folkMAGazin

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English Table of Contents 2019/1

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New publication: Kiss Ferenc, Keresztes Dóra: Mamó kertecskéje [Mama’s little garden] Etnofon Kiadó, Budapest 2018. Children’s book with CD – a musical tour through Mamó’s (Mama’s) traditional garden with stories, songs, illustrations and music – performed by Kiss Ferenc and a stellar group of musicians and singers. Recommendation by Sándor Ildikó.

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"Liszt Mosaics" – Hungarian State Folk Ensemble’s new dance concert premiered on October 31st, 2018 at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest. The performance evokes the character of Liszt’s work in a music and dance theatre composition – with tasteful, contemporary scenery as an important element. Works by Liszt, Chopin and Paganini are used in the production. Director: Mihályi Gábor. Guests: Szent Efrém Men’s Chorus, and pianist Farkas Gábor. Review by Kutszegi Csaba (www.tanckritika. hu).

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Interview with Korzenszky Klára – "with the deterioration of customs and traditions, forming the connection between mother and child becomes more difficult". Klára is a folk singer and performer; but she also works as a child psychologist in a children’s hospital in Budapest. She stresses the importance of holding your child in your lap, looking into its eyes and singing to him or her. She describes how her children’s psychodrama groups work and discusses music therapy for children. She does children’s concerts with her band the Klárisok and has released two records of children’s material working with other folk musicians. By Ménes Márta (061.hu).

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New CD: Pearly Clouds: Tóni Dezső, Enikő Szabó, Gary Lucas 2018 Fono FA-420-2 "Avant-folk, ethno jazz-blues…widening the borders of our notions of music and language" American guitarist Gary Lucas who has played with Captain Beefheart, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, Patty Smith and many more, teamed up with Hungarian singer Enikő Szabó and saxophonist Tóni Dezső. They played some memorable concerts together then recorded this CD.

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New CD: Enyedi Ágnes: “Édesanyám sok szép szava...” FECD 066 FolkEurópa Kiadó. 2018. Recorded in Budapest. Edited and produced by Kelemen László, Enyedi Ágnes. Enyedi Ágnes – voice; András Orsolya – hit cello, voice; Enyedi Tamás – cymbalom; Mihó Attila – violin, voice; Salamon Soma – wooden flute, kaval, accordion, voice. Singer Enyedi Ágnes’s great-great grandmother and great-grandmother were both well-known and documented traditional singers in the Transylvanian town of Gyergyóditró/Ditrău, Harghita County, Romania. Ágnes researched, learned and recorded their repertoire for this project.

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Kátai Zoltán performer, composer of Hungarian historical music and song, recieved the Hungarian Heritage Award on December 15, 2018 during an awards ceremony at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. "...Kátai Zoltan has been working for four decades to strengthen Hungarian national solidarity by making authentic history and folk tradition known and accessible so we can feel proud and preserve them for coming generations. His songs strengthen the feeling of proudness we have in the heroic deeds and historical events from our past, encourage us to use them proudly as a basis for planning the future.” Printed here is the laudation by Freund Tamás.

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The Muharay Elemér Folk Arts Association is the organization that supports Hungary’s tradition preserving groups movement. On November 30th, 2018 a conference was held with the goal of exchanging ideas on: preserving tradition; where does the tradition preserving groups movement stand now and where is it headed? Representatives of member organizations and others interested in the work of the tradition preserving groups were invited. Printed here is a list of themes and issues addressed at the conference, and a summary of history of the movement. The history is broken up into periods: 1. Pearly Bouquet period 1931-1944; 2. 1948-1956; 3. after ’56; 4. the dance house movement. By Héra Éva.

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12 Bricklayers. A Transylvanian tale of 12 Hungarian bricklayers who worked on a Romanian construction crew in the city of Zilah/Zalău. They could go home every two weeks. Once, on the way home, their truck driver stopped to eat at an inn. The 12 Hungarians waited in the truck. After awhile two of them went in for a beer. Romanians inside the inn soon began to harass them for speaking Hungarian and provoked a fight that ended in a brawl outside between 130 Romanians and the 12 tough Hungarians. Finally police arrived that took the Hungarians to jail in the nearby town and tried to beat them into signing false statements about the fight. They held out until an acceptable statement was produced. Later after a Hungarian representative in Romanian Parliament took the 12 bricklayers’ accounts of the incident to Bucharest, they were arrested and beaten again. As it turned out, amongst the Romanians that attacked them, there was one Hungarian who claimed to be the godson of Nicolae Ceaușescu leader of Romania’s severe totalitarian government. By Széki Soós János.

