserving and reviving tradition in the area. Her work and the publications are commended. By Juhász Katalin.

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Folk music in Western India’s Kutch District of the Gudjarat Province. While not ethnomusicologists, the writers of this account are textile folk artists who travel to India often. Here they provide observations and impressions of a concert they attended in the city of Bhuj some 6 years ago. By Nagy Mari, Vidák István.

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Tradition related to death in the village of Lészped/Lespezi in Romanian Moldavia as described by Hungarian Csángó Moldavian informants from the village. These are rural customs of an impoverished agrarian culture, where everything to do with death occurred in the home, until the 3rd day when a procession carried a dead relative to mass, then to the cemetery for burial. Subject matter presented: Signs/superstitions of impending death, dying, customs for preparing the body, crying/wailing for the dead, the funeral procession from the house to the church for mass then burial, remembering the dead, the feast at home after the burial, the grieving period. Rather than visiting the dead in the cemetery, everyone ‘visits’ the dead in their thoughts, dreams, in family conversation... By Halász Péter.

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Farewell to Dr. Gerzanics Magdolna. Born in Ungvár (today in Ukraine) in 1934, she died on February 3rd, 2021 in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany. She grew up in Zala County, Hungary and was a Hungarian enthnographer, folk music researcher, journalist, former director of the Vass Lajos Folk Music Association. She remained active until her last days. She always supported the Transcarpathian Hungarians. Her doctoral dissertation for ELTE University’s Department of Ethnography examined folk music tradition, customs and folk arts of 3 Hungarian, 3 German and 3 Slovak villages in Komárom- Esztergom County. Printed here is the final correspondence between her and Kóka Rozália who interviewed her for the series on women’s lives. The interview appeared in folkMAGazin 2008 issues 2 and 3.

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Obituary: Almási István 1934-2021 Transylvanian ethnomusicologist, member of the Hungarian Academy of the Arts. Almási István was born in Kolozsvár/Cluj Napoca, Tranylvania. He was educated in Transylvania and worked until retirement as a scientific researcher at the Institute of Folklore (of the Romanian Academy of Sciences) in Kolozsvár. His work included collection, research and publication on folk music from areas of Transylvania known in Hungarian research as: Érmellék, Szilágyság, Lápos mente, Aranyosszék, Kis-Küküllő – Maros köze, Nyárád mente, Homoród mente, Háromszék. His most recent publications were: A népzene jegyében (2009) and Most jöttem Erdélyből (2019). From announcement by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Musicology.

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Obituary: Dr. Paksa Katalin folk music researcher at the Hungarian Institute of Musicology since 1971. She began her 50 year career working under ethnomusicologists Bálint Sándor and Vargyas Lajos. Her work embraced all areas of ethnomusicology: collection, transcription, categorization, comparison of Hungarian and neighboring ethnic groups, monographic music history examination, research on traditional folk performance, ornamentation, connections between folk and composed music. She was born in Zalaegerszeg, then studied in Pécs and at the Hungarian Academy of Music. She died on February 13th 2021 at the age of 77. By Matyovszky Márta (zaol.hu).

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Life in Old Bukovina (Kóka Rozália’s column). The story of a man called Ambarus, a farmer, the kind of person who named his dog named Friend; a peaceful man who loved animals, his fellow man, God and nature. His wife, on the other hand, carried two swords and used them often… One day Ambarus went out to plow. At lunch time he sat down and ate the scanty lunch his wife packed for him, afterwards he was just about to enjoy the one precious cigarette that had been doled out to him, but first he needed a drink of water. Tragically he dropped his cigarette down the well. By Lőrincz Gergely.

