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My meetings with a Moldavian soulseer – excerpts from a book about Hungarian Csángó Moldavian woman, Jánó Ferenc Ilona. For 37 years, starting in 1969 Kóka Rozália visited her informant Jánó Ferenc Ilona documenting her visions and important events in her life. In 2006 Rozália’s collection work was published in a book by L’Harmattan in Budapest. „A seer of the dead (soulseer) is a man or woman who according to Hungarian folk belief has supernatural powers and can contact the dead, bring news from them, or can sometimes help with healing…” Rozália first heard about the seer in the Moldavian village of Lészped/Lespezi from other ethnographic informants from Moldavia. When she travelled to Lészped to visit Jánó Ferenc Ilona the first time, the seer met her with the following words, „I’ve been expecting you…my guardian angel told me you were coming. And that you come with good intentions. I can tell you secrets, you will use my words for good cause.” Kóka Rozália’s new column.
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Vass Lajos Lifework award. This award is given to those who for decades have been dedicated to preserving, passing on, carrying on Hungarian folk music and folk culture. On October 23, 2021 this award was given to Kóka Rozália active in the Vass Lajos Folk Music Association and director of Érd Bukovina Székely Folk Song Circle for 48 years. The award was also given posthumously to Dr. Gerzanics Magdolna folk music researcher, journalist, supporter of the folk music movement. Announcement by Farkas Márta, vice president, Vass Lajos Folk Music Association.
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New recording – „Határtalán férfiének” – the unbounded men’s voice. This recording highlights the Hungarian men’s singing voice and themes that men sang about in the past. There are traditional songs about herders, shepherds, soldiers, outlaws, ballads and historical songs from the southern and southeastern Hungarian language area and Transylvania – mostly from outside the borders of today’s Hungary. The recording features Gubinecz Ákos’ singing recorded with the Tokos, Juhász, Üsztürü, Csádé, Zeke and Tarsoly bands, the Muravidék Chorus and others. Announcement by Gubinecz Ákos and recommendation by Eredics Gábor.
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MAGTÁR – Literature and the dance house. Excerpt from a novel entitled „Iker” (meaning: twin) by Transylvanian Hungarian writer, poet, editor Simó Márton which includes description of the early dance house movement in Transylvania. „…the authorities prohibited it, but allowed it. They permitted it, and didn’t. For awhile. Then they stopped it. There were certain elements in the dance house music and in the dance that could be used for ideological purposes, but only if taken out of the original context.” „… the national schizophrenia. The need to create the myth and the past, in a national package of lies…until the people believe it… The [dance house] movement was born in oppositon to this. Back to the roots. Back to the pure source. The mentality of Bartók, Kodály, Lajtha László, Domokos Pál Péter reappeared and Kallós Zoltán’s folk music collection work seemed to align with this mentality.” One of the novel’s main characters, Hunor participated, „…Hunor felt like he was in his element when he went to the dance house. For one thing there were a lot of women there. Which is important for every young man. You could meet and make friends with teachers, university students, nurses, girls studying to be school teacher…”
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New publication: Teaching Hungarian Folk Music Fifty Years After Kodály. Editor: Tóth Lilla, 2021 Hagyományok Háza, Budapest/ In Hungarian. This volume contains written versions of nine papers given at a conference held during the 27th Folk Music Festival in Kecskemét, Hungary in 2017. Presenters and titles of papers included in the volume are: Agócs Gergely – Our musical mother tongue fifty years after Kodály; Tóth Lilla – Folk singing instruction methods at the Debrecen Music School; Navratil Andrea – I sing, I sing; Bese Botond – Bagpipe instruction at the Búzaszem School in Göd, Hungary; Dóra Áron – Innovative methods and traditional means for passing on traditional culture; Husi Gyula – Possibilites and problems of teaching zither in children’s cultural education; Szerényi Béla – Methodology for teaching hurdy-gurdy; Rőmer Ottó – Teaching folk violin today on beginning and intermediate levels; Árendás Péter – Teaching stringed instruments in the Folk Music Department at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music (Budapest).
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In Hungary the Carnival – or Farsang – season begins on January 6th and ends on Ash Wednesday with the beginning of Lent. Traditionally the most exciting celebrations happen at the end of the period – on Shrove Tuesday. Customs contain elements that reach back to European Pre-Christian times. The opinion of the church in the Middle Ages was: „…there is no other day in the entire year when the devil claims so many as his slave under the yoke of evil.” In Hungary, city carnival customs have pretty much died out with the exception of the carnival balls. Many more customs survived [at the time of publication] in the villages. Carnival celebrations include masquerading as spirits from hell/characters from the devil’s celebrations, men dress as women, women as men, etc. By Jávor Kata from: Kis magyar néprajz a rádióban. RTV Minerva, Budapest 1978.
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A cigánykirály [The Gypsy King] – was a 1927 Hungarian operetta created in memory of Bihari János the celebrated Hungarian Gypsy violinist and song writer who lived from 1764 until 1827. The operetta was created for the 100th anniversary of Bihari’s death. In 1928 local press described the operetta as: „Hungarian through and through”, „a perfect performance. Revue-like spectacular. Captivating costume. Ballet and dance attractions. Music that speaks to the heart. A pageant of Esterházy hussars and hussar chorus girls. Laughter nonstop from 7:30-10:30”. By Lengyel Emese.
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A traditional storytelling revival in Hungary is encouraged, supported and taught by Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House where courses in traditional storytelling and Hungarian folk tale have been offered every year since 2007. The author of this article, herself a revival storyteller, addresses questions of carrying on the oral traditon within the context of today’s revival story telling movement in Hungary. She is active in „Meseszó Association” whose members are committed to carrying on the storytelling tradition. By Bumberák Maja.
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Foods for holiday and every day amongst the Hungarians of Moldavia. „In Moldavia no one ever wrote down a recipe…they didn’t cook according to particular rules.” This article is organized around the following headings: soups, cornmeal/polenta, stuffed leaves, stuffed chicken, „Csiger” lamb offal (innerds) from the freshly butchered animal, „zsufa” (flaxseed gruel), crepe-like sweets filled with cottage cheese and a dumpling-like sweet. It should be noted that the Moldavian Csángó Hungarians lived in poverty surviving mainly by subsistence farming, so they ate what they could produce at home. By Halász Péter.
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Blága Károly „Kicsi Kóta” (January 13, 1931 – January 19, 2022) Sötét Patak, Gyimesközéplok/Lunca de Jos, Harghita County, Romania. Blága Károly was a key figure in his community, well known as a good dancer who lived like most others from the traditional forms of subsistence farming and animal husbandry of Transylvania’s Gyimes region. He was well-known also in the dance house movement community as one of the great traditional village dancers. His wonderful dancing has been well documented with films housed in the Dance Collection of the Hungarian Institute of Musicology and in other archives. In 2003 Hungary recognized him with the title of „Master of Folk Arts”. The following was spoken by parish priest father Málnási Demeter at his funeral in Gyimesközéplok on January 21, 2022: „Though we here on earth have lost him, I believe that tonight the Gyimes skies gain another star. For the community gathered here to mourn him, I hope that Kicsi Kóta’s life and death shall become a forging strength and message heard far beyond our Gyimes region and the borders of our country. Rest in Peace.”
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Tötszegi Andrásné Varga Erzsébet „Puci Ángyi” (1930–2022) Méra, a village in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania is well-known for its traditional culture particularly in dance house movement circles. Dancers, singers, traditional costume makers, musicians and much more from this village have been documented by generations of Hungarian ethnographers. The Tötszegi family are prominent members of the village community and are also well-known as wonderful traditional dancers, singers and more. On his frequent visits to Méra, a member of Hungary’s dance house movement often took the time to sit with and listen to two elderly women from the Tötszégi family as they sat on the bench outside the gate of the family home to talk and gossip. Upon the recent passing of the second of the two women, he feels honored to have been able to join them there and talk with them. By Henics Tamás.
