Articles by Initial Letters

Obituary: Róka Szabolcs (1967–Aug 2025). Renaissance man of the 3rd millennium. Róka Szabolcs was a determining personality in Budapest’s Moldavian Csángó táncház scene, he also performed Hungarian music and song from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Hehad a natural talent for storytelling and was a high school teacher with a diploma in biology and geography. He played traditional coboz with Tatros, Somos and Fanfara Complexa bands having studied with Kobzos Kiss Tamás, Fábri Géza and directly with traditional village musicians of Moldavia. He also played oud, lant, and saz. He made use of methods from commedia dell’arte and drama pedagogy to enhancehis natural talent for telling stories.He would improvise stories to entertainthe others waiting on line in the hospital for treatment. He was a dedicated advocate for, and true believer in nature, the environment, other human beings and life. Here is an excerpt [translated] from an interview with him from 2014 at valasz.hu: “…there will always be folk music. Csángó music arrived [straight from Moldavia] to Budapest and met up with the urban [folk music movement]; and they intertwined so nicely there. The product is obviously a sign of openness…when [Hungarian] audiences accept Romanian music or Serbian Gypsy music - what’s that, if not tolerance…” By Sándor Ildikó.