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On the Path of History – Kóka Rozália’s series. (Part I.) Rudolf László was born in Bátaszék in Hungary’s Tolna County in the 1950s. His mother was from Józseffalva/Vornicenii Mici in Bukovina. He spent his childhood amongst his mother’s family who had all come from Bukovina. László was a good student. He finished both elementary and secondary school in Bátszék, loved the books of Jules Verne and was a local chess champion. Good in mathematics, he received a scholarship to study engineering in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union). After finishing his degree he returned to Hungary and worked for a time at power plants until he was drafted for the compulsory 2 years of Hungarian military service. Afterwards he got work as a computer programmer in the town of Szekszárd. The first time he went with his mother to Bukovina in Romania to visit her home village of Józseffalva was in 1981. He left there in tears. To be continued. From a conversation recorded on February 25, 2021.

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Left-handed Transylvanian stringed instrument players. Classical music training obliges left-handed musicians to adapt to the right-handed playing format. However, left-handed Transylvanian village musicians did not have to adapt to the rules of the right-handed classical music world. Their approaches to adapting their instruments have been varied – no particular rule had to be followed: the village musicians have done whatever works for them to get the sound they need. This is a list of left-handed traditional violinists, viola/kontra, cello and double bass players. The list was formed on the basis of personal observation during collection work, and from collection results, photos and recordings in archives at the Hungarian Heritage House. By Árendás Péter.

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Conversation with Kelemen László – director of the Hungarian Heritage House (HHH). This year the HHH marks 20 years since it was established. Kelemen László was a key person in the process of rethinking/reformulating the institutions that became the HHH as a government institution with Kelemen as director. His goal has been to build a secure structure to house the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and various folk archives, provide a „home” for the dance house movement and support education towards keeping folk culture alive. He talks about the importance of developing and using ‘virtual’ means for information sharing and stresses re-teaching/reintroduction as the next important phase – meaning a process of reintroducing folk arts (music, dance, song, crafts, story-telling) back into their original habitat. Kelemen’s mandate as director runs out this year and he wants to hand things over to the younger folks. He intends to obtain a PhD from the Academy of Music and return to his native Transylvania to develop the already established Transylvanian branch of the HHH. By Csinta Samu.

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Food and tradition: Meals as ritual – blessings for food and drink from the Old Testament to the school cafeteria – Part I. Traditions from the Jewish and Christian cultures based on historical and ethnographic data are discussed, including; blessings for before the meal in the old testament tradition, Christian blessings for meals, blessings for the table in Hungarian folk culture, blessing the food in the religious liturgy (Christian), the „Saint John blessing” for wine and weddings. By Juhász Katalin.

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A life dedicated to the service of the Moldavian Csángó Hungarians. Domokos Pál Péter 1901–1992 was a Hungarian Székely gentleman from Várdotfalva (today part of Csíkszereda/Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania). He was a Széchenyi-award winning Hungarian teacher, historian, ethnographer who researched the history and culture of the Hungarian Csángó people of Moldavia. His first trip to Moldavia to visit the Csángó people was in 1928, when inspired by Bartók’s book „A magyar népdal”, he went to collect traditional songs from the Csángó Hungarians there, as an area Bartók been unable to visit. Thus began his life-long mission making sure that the Moldavian Csángó Hungarians would be neither forgotten, nor neglected by Hungary nor completely assimilated by the Romanians. Following Domokos, Jagamas János, Veress Sándor, Balla Péter, Lükő Gábor and Kallós Zoltán did important ethnographic collection work in the region. The Csángó Moldavian ethnic group has constantly been under threat of assimilation practices by from the Romanian government and the Orthodox church. This interview was done in 1985 for a Radio Free Europe program and is published here by Domokos Mária.

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Karibi éjszaka [Carribean night] – Széki Soós János’ column. A story about a Hungarian tourist on holiday in the Carribean begins when he is listening to local Puerto Rican music. After the Puerto Rican band, came another band that played international standards. The musicians were Hungarians of course. Our tourist describes other Hungarians he met including the musicians and also a prostitute from the café. Excerpt from the novel „Iker” [Twin] by Simó Márton.