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The brand new Hungarian House of Music – Interview with operational director Horn Márton. This newly built facility designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto opened in the end of January of 2022. It is located in Budapest’s city park and shall function as a concert venue, exhibition space and music library. There is already „…an exhibition on Hungarian connections to European music history – a concept that will be followed for concerts as well…It is important to present all aspects of Hungarian music culture…[we intend to] bring Hungarian and international musicians together giving proper attention also to both traditional and ‘global music’ (as separate from ‘world music’ that often involves fusions of music from different cultures)…” The institution will house Hungary’s first library of popular music. A staff of 70 run the new institution with Salamon Soma in charge of Hungarian folk music programing. For the first few months they will be functioning in „trial mode”. By Grozdits Károly.
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Romengo Ensemble’s record „Folk utca” holds third place on the World Music Charts Europe toplist. Romengo’s music is based on Hungarian Oláh Gypsy traditional music, and features the wonderful singer Lakatos Mónika. The record was released on the FolkEurópa label.
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In History’s path – Kóka Rozália’s series: Traditional folk artist Lőrincz Etel was born in 1955 in „Völgység Majos” [in Hungary’s Tolna County] into a Bukovina Székely Hungarian family especially talented in the folk arts. Her great grandmother had been one of Kodály’s informants and so on. Etel learned her crafts from family members who passed down folk information the traditional way within the family. Most of her relatives had not had the opportunity to go to school, but they nevertheless amassed a high level of folk knowledge which they have been eager to pass on. Etel is particularly known for her „festékes” embroidery and linen cloth weaving. She, like her family members have been, is dedicated to passing on the traditions.
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Kisné Kovács Zsuzsa: Szeremlei történetek dalokban elmesélve. [Stories of Szeremle told in the songs] Published by the Town of Szeremle, Hungary, 2021. The volume contains folk songs collected in the community of Szeremle on the Danube in Southern Hungary. Most of the songs are classified as „new style” with some „old style” songs amongst the girl’s dances and jumping (ugrós) dance songs. The book also presents local dance traditions, dance types, and history of the local dance group from the „Gyöngyös Bokréta” period (1927) to the present. Announcement and review by ethnographer Mihálovics Ferenc.
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Teaching curriculum for Hungarian folk cymbalom in both printed format and online. Both published by the Hungarian Heritage House the printed version was released 2021 (237 pages). The online version has recently been released on the Hungarian Heritage House website. Aimed at both folk cymbalom teachers and their students, it was written by Balogh Kálmán and Szabó Dániel and offers a practical guide to the folk cymbalom knowledge amassed over the last 50 years of the dance house movement. Well-known performer cymbalom player, Balogh Kálmán also teaches in the folk music department at the Liszt Academy of Music. This announcement also includes a short history of the cymbalom in Hungary. By Liber Endre.
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Conversation with Tóth János director of the Hungarian Heritage House network project. As a national institution involved in the task of passing on folk traditions, in 2017 Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House began to organize a network of related institutions with the same goals – in other parts of Hungary and in Hungarian communities outside of Hungary’s borders. Project director Tóth János discusses experiences setting up the branch institutions and perspectives for them in Hungary, and outside of Hungary in Transcarpathia, Transylvania, Voivodina, and Slovakia. „The network was initiated first of all on the basis of expressed community need.” Tóth oversees a department of eleven people involved in implementing and maintaining the project. Interview by Csinta Samu.
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Jókai Mária recieves Csemadok Lifework Award. Csemadok is a cultural association of ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia. Jókai Mária is retired but still active today. Her work centered mainly in Western Slovakia began in 1955 when she started teaching in a Hungarian school in Kaláz/Klasov, a village in Western Slovakia’s Nitra Region. Her activities often focused on traditional children’s games of the Zoboralja region, seasonal folk customs, folk embroidery, traditional costume. Here she recollects projects with Bethlehem Christmas pagent-play customs, a research collection project (sponsored by Csemadok) in the early 1970s where amateur and professional folklorists joined forces to collect local folklore material. Today she is involved in putting together a regional house museum in the village of Aha and projects documenting local folk costume. By Neszméri Tünde – first published 2022 jan. 30 www.felvidék.ma.
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Exhibition celebrating the lifework of ethnographer, folklorist, folk dance choreographer, folk dancer Együd Árpád and his connections to the Balatoni Folk Dance Ensemble. The exhibition is open until April 2022 at the Kálmán Imre Museum in Siófók. Announcement by Lengyel Zsanett.
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Food and Hungarian tradition – customs surrounding feeding infants and toddlers. Excerpts from five old publications which include information on customs from the peasant culture surrounding new mothers, breast feeding, weaning the baby and the baby’s first foods. Cited here are: Ethnographia 1899: Richter Magyar István: beliefs about the infant in Németpróna/Nitrianske Pravno (Slovakia). Szendrey Zsigmond – Szendrey Ákos: Magyarság Néprajza 4. 1937: Caring for the infant, breast feeding, weaning. Ecsedi István 1935: Eating habits of Hungarians of Debrecen and the Tisza River regions. Kardos Ferenc 1943: Folk eating habits of Hungary’s Őrség region. Kapros Márta 1986: Customs and beliefs related to birth in the Ipoly/Ipeľ River region (Slovakia). By Juhász Katalin.
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New CD: Széki versek. Traditional Folk Music from the Transylvanian village of Szék. Singer Sőregi Anna and friends. Fonó 2022. Sőregi Anna became interested in how classical Hungarian poetry had found its way into folk song texts in the village of Szék. She was also inspired by the singing of certain traditional singers from Szék. The material for this recording came through her study of original recordings of singers from Szék from a 60 year period – the 1940s through the 2000s. Also printed here is commentary on this recording by Székely Levente. He remarks on how the dance house movement’s ’first love’ was the music, dance and songs of Szék and that after fifty years the movement seems to have almost forgotten Szék. „Szék deserves a dance house renaissance and this CD could be the first step in that.” He writes, „the components necessary for attaining quality in folk music are talent, hard work, dedication and the right amount of humility….in my opinion Sőregi Anna’s first record has all of these…” Award winning folk singer Sőregi Anna was born in Voivodina, she earned a diploma from Budapest’s ELTE university and this year will finish another degree in folk singing from the Hungarian Academy of Music. She teaches folk singing in schools and camps and sings with Bajkó Band.
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Short story by Lokodi Imre: Cserey Katalin’s beautiful eyes. This story begins with a great description of countryside wake. It goes on to tell tales about the deceased local woman of noble blood and possible wanderings of her spirit and eyes to a nearby grape arbor.
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New CD: „Táncalávaló” [Music for Dancing] – The Hungarian National Dance Ensemble’s Band. This band works full time with the professional folk dance ensemble directed by Zsurafszky Zoltán and Zs. Vincze Zsuzsa. The band supplies the accompanying music for all the ensemble’s productions, but also does their own concerts. Amongst the band’s main goals: carrying on and popularizing folk music traditions of the Carpathian Basin. Leader of the Band: Papp István Gázsa (violin).
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My meetings with a Moldavian soulseer – excerpts from a book about a Hungarian Csángó Moldavian woman, Jánó Ferenc Ilona. Starting in 1969 Kóka Rozália visited her informant Jánó Ferenc Ilona in the village of Lészped/Lespezi for 37 years - documenting her visions and important events in her life. "A soulseer is a man or woman who according to Hungarian folk belief has supernatural powers and can contact the dead, bring news from them, or can help with healing…" When Rozália first visited Jánó Ferenc Ilona, the seer greeted her with: „I’ve been expecting you…my guardian angel told me you were coming...” Jánó Ferenc Ilona was nine in 1943 when her mother died. Her mother had given birth to twelve children. Her father remarried, but the new wife didn’t want to take care of all his children and she was mean to them. Ilona began to have visions when she was eleven. When she was fourteen: „One night my guardian angel came to me, and gently awakened me, I saw that my soul had left my body. My body stayed in bed, little Jesus was there. My soul was like my body, only it was light and shining. My guardian angel wanted to show me heaven. Every night for two weeks I went there. I only had visions at night. Every morning my angel woke me so I’d get up on time and my body could get back together with my soul...heaven was beautiful…I saw beautiful places, where the good, pure souls are. They showed me how beautifully the angels sing…” (to be continued). From the book by Kóka Rozália published in 2006 by L’Harmattan in Budapest.