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New publication: Marton László Távolodó: Érintés II. (World Music 2000–2020). Somos Kiadó, 2021. Budapest. ISBN: 978-615-81718-0-9. Marton László Távolodó is a well-known world music reviewer and journalist, concert and music producer, and member of the jury for World Music Charts Europe. This is his second book in Hungarian on international and Hungarian world music. The book is organized in four sections: America, Africa, Europe, Hungary. Printed here is the preface of the book by the author Marton László Távolodó.

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Interview with Balogh Melinda – Melinda won support from the Halmos Béla Program for development of a theatre production about the travels of Kőrösi Csoma Sándor (Transylvanian philologist and orientalist 1784–1842) who travelled from Transylvania to India searching for traces of the Hungarian people. Melinda is a folk singer whose solo record „Napkerék” (2019) presenting traditional songs and music of the Transylvanian Roma, has been very well received. She started out from Kecskemét, danced for 10 years with the Jászság Ensemble, and has sung with every local band along the way. She works with a group called BaHorKa incorporating folk song, tales and music into stage performances. Here she also talks about her creative process for developing the new theatre production. Interview by Dömötör Endre.

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New publication: Zsíros Tibor: [Pictures, Memories of Moldavia and Transylvania 1974–1990]. Fekete Sas, 2021 Budapest. ISBN 978 615 6168 139 includes CD. Selected photographs and the forward to this book are printed in this issue of folkMAGazin. In the forward, geophysicist Zsíros Tibor describes his first trip to Transylvania in 1974 with some of the conditions and challenges of travelling there, also describing the amazing humanity of the people he met there.

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The playing technique of the fiddlers from Transylvania’s Gyimes region (Part II.). The second part of the study provides a list of 29 fiddlers known in the region between the late 1800s and the present, with basic data on each one. It describes differences between the Gypsy musicians and the ‘peasant musicians’ of Gyimes and makes a technical comparison of the two playing styles. Includes bibliography. This study was submitted in 2018 as part of the author’s application for the title of Young Master of Folk Arts. By Mihó Attila.

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Traditional ceramics in Hungarian Csángó communities in Moldavia. In places where the land wasn’t sufficient for growing food, the population was forced to try to support themselves through various traditional household crafts such as ceramics. Making pottery was possible of course only in places where soil, tradition and market demand supported it. Procedures of making clay from the earth, throwing the pots, types of pots made, decorating, firing, glazing, barter compensation and sale of the pottery are described. The ceramics of Gorzafalva/Oituz in Bacău County, Romania are concentrated on, as this is where the craft survived the longest. The last Hungarian Moldavian Csángó potter Aszalós Viktor was born in 1936. By Halász Péter.

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Old writings still relevant today – P. Vas János’ column. The famous storytellers spoke well and had a good memory. They were well-respected in the village communities, during peasant work, and in military service. People longed to listen to storytellers. News of a good storyteller spread far and wide; people came to learn from them. A storyteller didn’t create a story alone: hundreds of years of anyonymous, talented and excellent storytellers passed the tales down. What was referred to as the ’Hungarian method’ or the ’Budapest school’ for studying traditional storytellers and their tales was developed between the two world wars and was actually based on the Russian method. Ortutay Gyula 1978 from „Kis magyar néprajz a rádióban” [a bit of ethnography for the radio]. Minerva. Budapest, 1978.

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Szomjas György – who chronicled a world destined to be forgotten. A discussion of the work of the late film director Szomjas György (1940–2021) as regards to the dance house movement and folk music. Sebő Ferenc talks about a trip to Transylvania with Szomjas György in 1972. Sebő also notes two of Szomjas’ feature films important for their use of folk music: „Talpuk alatt füyül a szél” and „Rosszemberek” – both so-called outlaw (betyár) films. In addition to his other film work, Szomjas „became the chronicler of the dance house movement…his value in this area is undisputed and imperishable. He took on the task of dealing with [the dance house] in film. He noticed and listened to everyone [from the movement, from the period] who was worth listening to.” Interview with Sebő Ferenc by Grozdits Károly.