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Moldován Stefán 1946–2022 viola player of the Palatka Band – the dance house movement mourns recent the death of the traditional kontra player from the band from Transylvania’s Magyarpalatka/Pălatca, Romania. His playing has been recorded and studied by generations of dance house movement musicians. Farewell and photo by Henics Tamás.
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Interview with Balogh János, ’master of dance traditions’ of southern Hungary’s Baranya County and dance educator in Pécs. In the 1990s he was artistic director of the Pelikán Dance Ensemble in the town of Siklós. He briefly describes a project that produced two volumes on the folk dances of Baranya County. He also tells about an ongoing project studying the activities of the old dance masters (1860 to WW II.) and their influence on traditional dance. Born in Pécs in 1967, he completed a degree in dance education at the Hungarian Academy of Dance, earned his general teaching credentials at the University in Pécs and is now working on a degree in Dance Anthropology at the university in Szeged. By Mohay Réka – first published at: bama.hu on 2022 Feb. 21.
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New Publication: Varsányi Ildikó: Prímás Egyéniségek: [Traditional Lead Fiddlers] Potta Géza, Abaújszina. Pentaton o.z. 2021. Potta Géza (1935–2007 Abaújszina/Seňa, Slovakia) was a traditional fiddler from a village in Southeastern Slovakia near the city of Kassa/Kosice. He learned to play from family members and began playing in their band at an early age. He did not read music. He and his band served the traditional music needs of several villages in his area. He was also hired sometimes to play in other areas of Slovakia including in Bratislava and became well-known in the Hungarian Dance House Movement. Recordings of his music exist in the folk music archives and on at least one CD. This publication contains written music for tunes from his repertoire selected and transcribed by Varsányi Ildikó. Printed here is her introduction to the volume and a short description by Ethnomusicologist Agócs Gergely.
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Nógrád Dance Ensemble recently celebrated its 45plus1 year anniversary. The event was held on December 11th, 2021 in Salgótarján, Hungary – the group’s hometown. This article looks back over the decades remembering: „the Nógrád family”, people who have directed the ensemble over the years, the band (Dűvő), the related childrens groups, their award winning dancers, guest choreographers, challenges of keeping dancers interested, two local cooperating institutions: Zenthe Ferenc Theatre, Váczi Gyula School of the Arts, and their beloved Táncház – the name of the group’s headquarters in Salgótarján. By Paluch Norbert.
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Foods for holiday and every day amongst the Hungarians of Moldavia. „In Moldavia no one ever wrote down a recipe…they didn’t cook according to particular rules.” This article is organized around the following headings: soups, cornmeal/polenta, stuffed leaves, stuffed chicken, „Csiger” lamb offal (innerds) from the freshly butchered animal, „zsufa” (flaxseed gruel), crepe-like sweets filled with cottage cheese and a dumpling-like sweet. It should be noted that the Moldavian Csángó Hungarians lived in poverty surviving mainly by subsistence farming, so they ate what they could produce at home. By Halász Péter.
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Interview with Németh Hajnal Aurora – artist, Hungarian folk art inspired clothing designer. Aurora grew up in Győr. Her parents are antique dealers. She holds a diploma as a glass design artist. An exceptionally creative person, she has gone on to work nationally and internationally doing stage design for theater, opera and dance, costume design, jewelry design and performance art often based on Hungarian tales and ballads. She has a strong facebook and other online media presence. She describes making contact with crafts people in Hungary who do exceptional handwork (lace, embroidery, slippers, etc), ordering work from them which she then incorporates into her designs, sometimes collaborating with them to execute her designs. Interview by Grozdits Károly.
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On History’s Path – Kóka Rozália’s series. This is the story of Father P. Illés Albert a Catholic priest whose came from a family of Székely Hungarians who left the village of Hadikfalva/Dornești in Bukovina in 1941 for resettlement in Hungarian territory. He was born in 1952 in Hungary’s Tolna County. Upon completing secondary school in 1970 at the Piarist Gymnasium in Kecskemét, he decided to become a priest. In 1975 in his 3rd year of seminary, he and two other classmates were thrown out and barred from attending any other university in Hungary. They had written down and circulated the speech (amongst classmates) for Cardinal Mindszenthy’s funeral that had been broadcast on Radio Free Europe. Mindszenthy had died in exile. The three seminary students were arrested, interrogated and tortured. After spending 3 monthes in hospital, he was allowed to train for ambulance work, then he worked in that field for awhile. In 1979 he became a priest and served in a series of posts all over Hungary. In 1986 he was able to continue his studies in Hungary, then in Münich and Innsbruck, entering the Order of Jesuits in 1988. He has since served in many communities until recently receiving a new post as priest in the town of Felsőszentiván in Hungary’s Southern Great Plains region.
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New Publication: Dance House 50 – [Stories from half a century of the Dance House Movement] Edited by Jávorszky Béla Szilárd. Kossuth Kiadó, 2022. ISBN: 978-963-544-765-7 This is a collection of summaries and subjective recollections written by leaders of the movement, ethnographers, researchers and participants. Printed here is Jávorszky’s preface to the book, in which he quotes folk musician Kiss Ferenc: ”…we didn’t perform these songs and melodies, we lived them, and then re-lived them. Why did we insist on folk music? Because it expresses eternally valid emotions with incredible simplicity and elemental strength.”
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Gypsy violinist Magyari Imre Sr (1864–1929). This is an academic style article on the Gypsy musician Magyari Imre Sr who was lead violinist at the Aranybika Restaurant in Debrecen. He played with his older brother Magyari Kálmán. They formed their band in 1880 and played all over Eastern Hungary including the towns of Eger, Nagyvárad/Oradea, Temesvár/Timișoara and Nyíregyháza. Press of the period covered stories about Magyari Imre and his band particularly because they were the favorite Gypsy musicians of a nobleman named Tisza István and the band was often summoned to play at Tisza’s estate. Magyari came from a Gypsy musician dynasty that, from the 18th century on played an important role in Debrecen’s music history. In 1914 he received a high ranking award, the Gold Cross of Honour from the King. Later in life he played in Budapest. He was also well-known as a writer of tunes of the Hungarian "nóta" genre. At his funeral in Budapest in 1929 his musician colleagues played his favorite tune "Cserebogár, sárga cserebogár" at his grave. By Lengyel Emese.
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The Hungarian Heritage House’s network of institutions. As a national cultural institution, in 2017 Budapest’s HHH began the work of organizing a network of related institutions both within Hungary and outside the borders. Goals of the network are: organizing events, collection work, passing on live traditions, to encourage and strengthen initiatives in folk dance, folk music and folk arts and crafts. They are also involved in summarizing collection work done in the various regions, returning collections to the place of origin, identitying areas that have not been researched, and organizing ethnographic collection work. "We could say that this is the 24th hour [in terms of dying out customs] but then researchers have been saying this is the final hour for close to a hundred years now." Summaries are provided on the status of network projects in Bihar County, Zala County, Transylvania, Slovakia, and Transcarpathia with key people and cooperating organizations named in each area. By Csinta Samu.
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Domján Lajos 1933–2022 was a folk dancer, soloist, choreographer, dance ensemble leader, dance teacher. Born in the village of Csanádapáca in Southeastern Hungary, he went to Budapest early on and danced in the SZOT Ensemble from the 1950s. He was a student of Molnár István and as such carried on Molnár’s legacy. He was a prominent member of the BM Duna Folk Dance Ensemble. Starting in 1964 he took on the task of leading and developing the amateur ensemble in the Tápió region east of Budapest, centered in the town of Nagykáta. The Tápiómente Dance Ensemble went on to perform locally and with great success at national and international festivals in some 40 countries of the world. He was well respected for his work with the ensemble and for preserving culture of the Tápió region. Many of his students went on to become folk dance teachers, cultural organizers. By Tarnavölgyi László.