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Interview with rock musician, music, film, theatre producer Jantyik Csaba about his work with the late Szomjas György (1940–2021). Halmos Béla introduced Jantyik Csaba to Szomjas about a 10 years ago. After that Csaba worked closely with Szomjas on many projects including documentary films, both the theatre production and the film entitled „Betyárjaték”; on a total of 35 films and other projects. Csaba was a fan of Szomjas’ ’city films’ first of all, then through their work together, became familiar with the folk music side of Szomjas’ work. By Grozdits Károly.

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Conversation with folk singer Horváti Kata – main character in the late Szomjas György’s film „Vagabond” (2003). This film was a documentary/fiction film about the dance house movement. „It was important for the main characters in the film to be played by young people from the dance house – not actors….with only slight exaggeration, half the dance house movement was in the film and everyone participated as if it were another dance house event, another adventure.” The film was shown at festivals in Berlin, Moscow, Leeuwarden and in Budapest. Alongside his other projects Szomjas’ continued making documentary films about important figures of the dance house movement until his death. By Grozdits Károly.

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Gypsy music? Peasant music? Folk music! The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble’s 70th Anniversary. Important changes in the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble began in 1981 when Timár Sándor was named artistic director. Timár arrived from his post as director of the Bartók Ensemble with the goal of transplanting his new model for staging folk dance/folklore to update the State Ensemble’s repertoire. Until that time the State Ensemble had been functioning on the original model used since it was established in 1951. „…it would be great if the three artistic bodies of the ensemble [dance corps, chorus, musicians] were able to use Hungarian folk dance, music and song in its original form – the simpler natural form…” This article continues by tracing the succession of the folk musicians from the dance house movement that have played for the ensemble since 1981. By Árendás Péter, Szecsődi Barbara and Vavrinecz András.

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New publication: Hajnáczky Tamás: Bura Károly cigányprímás – Aktivista, revizionista, vizionarista [Bura Károly – Gypsy violinist, activist, revisionist, visionary] Noran Libro Kiadó, 2021. Budapest ISBN 978-963-517-203-0. A small monography introducing the life and career of the legendary Hungarian Gypsy lead violinist Bura Károly (1881–1934). It follows the path of Bura Károly’s life during the stormy period of history when the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy fell apart, and then when the Hungarian Gypsy musicians (along with their compatriots) lived through the traumas of the Treaty of Trianon. The book tells the history of the Hungarian Gypsy musicians who had to endure political measures and the ‘storms of history’ while their active lives were important in building both Hungarian and Gypsy culture. Historical science has largely overlooked the lives of people from the Gypsy ethnic group. Hajnáczky’s forward from the book and a recommendation by Elena Marushiakova are printed here.

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Life in Bukovina – from the writings and drawings of Lőrincz Gergely from the village of Istensegíts/Țibeni. Told in Bukovinan Hungarian dialect, this story is about the birth of a baby boy, Istánka, born in the fall during the potato harvest. His father was sent for the midwife who lived on the lower edge of the village. On the way home, he stopped by the pub – not to drink – but to get a bottle of pálinka which was part of the pay for the midwife’s services. It was hoped that the baby boy would be as good a handy man as the grandfather he was named for. In fact the little boy had a gift for drawing, but the hard work needed for survival in a Bukovinan village perhaps 100 years ago – didn’t allow time for a child to cultivate such artistic talents. But Istánka became a good man who appreciated the beautiful things in life. He married the most beautiful girl in the village who also had a beautiful soul. Kóka Rozália’s column.

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On the Path of History – Kóka Rozália’s series. Part 2. Rudolf László was born in Bátaszék in Hungary’s Tolna County in the 1950s. His mother was from Józseffalva/Vornicenii Mici, Bukovina. He grew up amongst his mother’s family – all Székely Hungarians from Bukovina. He went to Bukovina for the first time in 1981 with his mother to visit her home village. He was deeply moved and returned to the village many, many times over the next four years. As a result he became interested in tracing the family tree of his Bukovina relatives. A computer programmer by trade he developed his own computer program for mapping family trees out from Józseffalva’s church birth, death and marriage records. Later the project extended to mapping out family trees of the whole village. Then he took on the same project for other Bukovina Székely villages, working from church records with his computer program. In the process he also amassed a sizable collection of photographs and became active in an international organization of people from Bukovina. From a conversation recorded on February 25, 2021.