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Part 2: Tradition and feeding infants and toddlers – honey for the soul. This writing discusses breast feeding in Hungary according to tradition and according to infant care trends in various periods. In many cultures, the child becomes an independent being only when the mother weans him/her. This motif appears in Hungarian folk tales, particularly in the type known as the “Son of the white horse”. Examples are provided. In old village life, after giving birth the midwife bathed the baby, wrapped it, then put it next to the mother and that’s where it stayed for six weeks, that’s where the baby slept. Only after that, did they put it in the cradle. Big changes in infant care came in the second half of the 20th century…no longer born at home, babies were born in hospitals; the first days of a baby’s life were spent separated from their mothers. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.
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New Museum of Hungarian Ethnography – Interview with museum director Kemecsi Lajos. The brand new museum building opened on May 23rd, 2022. Its grounds form a new part of Budapest’s city park. Architect Ferencz Marcel planned and built it according to the museum’s special needs. Sixty percent of the facility is underground. The sloping roof can be walked on, is planted with live greenery and boasts several ecologically sound aspects. The museum opened with several permanent and two special exhibitions. By Ménes Márta 061.hu.
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New recording: Aranyosra festem – This recording is a tribute to the memory of Halmos Béla (1946-2013) lead fiddler, folk music researcher, one of the initiators of the dance house movement. Between 2006 and 2013 amongst the many things Béla did, he worked and performed with a rock band known as PG Csoport with musicians Janytik Zsolt and Jantyik Csaba. On this recording the Jantyik brothers collaborate with Pál István Szalonna and his band. A performance is being mounted from the material on this recording for premiere in ’the near future’ with choreography by Kovács Norbert „Cimbi”. It will be produced by Jantyik Csaba.
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Conversation with Berán István and Jávoszky Béla Szilárd editors of „Táncház 50”. A discussion of the new book published in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Budapest dance house (held on May 6th 1972) and the movement that then ensued. The intense wave of interest in this form of entertainment and recreation grew quickly, became a way of life and a community for a relatively small but very enthusiastic and dedicated sector of the Hungarian population. Editors of the book sent out a call for written memories, photographs and memorabilia in February 2022. Not everything recieved fit into the published book, but can now be found at the related website. By Vasváry Annamária – edited version radio program broadcast on May 29, 2022 on Dankó Rádió, Budapest.
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Old writings still interesting or relevant today in táncház circles – P. Vas János’s column. Excerpts on fire from a lexicon of Hungarian superstitions which was left to the Museum of Ethnography in manuscript form by folklorists Szendrey Zsigmond (1879–1943) and his son Szendrey Ákos (1902–1965). „Fire in the heating oven must be carefully tended, one must please it, because if not, it could take revenge on a careless housewife…the fire must not go out. Housewives do not like to give away fire, because the child’s dream, peaceful nights, and even the family’s luck may leave the house with it.” On ’new fire’: „…embers and coals do not last from generation to generation. Once a year new fire must be made in the ancient way…on Saint Anthony and Saint Florian’s name day…” There are various ways to protect a house from catching fire. When bringing the new fire home, one must be very careful not to insult the old fire or it will burn the house down. In some places to protect the house they throw a bucket of water on the roof on Palm Saturday. If a house does catch fire, simply putting out the fire isn’t enough, to stop the house from burning down one must run a circle around the building naked…and so on.
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New Publication: Sipos János: A magyar népzene keleti kapcsolatai [Hungarian folk music’s Eastern connections] Balassi Kiadó, Budapest, 2022. This book summarises Sipos János’ research on the folk music of Turkic peoples. Sipos’ work has examined the folk music of 38 Turkic ethnic groups and he has collected nearly 10,000 melodies in the process. The book cites 314 melodies and uses classical methods from Hungarian ethnomusicology for comparison. The importance and spread of two types of melody is emphasized: fifth construction (found all the way from Hungary to Inner Mongolia) and "pszalmodizáló" (psalmodic) melodies (found from Hungary to Asia Minor). „Sipos János’ book is the fruit of an unmatched body of work.” Reveiw By Juhász Zoltán
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National Dance House Festival and Market – Táncháztalálkozó 2022! A short review of this year’s festival held at Budapest’s Sport Arena the first weekend in April. Everyone was glad to finally be able to meet for this massive showcase of traditional Hungarian folk dance and music and to celebrate the dance house movement’s 50th anniversary. Especially on Saturday, the huge space was filled just like it was before the pandemic. As always the variety and number events offered during the day is overwhelming. Everyone was included - from old faces that initiated the movement, respected experts in the field, to the little children and the parents that bring them to learn. As Kallós Zoltán always said, „We as Hungarians shall survive as long we dance and sing [together] in Hungarian…”. By Henics Tamás
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Interview with György Károly who has been teaching Hungarian dance in the dance house movement for over 40 years. Károly danced in the Bartók Ensemble in the early days of the movement and travelled to Transylvania to see dance where it was still part of living tradition. By the second half of the 1970s he was leading the Bartók Ensemble’s training group. Then he taught and led the dance houses at Budapest’s ’Molnár utca táncház’ for 12 years. „The dance house brought many kinds of people together – university students, laborers, people from every strata of society were attracted to the dance house.” Teaching Hungarian folk dance has been his calling in life; and he is still actively teaching today at camps in Transylvania, in Western Europe, in Hungary. „They say it’s good to learn from him because he convinces you that dance can be learned and that folk dance is an enriching community experience”. Károly feels that the dance teachers, dance house leaders were largely overlooked for example during celebrations of the dance house method’s acceptance by UNESCO. He reminisces fondly on dancing the Széki dance cycle, „… the singing surrounded you and dancing through the dance cycle was such a strong experience that no one wanted it to end. But I think those times are over, they’ve evaporated.” Yet, he adds, „There are many, many young people dancing in the dance groups now. I’m sure they’ll find the way attract a wider circle of folks to the movement.” By Grozdits Károly.
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Young Master of Folk Arts Award – Problems and possible solutions. This article examines history, procedures, administration and controversy surrounding this state level award. The first such awards were given in 1970 – that is, just before the beginning of the dance house movement. A jury of experts in the field decides on who gets these awards and the minister of culture hands them out. Today the process is administrated by the Hungarian Heritage House. The award must be applied for by young folk artists in the following categories: folk music, folk dance, folk crafts, folk story telling. Applicants must be under 35 years of age. Changes were made in the process in 2000, with more changes implemented in the 2010s. By Varga Máté, head of the award administrating department, Hungarian Heritage House.
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Poem and a recipe from Galaczi Eszter of Gyimesközéplok/Lunca de Jos, Romania.’The girl who went to pick violets’ is a tragic poem about a girl who secretly went to meet her lover in the forest, always telling her father she was going to pick violets. But the father didn’t want his daughter to meet her lover so he followed her to the forest and shot her. The recipe is for a spring egg dish that uses pork fat, milk and fresh spring lettuce. As told to Ábrahám Judit in 2005.
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Interview with saxophonist Dresch Mihály – 40 years as a formative figure in Hungarian jazz. He is also an essential personality in folk music circles. With Dresch a love of folk music runs parallel with his jazz and through this he has formulated his own style of music. His jazz does not stray far from mainstream jazz. Here Dresch talks about the development of Hungarian jazz, the dance house movement, certain rock legends, pop music, awards, instruments and connections between musicians, along with other passions and fears. By Vörös Eszter ritmueshang.blog.hu 2022 May 30.
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Conversation with Pál István „Szalonn”a artistic director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and Assistant Director of the Hungarian Heritage House. Szalonna not only holds both of these leadership positions, but he is first of all a lead fiddler and musician with a wide knowledge and expertise in traditional folk music of the Carpathian Basin, Gypsy orchestra style music and classical music. He was raised in Transcarpathia. Interesting reading here is about his path to the State Ensemble and description of how he works with State Ensemble dance director and choreographer Mihalyi Gábor when forming a new show for the ensemble. By Csinta Samu.
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Conversation with Mihályi Gábor – director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble. Mihályi has been a member of the ensemble for forty years. Management offered him the dance ensemble director position in 1996, when director Timár Sándor retired. Ever since, Mihályi has been director of the dance ensemble. His main source of inspiration has been Transylvania, though he also names the tradition preserving groups that survive from the Pearly Bouquet movement. He talks about working with the concept of national consciousness and keeping the ensemble and repertoire contemporary. The main circle of thought: tradition – from which they strive to establish culture and art of the 21st century. Presently he works with artistic and music director Pál István „Szalonna” on running the ensemble and formulating repertoire, naming three types of productions: authentic, folk revue, contemporary. The State Ensemble continues to be one of Hungary’s main professional folk dance ensembles. They are funded by the Hungarian government and continue to fulfill an important role in cultural policy. By Csinta Samu.
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New publication: Kóka Rozalia: Bukovinai székelyek a történelem országútján Fekete Sas Kiadó Budapest 2022 – ISBN 978-615-6168-20-7. The first part of the forward by Halász Péter is printed here. Much of the material in the book has appeared in folkMAGazin over the last couple years in Kóka Rózália’s column with the same name. Kóka Rozália has compiled personal stories illustrating the lives and fates of people of Bukovina Székely heritage. Halász Péter’s forward provides an overview of the history and political background behind this small several times displaced ethnic group.
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My meetings with a Moldavian soulseer – excerpts from a book about a Hungarian Csángó Moldavian woman, Jánó Ferenc Ilona. Starting in 1969 Kóka Rozália visited Jánó Ferenc Ilona in the village of Lészped/Lespezi, Romania for 37 years – documenting her visions and important life events. „A soulseer is a man or woman who according to Hungarian folk belief has supernatural powers, can contact the dead, bring news from them, or help with healing…” Ilona was nine in 1943 when her mother died. She began having visions when she was 11. When she was 12 she saw Jesus. Jesus was 12 years old too. She and Jesus knelt and prayed together. She said she’d seen many places in heaven and saw Saint Francis, Saint Anthony and God. She also saw Satan and had to go with him to a place where she saw souls altered by their pain. She pleaded with Satan not to leave her there. When she called out: “Jesus! Don’t leave me here!” The sky opened, rays of light and angels appeared. The angels took her away. In hell she had also seen those who stole chickens and eggs…(to be continued). From the book by Kóka Rozália published in 2006 by L’Harmattan in Budapest.
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Announcement for a project to encourage Hungarian folk dance collection and research. The project is sponsored by the Hungarian Ethnochoreological Society and 3 Hungarian academic institutions involved in folk dance research. The project is aimed at young Hungarian dance ethnographers involved in either freelance folk dance research or who are doing research in connection with a university degree. Applicants may choose from amongst three subjects for their projects. More info at website. Deadline for submission is September 10, 2022
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Food and Hungarian Tradition: A history of beer. The culture of beer is so old that even the slaves that built the pyramids in Giza, Egypt were given 4 or 5 liters of beers daily. It is also important to know that long ago during Lent drinking beer was permitted; according to legend, during Lent one could apparantly drink as much beer as one liked. Early Hungarians drank a form of beer already during their nomadic period. There are historical records indicating that beer was brewed for the Pannonhalma Monastery in 1226. There are also records on beer brewing guilds that existed in Budapest in the late 1600s. This article concludes with some history of honey beers, citing Hungarian records from 1138, 1453, 1522, 1625. The tradition of making honey beer began to recede in the 19th 20th century when the honey beer makers switched over to making honey cakes. By Juhász Katalin.
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CD review: Lakatos Róbert 30 duó hegedűre és brácsára (Fonó 2022): Stepping out of Bartók’s shadow. Inspired by Bartók’s well-known 44 duets, Lakatos Róbert’s 30 duets for violin and viola are a meeting of classical and folk music - melding the two worlds of music. Lakatos’ duets are arrangements of folk music plus four of his own tunes. Horváth József plays violin, Lakatos plays viola. This review is by another musician on a similar path. "Both of us are constantly looking for the already existing connections between classical, pop and folk music and sometimes we find some non-existing connections as well…I am sure that this music creates a new era. With his duos Róbert steps out of Bartók’s shadow.” By Vizeli Máté.
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Old writings still interesting today – P. Vas János’ column – On Hungarian trees, plants, superstitions and folk cures - covering beliefs related to: linden, walnut, willow, turkey oak, birch, lad’s love, pepper, fern, belladonna, and other medicinal plants. "In old times people used the medicine they found in the grasses and trees, but they knew that illness is caused by evil and wickedness , and that only magic, charms and sorcery can truely prevent or undo such afflictions.” From the book by Fazekas and Székely. Magvető Kiadó, Budapest. 1990. (based on Szendrey and Szendrey’s dictionary of superstitions)
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Hungarian ethnomusicologist Sárosi Bálint passed away on July 15th, 2022. He was 98 years old. Born in 1925 in the Transylvanian village of Csíkrákos (Racu, today in Romania), he studied music and composition in Hungary first at Pázmány University, then as a student of Kodály Zoltán at the Liszt Academy of Music. From 1968 to 1988 he held a number of positions including department head at the Hungarian Institute of Musicology. He did traditional music research abroad in Ethiopia, Armenia and Kuwait. For 18 years he had a weekly folk music program on Hungarian Radio. His work has been recognized with many, many national and academic awards. Above and beyond all the above he was very much respected and loved for his clear mind, insights, wit and willingness to share his knowledge. Printed here are tributes and memories by Bolya Mátyás, Sebő Ferenc, Novák Ferenc and Dévai János.
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Reviews of 2 new CDs "…Accepting and understanding traditional culture and folk music takes more inner sensitivity and a lot more attention and patience than say surfing the net or listening to pop music…” On singer Sőregi Anna’s recording Széki Versek (Fonó 2022) we hear traditional songs and music from the Transylvanian village of Szék. Anna studied and selected the material from original recordings of village performers. She works with a stellar band of táncház musicians making a "… satisfyingly complete and unified album….” On another recent album in this vein, another great group of revival dance house musicians and singers have also done a deep study of the traditional music from a particular Transylvanian village and then made a recording: in this case the stellar group of musicians is led by singer Herczku Ágnes and the village is Magyarvista in the Kalotaszeg region. The recording is entitled „Hozomány –.Magyarvista”(Fonó 2022). This one is a double album with one record called "revival", the other one "collection". The reviewer describes:" a certain pervading delicateness and refinement that comes out - perhaps the statement of an inner ripening, …a rounding out, .simplification, clarity and naturalness.” By Rácz Mihály at lángolo.hu 2022 May 26.
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Literature: Pelva Gábor: "Bobby" Part one of a short story about a Hungarian folk band riding in a van on tour in the USA. So far, duly entertaining descriptions of the members of the band meander between their legendarily wild life in the dance house scene sometime in the past at home in Hungary and the tour van in the USA. The names have been changed to protect the innocent…but those who know, will know…
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The story of Szeged’s paprika – This article discusses history and processes of paprika growing, production and distribution in Hungary. Based on their experience growing tobacco (introduced during the Turkish occupation), Szeged farmers were prepared for growing and processing paprika. The first written data on paprika production is from the end of the 18th century. Paprika is an annual plant started from seedlings near the house which are planted later on in the fields. Traditionally the paprika was ready for harvest by September 8, then came the processes of drying and grinding. As time went on the spicy paprika was seperated out from the sweet paprika and machines were invented to assist the processes. When Szeged couldn’t keep up with the demand for paprika, other villages in the Kalocsa/Decs area began to produce paprika too. By the end of the 1800s America began to acquire a taste for paprika, then Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany. Under Socialism the main market for Hungarian paprika became the Soviet Union. Long ago paprika was consumed not only for its taste, but for its medicinal properites. It is mentioned as useful for treating a Hungarian strain of malaria, for cholera, and as an aid to digestion. It gained popularity as a spice in times when black pepper wasn’t available. By Werschitz Annamária.