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Timár Sándor’s folk dance and folklore collection work in Elek, Hungary. Famous in the Hungarian dance house movement for his folk dance teaching methods and choreography, Timár began doing folk dance collection and doumentation work with the Romanians in the village of Elek (in Eastern Hungary) in 1954. He first concentrated on dance traditions there in the period between the two world wars. This article discusses the various films he made and Timár’s field notes. He returned to Elek to do collection work several times in 1954–55. Again in the mid 60s, in 1972, in the 1980s and twice in 1992. Timár founded the Bartók Ensemble in 1958 but continued doing folk dance field collection work with the help of his colleagues and students. Article includes table of his collection trips, and location of field notes and films stored in the archives. By Timár Mihály.

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Laposa Julcsi young folk fiddler from Hungary’s Zala County collaborated with Kaláka Band on a book-recording – the 4th in a series called „NÉPI hang-színek” [FOLK sound-colors]. This volume features music and customs of the spring and summer. Julcsi is from a younger generation that grew up on Kaláka’s music and felt honored to be able to collaborate with them. Julcsi is used to working in authentic folk music, this project with Kaláka dips into world music. The goal of the series is to playfully introduce and hand over culture to children within a cultural/recreational framework. The tunes are presented in keys easily sung and played on the flute. The publication won support from the Halmos Béla Program, Fonó Music Hall and City of Zalaegerszeg. Interview by Kertész Dalma.

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Interview with Pávai István – esteemed honorary director of the Hungarian Heritage House. Mr. Pávai talks about his career and work as an ethnomusicologist, starting in his native Transylvania, and then after he relocated to Budapest in 1994 to work with the folk music collections of the Hungarian Museum of Ethnography and the Institute of Musicology. When the Hungarian Heritage House was established in 2001 (20 years ago!) he also joined the staff there. He has been instrumental in the folk music collection project known as „Utolsó Óra/Final Hour”, has developed and initiated cataloging, archival procedures and related data bases for the collections of all three institutions, has curated important exhibitions at the Hungarian Heritage House honoring the folk music collection work of Bartók Béla, Kodály Zoltán, Lajtha László and Vikár Béla and authored the accompanying publications. The list of his other publications is lengthy. By Csinta Samu.

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Meals as ritual part two: Blessings for food and drink from the Old Testament through the school cafeteria. This describes various traditional Hungarian blessings/graces for the meal - covering the following subject areas: Kun language table blessing, sung Saint John’s blessings, sung Calvinist table blessings, sung Catholic table blessings, Székely table blessings, humour and table blessings. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.

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folkMAGazin special issue XVII
Honoring Karsai Zsigmond – traditional dancer, artist on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Karsai was born in 1920 in the Transylvanian village of Lőrincréve/Leorinţ; he died in the village of Pécel, Hungary in 2011. This is a collection of writings on Karsai and items selected from his correspondence and documents. „He was an outstanding preserving personality, an excellent ethnographic informant….his dance vocabulary condensed every valuable aspect of tradition of his birthplace.” He received Hungary’s title „Traditional Master of Folk Arts” in 1961.

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folkMAGazin surprise special issue XIII. March 2021
This special issue celebrates choreographer, folk dance theatre director, ethnographer Novák Ferenc „Tata” on his 90th birthday, with photographs by Korniss Péter from the 1960s to the present. A collection of 15 interviews on experiences working with Tata: interviewed are dancers from the Bihari and Honvéd ensembles, and musicians he has worked and collaborated with for his choreographies and other folk theatre productions. Interviewers: Berán István, Fodor Zsófia, Grozdits Károly, Herczku Ágnes, Jávorszky Béla Szilárd.