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Interview with Farkas Zsolt leader of Khamoro Budapest Band. Farkas Zsolt comes from Mátészalka in northeastern Hungary. His father was from the nearby village of Nagyecsed, well-known for its traditional Gypsy dance and culture. After earning a diploma from the School of the Hospitality Industry in Budapest, Zsolt received the title ’Young Master of Folk Arts’ in 1995 as a member of Rományi Rotá Ensemble. He toured as dancer and musician with Kalyi Jag Band from 1997 until 2007. Then he formed Khamoro Budapest Band and they released their first recording. The Khamoro group also holds dance houses and dance workshops. They tour out-of-the-way villages in Hungary to work with underprivileged children and plan to continue with this work reinforcing the sense of identity in the children there. Through his work, music and dance he would like to acquaint as many people as possible with Gypsy culture and inspire them to live that culture proudly. By Grozdits Károly.
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Dilemma – the problem of authenticity in the dance houses – Part One: The author grapples with the question of ’what is folk music’. "…today in Hungary the notion of folk music appears not so much in scientific texts, but first of all in texts written about the dance house movement and in the media…” He says folk music is difficult to define scientifically. "….We don’t know when Hungarian folk music developed and therefore don’t know what is authentic or original”. He provides quotes from a variety of folk music researchers who have attempted to describe it and their approaches to researching it. Early research/collection work examined only folk song, finally later on in the 20th century Hungarian ethnomusicologists began to examine instrumental folk music. Excerpt from a quote from Bartók from the publication Magyar Néprajz says, "…folk music is made of melodies that have been sung by many for a long time….” The author of this study says there is no "original" or "not original" folk music. "…Traditional and popular music are in continuous interrelationship…" The next section of this paper is called "The folk music of the dance houses". To be continued. By Szilágyi Dániel – first published in "Hagyomány és erdetiség" Ed. Wilhelm Gábor 2007. p 268.
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New publication: Kóka Rozália: Bukovinai székelyek a történelem országútján Fekete Sas Kiadó Budapest 2022 – ISBN 978-615-6168-20-7. The second part of the forward by Halász Péter is printed here. Much of the material in the book has appeared in folkMAGazin over the last couple years in Kóka Rózália’s column with the same name. Kóka Rozália has compiled personal stories illustrating the lives and fates of people of Bukovina Székely heritage. Halász Péter’s forward provides an overview of the history and political background behind this small several times displaced ethnic group.
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The tulip motif in Hungarian folk art – Part 2. „Every group of people has a visual vocabulary which it uses and understands like a spoken language. Commonly understood symbols communicate certain things within certain groups of people….Users of ethnosemiotics have hypothesized that the symbols used in folklore and folkart do actually mean something." Hoppal takes a look at the historical and geographical background of the tulip motif to demonstrate and argue that this element of Hungarian decoration hasn’t arrived from the west. He discusses the tulip and heart as symbols representing specifically the female and male genitalia. These symbols were used in folk art as protection from evil. "Tulips protect from evil like a mother protects her child and the mother and woman protects her people (family), home" and so on. The Hungarian tribes used the same symbols when they arrived to the Carpathian Basin. By Hoppál Mihály – includes bibliography. This largely theoretical study from 2001 is published here in honor and celebration of Hoppál’s upcoming 80th birthday.
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Traditional weaver Lőrincz Etel was amongst those awarded the national title of ’Master of Folk Arts’ on August 20th, 2022. Etel comes from a Bukovinan Székely peasant family and a long line of talented folk artists including a traditional singer that was recorded by Kodály Zoltan. Born in Hungary, Etel learned to weave from family members. She went on to study at the Hungarian Academy of Industrial Arts, but maintains and teaches the tradition that was passed down in her family. Printed here is Kóka Rozália’s commendation for the title.
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A Moldavian Soulseer – excerpts from the book on Jánó Ferenc Ilona, a Hungarian Csángó woman from Moldavia. From 1969 Kóka Rozália visited Ilona in the village of Lészped/Lespezi, Romania for 37 years documenting her visions. In Hungarian folk belief a soulseer is a person with supernatural powers, who can contact and bring news from the dead, and help with healing…". Ilona was nine when her mother died. She began having visions when she was 11. When she was 12 she saw Jesus. In a vision, Jesus gave her a bride’s ring that she would wear on the pointer finger of her right hand. She learns that if she doesn’t go to church to take communion, then her day seems as long as a year. When she goes to mass, her heart unites with Jesus and her day flys by like an hour, she feels secure and light. If she doesn’t go, she feels heavy and ill. Early on, she figured out that when she predicted bad things, people got angry with her. When her parents began to look for a husband for her, Ilona said death would be better than marriage and she tried to avoid ‘taking the hand’ of a young man. From the book by Kóka Rozália published 2006, L’Harmattan, Budapest.
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Intersections and interweaving – my memories of Martin György – by Anca Giurchescu – part 1. First published in the volume [Transylvanian Hungarian dance and dance research at the turn of the century – II.] Edited by Könczei Csongor. Cluj. 2014. Romanian dance researcher, ethno-choreologist Anca Giurchescu writes that: the scientific basis of modern ethno-choreology was formulated and solidified thanks largely to the work of Martin György. Martin developed the methods for researching traditional Hungarian dance and also influenced certain periods of development of Romanian ethno-choreology. Many research plans formulated by Martin are still valid today. Anca met and made friends with Martin György in the early 1960s at meetings of a Study Group on dance terminology within the framework of the International Council for Traditional Music. As colleagues and over the course of their friendship she describes discussions with Martin on basic differences in the structure of Hungarian vs. Romanian traditional dance. They also discussed methods of dance notation – meaning the method for notating dance from films, as well as in the field during collection work, and the methods used in different countries for notating their own dance. Martin supported an international universally used method of dance notation. In 1969 she had several opportunities to do fieldwork together with Martin, first in Moldavia, then in Transylvania.. To be continued…
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Food and tradition – preserving by drying. After a short survey of international historical/geographical information on drying fruits (focusing on areas around the Mediterranean and dried prunes, raisins, figs, dates), she turns to dried fruits and tradition in Hungary and the region. Includes description and recipe for Armenian T’tu lavash (a sort of fruit leather). There is mention of storing dried figs rubbed with various spices (cumin, caraway, anise) and wrapped in fig leaves. The German cake known as stollen made with dried fruits and the Hungarian version known as püspökkenyér (bishop’s bread) are also described. Includes descriptions of the Polish method for making compote and soups from dried fruit, and drying fruit in Hungary in the 16th, 17th centuries. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.
By Sue Foy
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Report (in English and in Hungarian translation) on a tour to Southern Albania, Macedonia and Greece learning traditional folk dances of these areas in September, 2022. Includes light descriptions of the dances, music, locations visited, food and culture of the region. By Sue Foy.
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Dilemma – the problem of authenticity in the dance houses (Part Two): The author continues his theoretical discussion of folk music in Hungary and authenticity, focusing on folk music within the dance house movement. He writes, "In general two folk musics exist: 1) the authentic (the original) which is played in the village and handed down from father to son and mostly comes from the archives; and 2) ’the arranged’ which means arrangements of folk melodies performed on folk instruments – but what is played is composed, the instrumentation is mixed, and melodies from different regions and periods are mixed according to taste.” This is a rambling theoretical discussion of original folk music and modern interpretations thereof. He writes: "A search for the ’original’, the source, the origin as connected to a a sort of national question, and the search for a romantic past. Folk music research is focused on that….”. In 1984 "…the dance house musicians were constantly seeking the original, they strived to play music that would be just like the original.” „In my opinion original/authentic folk music is an idea that exists only in narratives…” By Szilágyi Dániel – first published in "Hagyomány és erdetiség" Ed. Wilhelm Gábor 2007. p 268.
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Interview with Bolya Mátyás folk musician, ethnomusicologist and new director of the Folk Music Department at the Liszt Academy of Music. Bolya Mátyás talks about his plans as newly appointed director of the folk music department now in existence for 15 years, with 80 students. He stresses the importance of communication in the department, looks back on the process of institutionalizing folk music instruction in Hungary since 1990 and discusses use of all tools available for teaching in the 21st century. He mentions a blending the tasks of folk music research, the revival and the university sphere and the need for clarification. Folk music is still getting used to it’s position at the Liszt Academy amongst classical music and vice versa. He mentions notions of: scientific folklorism, artistic folklorism, representational folklorism and educational folklorism. "When we go to a folk music concert at the Academy of Music nowadays, we hope for a musical experience, not simply an illustration." By Mester Ágnes, Academy of Music 2022 September 30.
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Literature: Pelva Gábor: "Bobby" – Part Two of a short story about a Hungarian folk band on tour in the USA. Now we are introduced to ’the average american policeman’ – through the eyes of a Hungarian folk musician. The policeman stops their van and checks documents all around. Finding the group extremely suspicious, he grumbles, then ecsorts them to the local venue of their next concert. The names have been changed to protect the innocent…but those who know, will know…
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Interview with folk musician Kerényi Róbert "Szigony"– Part One. Kerényi Robi plays Moldavian and Gyimes (Transylvanian) wooden shepherd’s flute. His connection to this particular music and instrument began in a Budapest dance house. At some point early on he made the decision to give up his job teaching at the college of engineering to focus on music. He first went to Transylvania’s Gyimes region to learn from the traditional flute players there in 1988. Ever since, his path has been focused entirely on traditional Moldavian and Gyimes wooden flute music, and on learning straight from the traditional musicians in those two regions. He has played with the Tatros and Szigony bands and was a driving force in the Gyimes and Moldavian dance houses at Budapest’s Marcibányi Square Cultural Center. He studied with Gyimes traditional fiddler Zerkula János (1927–2008) for 10 years. To be continued. Interview by Grozdits Károly.
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Report on the Kalotaszeg folk music and folk dance camp held this year for the 30th time in the Transylvanian village of Kalotaszentkirály/Sâncraiu in Transylvania. Despite a 2 year break due to covid, the camp was a success. There is commentary about extensive development in the village that may or may not have altered the atmosphere of the event. The Mera World Music Festival held at the same time, apparently did not affect camp attendance. By Henics Tamás.
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Hungary’s ’Junior Prima Awards’ for folk artists under the age of 30 were given out on October 7, 2022 to ten young Hungarian folk dancers, musicians, singers, craftspeople and herders. In addition to being talented folk artists all of them are also involved in passing on their special knowledge. Each award winner recieved a plaque and 2 million forints. The awards are sponsored by Docler Holding Kft.
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Remembering traditional bagpipe maker Gadányi Pál (1932–2022) born in Tótújfalu, Somogy County Hungary. As a young man Gadányi studied carpentery and started a tambura band in his village. From the 1960s he began to make the "4 piped bagpipes" of the Dráva River region. This instrument is known along a 100-150 km stretch of the Dráva River – so, in Hungary along the border with Croatia and Slavonia. This kind of bagpipe is a crossover instrument between the Hungarian and Croatian bagpipes. This writing tells also about Gadányi Pál’s repertoire and the author’s personal experiences working with and collecting from him. Gadányi Pál was awarded the title of "Hungarian Master of Folk Arts" in 2011. He was the last bagpipe maker to learn his special craft and to play his instrument in his own archaic peasant community. By Szabó Zoltán.
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Hegedűs Band – 40 year anniversary concert and dance house – August 20th, 2022 in Kecskemét’s main square. This band was founded in Kecskemét, Hungary by folk musician and mechanical engineer Hegedűs Zoltán. Over the years a workshop developed where he trained musicians for his band. Musicians of Hegedűs Ensemble have always had other careers alongside music. Many musicians that began playing with Hegedűs later went on to play with other bands or pursue a professional career in folk music. Interview with Hegedűs Zoltán by Andó Ilona – first appeared in Őrangyal Magazin III. 9. 2022 September.
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The bagpipes’s new clothes – an exhibition of sound featuring 15 bagpipes and pieces of music. It is an artistic collaboration using bagpipes, music, QR codes and a variety of other audio and visual arts. Collaborating artists are Ágoston Béla, Fekete Dóra, Thiesz Angéla, Makrai Krisztina, Boka Gábor, Balaskó Attila, Vetlényi Zsolt and Pócs Judit. The exhibition/performance has so far been seen in Hungary in June and September of 2022 in the cities of Kapolcs, Kiskunmajsa, Eger and Budapest. Report by Ágoston Béla.
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New recording: Tárkány Trió – A cimbalomprímás. Fonó 2022. „I founded Tárkány Trio as the first band to present traditional Hungarian folk music wherein the cymbalom takes the role of prímás – or the instrument playing lead melody. The record would like to encourage the tradition of the Hungarian cymbalom prímás. Ususally the cymbalom’s role in a dance house band is that of accompanying instrument playing chords – a practice that spread between the two world wars and then even more so after WWII. Before that, the cymbalom was known all over the Hungarian language region as a lead instrument. The melody playing tradition comes from the possibilities offered by the small cymbalom...” Tárkány-Kovács Bálint – cymbalom, Fekete Márton – viola, Molnár Péter – double bass.
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Memories of working with Martin György – By Anca Giurchescu – Part 2. First published in: [Transylvanian Hungarian dance and dance research at the turn of the century – II.] Edited by Könczei Csongor. Cluj. 2014. Romanian traditional dance researcher, ethno-choreologist Anca Giurchescu (1930–2015) writes that: the scientific basis of modern ethno-choreology was formulated and solidified thanks largely to the work of Martin György (1932–1983). Martin developed the methods for researching traditional Hungarian dance and influenced certain periods of development of Romanian ethno-choreology. Many research plans formulated by Martin are still valid today. She describes her first visit to a dance house event in 1974 in Budapest with Martin. They had planned more research work together, but a proposal was not only refused by the Institute in Bucharest but Anca was fired from her position there. She worked last with Martin in 1976 at a meeting of ICTM’s Ethno-choreology Study Group. Anca escaped from Romania in 1979, then settled in Copenhagen, Denmark. In her conclusion she lists themes of her conversations with Martin, questions discussed between them and subjects of Martin’s writings – as she put it – “the list is stunning”: The types and categories of solo and group men’s dances (legényes, haidau, botoló), women’s dances accompanied by instrumental music or only singing, couple dances, cycles of dances at various dance events, analyzing the structure of the dances, theory of dance typology and classification, the connection/relationship between dance and music, a dancer’s creative process, dance improvisation, the traditional process, learning and the processes of change, the various connections between the individual and community, the ethnographic regions, the creative strength of especially good performers and their meaning and function in various social contexts, historical layers of the dances in Hungary and in Europe, the connection between dance and politics, using dance as an ethnic symbol, questions arising from researching the minorities, and how traditional folk dance is marketed and modified in the context of stage performance.
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New recording: Magos Band – Magyarpéterlaka folk music. Fonó 2022. This recording honors Csiszár Aladár (1937–2022), the late lead fiddler of Magyarpéterlaka/Petrilaca de Mureș and the other traditional musicians from Péterlaka. Magos Band’s relationship with Csiszár Aladár began at the beginning of the 2000s. The record presents melodies from Magyarpéterlaka including Hungarian, Romanian, and Gypsy tunes. Soós Csaba – violin, Enyedi Tamás – cymbalom, Prohoda István – double bass. With guests: Fekete Márton (viola), Enyedi Ágnes (voice), Salamon Soma (accordion) and Hajdú Flórián, Benedek Attila, and Juhász Sándor (voice).
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Food and Hungarian tradition – home drying fruits – meals made from dried fruits. This article tells us about methods for drying fruit in the Debrecen area and in the village of Cigánd (in Northeastern Hungary) and in Böde (Zala County, Hungary). Apples, plums and pears were the fruits most often used for drying. Construction and use of the drying pit and drying house are described – both employing carefully tended wood fires. Drying fruits took usually 3-5 days. Most places they simply put the fruits to be dried – several times into a still hot wood fire oven after baking the bread. Practices of reconstituting the dried fruits, making soup or compote from them (a meal for Lent or fasting periods) and adding dried fruits to bread dough are described, along with the process for making ’fruit leather’. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.
By Sue Foy
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Interview with folk musician Kerényi Róbert "Szigony"– Part Two. Kerényi Róbert is a dynamic musician and personality who plays Moldavian and Gyimes (Transylvanian) wooden shepherd’s flutes. Róbert gives his description of ’old style’ traditional music. He tells about playing for dance teaching (dances from Gyimes) the first time when his mentor Berán István invited him to join him for this at the Méta dance house (Budapest 8th disctrict) in the late 1980s. He describes forming Tatros Band and how the Gyimes/Moldavian dance houses began in 1988 at Budapest’s Marcibányi Square Cultural Center. He talks about the musicians that played with Tatros Band over the years and about bringing busloads of traditional musicians and dancers from villages in Moldavia or Gyimes to Hungary for balls or summer camps in the 1990s. He goes on to describe Szigony Band and a tour to Asia (Kazakhstan, China, Tibet) with a project called ’Mediawave Karavan’. He lists the kind of equipment he has used over the years to make field recordings. He also talks about performing in ’commedia dell'arte’ style street theatre groups and his participation as musician in ’alternative’ or ’independent’ theatre productions. The interview ends with his thoughts on improvisation, teaching and what makes music interesting or not so interesting. Interview by Grozdits Károly.
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Remembering the work of Császár János 1910–1987 village choirmaster, cultural organizer and well-respected member of the community in the village of Zengővárkony in southern Hungary’s Baranya County. Amongst activities he initiated and led were the local chorus, Gyöngyösbokréta folk dance group, amateur theater group, library, literary afternoons, holiday celebrations. Originally in 1929 Császár János was invited by his former professor Fülep Lajos the town’s clergyman to fill the post of village choir master/organist. Both dedicated to preserving local tradition and handing down culture, they worked together for 20 years. Császár later earned diplomas for teaching, organist-choir leader and attended courses on cultural organization. He initiated collection work for a village museum that opened in 1982. This article includes interview with Császár’s daughter Ácsné Dr. Császár Piroska. By Lengyel Zsanett.
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The artwork of painter Czene Béla – Part One. Excerpts from a book by art historian Molnos Péter published 2022 by Móra Kiadó. Recently a large number of Czene’s paintings were ’discovered’ in the family attic. Czene Béla, 1911 (Isaszeg, Hungary ) – 1999 (Budapest), studied art in Budapest and in Rome. Here are descriptions of Czene’s work in the late 1930s and 1940s. Many of Czene’s works from this period were dedicated to Hungarian myths of origin such as ’Hunor and Magor’ (legendary ancestors of the Huns and the Magyars). Interested in Hungarian village life, during this period he and his wife made several trips to the countryside to acquaint themselves with the life of the Hungarian peasants.
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Literature: Pelva Gábor: "Bobby" – Part Three of a short story about a Hungarian folk band on tour in the USA. Arriving to play their next concert, the band is greeted by the organizer - described as an aging hippie woman who is also the president of the local Animal Protection League and keeps a lot of housepets. The venue for the gig is the headquarters of the Animal Protection League. The audience all bring their house pets to the concert. During the concert, about the time when the bagpipe player tells the audience that his bagpipe is made from the skin of his beloved German Shepherd, Bobby, all hell breaks loose. Turns out everyone in the audience is carrying a weapon and begins to use it. The band escapes. The concert venue burns down. And the band resumes their tour. The names have been changed to protect the innocent…but those who know, will know…
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Obituaries: Since the last issue of folkMAGazin two important figures from dance house circles have passed away: Béres János 1930–2022 Kossuth award winning Hungarian flute player. Born in Gagybátor, in Hungary’s Borsod Country, he studied music, then danced and played flute in the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble early on 1951–53. He devoted the rest of his life to folk music. He worked also at Hungarian Radio from 1951 until 2005. His work was recognized with many national awards. Sebők Géza 1950–2022 was a Hungarian ethnographer from Pozsony (Bratislava), Slovakia. Printed here is part of an interview with him from 2019 where he tells about meeting the famous Hungarian dance ethnographers Pesovár, Martin and Lányi – as a young dancer with the group Szőttes after a performance in Eastern Slovakia.
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Announcement: Budapest’s newest professional Hungarian folk dance ensemble: the Fitos Dezső Group gave their first performance on 2022 November 15th at their home base – the Fonó Music Hall. Directors of the group are Fitos Dezső and Kocsis Enikő, both award winning choreographers, dancers and teachers. The group also performed on 2022 November 23rd at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest. It is small group of 16 dancers who strive to widen the borders of folk dance by also using yoga, Molnár technique (a Hungarian modern dance method), singing lessons, acrobatics, rhythm and style training, and much more.
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A Gala Event celebrated the 30th anniversary of the National Heritage Children’s and Youth Folk Arts Association. Printed here is the speech opening the event on November 5th, 2022 at the Erkel Theater in Budapest. “…Three decades has given us community and hope. Having survived all manner of political and social ups and downs, we have proved that just one thing seals the future: Children!...” The event was a grand showcase of Hungarian children’s folk dance groups. Address by Sikentáncz Szilveszter, photos by Majnik Zsolt.
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Old Writings…P. Vas János‘ column: A piece about Hungarian superstitions about weather: wind, rain, thunder/lightning, thunderbolts, rainbows. According to this, in many Transylvanian communities when they need rain, they dig up the cross on the grave of the last person in the village to die and leave it out until it rains. About thunderbolts, it was said that where lightning strikes the ground a "heavenstone" is formed. This stone, since it comes from the heavens, wards off evil, is a magical healing implement and brings luck. Some folks store such a stone on the main girder beam of the house. These superstitions were selected from the Dictionary of Superstitions by Szendrey Zigmond and Szendrey Ákos, republished in 1990 by Magvető Kiadó, Budapest
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A Moldavian Soulseer – excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book on Jánó Ferenc Ilona, a Hungarian Csángó woman from Moldavia. Starting in 1969, for 37 years Rozália visited the soulseer in her home village of Lészped/Lespezi (Romania), documenting her visions. In Hungarian folk belief “a soulseer is a person with supernatural powers, who can contact the dead…” Ilona was nine when her mother died. She began having visions when she was 11. When she was twelve she saw Jesus. In a vision, Jesus gave her a bride’s ring. Her family wanted to marry her off. Ilona refused. She worked at the local agricultural cooperative, where her peers taunted her cruelly for not marrying. When she spoke to Jesus about these problems he sent her down a beautiful but difficult path, which she traversed unharmed. Jesus assured her she’d always be able to take that path and remain unharmed… From the book by Kóka Rozália published 2006, L’Harmattan, Budapest.
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New recording from folk musician Mihó Attila: Mihó Attila and friends: Traditional music from Transylvania’s Felcsík Region especially for teaching dance. Mihó Attila has been working with the music of this region since 2014. The recording has been released in digital format only, with related material available on You Tube. 2022 by Folk Fest Cultural Association
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Dance performance review: "497" is the title of a dance theatre collaboration between Arad Chamber Theatre (Arad, Romania) and Tabán Dance Ensemble (Békescsaba, Hungary). The production tells the story of a legend about four Romanian boys that set out in 1910 to walk around the world in hopes of winning a large sum of prize money at the end of their journey. Only one of four boys, Dumitru Dan or Demetre Dan finished the walk. The production uses folk dance to tell the story with minimal props and scenery. Directed by Farkas Tamás. Music by Gera Gábor. Review of the performance on October 7, 2022 in Iasi, Romania, by Kádár Elemér. Photos by Majnik Zsolt.
By Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 2022/x
The 2022 special issue of FolkMAGazin honors the 50th anniversary of the dance house movement. It includes photographs from "Táncház 50" the travelling photo exhibition curated by Farkas József and three articles on the dance house movement at 50 years by Sebő Ferenc, Berán István and Both Miklós.
By Sue Foy