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Remembering: Yosyp Cherniavets – button accordion, leader of the band (15.03.1945 – 07.01.2019) Yuriy Cherniavets – drummer, singer (11.07.1951 – 14.06.2018) “In late 2018 Yosyp Cherniavets was still playing for local events in his region around Tiachiv, Southwestern Ukraine and played with the band in Bucharest... his passing came just 7 months after the death of his cousin Yuriy, the band’s drummer and singer, bringing to an end a Ruthenian-Romani musical dynasty that spanned more than four generations." "...After his father the fiddler known as Manyo died in 1982, Yosyp led the Manyo family band, better known in Hungary as the “Técsői Banda” (band from Tiachiv) for over 30 years. The band’s style and instrumentation were typical of the mountainous upper Tisza River region—husli (violin), bayan (button accordion), bubyn (drum) and tsymbaly (hammer dulcimer) – but its rich, diverse repertoire set it apart from other local groups. Manyo played not only the traditional Rusyn (Ruthenian) wedding tunes typical of the region, but also Hutsul, Hungarian, Romanian, Jewish, Romani, Slovak, and Russian tunes. The band was a unique musical time capsule – a link to Transcarpathia’s ethnicallydiverse pre-war past....” In memoriam by Shaun Williams – an American ethnomusicologist who spent 4 and half years in Ukraine and presently resides in Bucharest.

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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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Regölés in the village of Kiscsősz, Hungary. Regölés is the Hungarian word for the ancient custom of carolling done around Christmas and New Year’s. The custom has died out in many areas. In the tiny village of Kiscsősz in Western Hungary’s Veszprém County, the Élő Forrás Hagyományőrző Egyesület (Living Source Tradition Preserving Association) leads efforts to revive, preserve and re-introduce folk traditions. On December 27th a group of local people went carolling to the homes of the village residents, then carollers from the city of Debrecen in Eastern Hungary joined them at the celebration and party that followed. Report by Kovács Norbert "Cimbi".

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Even though "Páva" – the Hungarian folk music and dance talent competition broadcast live on Hungarian TV has been going on since 2012, it was 2018’s show series during the advent season that brought on this criticism. A statement during the program by an unnamed professional from a ‘relevant national institution‘, provoked this negative review. The statement in question was: "...traditional peasant culture no longer exists therefore it is the task of the city institutions to perpetuate and present it." "...Naturally this comment is taken out of context and the person who said it doesn’t actually think the way this sounds. We think that the work of the public institutions, organizations, associations in the city that present and preserve folk culture so that folk song, folk music, folk arts can be used any day by anyone and in an everwidening sphere – is of utmost importance – but the question [always] is: What and how? [In the meantime] it must be noted that folk arts [practice and promotion] has become a sought-after source of livelihood...". Amongst criticisms: "...material taken from peasant culture is presented with sugar-coated behavior and acrobatics in a spectacular with ‘revue’ elements and over-done costume..." Páva "...is no longer a community building program with the aim of presenting our valuable [folk heritage] – instead it is simply a show, reflecting the notions of a few TV producers and consultants....." By Kovács Norbert "Cimbi".

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"X-Faktor vs Páva – an unlikely comparison" of two talent competition programs televised in Hungarian on local television channels. "X-Faktor" is the Hungarian version of "The X Factor", a franchised show originating from the United Kingdom – featuring jury-rated performances of aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. The so-called “Páva” show is a strictly Hungarian folk music and folk dance talent competition in a format similar to The X Factor’s. Páva is described here as being "more entertaining and consumer friendly" than Hungarian X-Faktor. This writing applauds the Páva program as "refreshing, natural, high quality, entertainingly informative" with its staff, contestants and illustrious jury as being more "humane, friendly and qualified" than Hungarian X-Faktor’s. This review sees Páva’s MCs as the weak point of the program. Review by Rédai Attila www.liget.ro 2019 Jan. 4.

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Bukovina, Bukovina – Part 13. Excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book of memoires. In 1985 Kóka Rozália ended up joining the staff of "Kisdobos"– a Hungarian children’s magazine. First they asked her to submit a story then she applied for a writing job there. She was hired without specific experience as a journalist. After a rough first assignment and a journalism course, she became a respected member of the magazine staff. We also learn about her collaboration with actor Ferenczy Csongor in joint theatrical performances based on Bukovina folk tales, also incorporating Budapest folk musicians. Her collection of folk tales, some of which she collected from informants, some her own creations, formed the basis for the performances. She explains the use of her family’s Bukovina dialect of Hungarian.

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Jávorszky Béla Szilárd is a Hungarian music historian. He has written numerous books on contemporary music – including the dance house movement. His newest book will be on the "The Vujicsics/Söndörgő Heritage". This excerpt tells about establishment of the Folk Music Department at the Liszt Academy of Music. Eredics Gábor (of the Vujicsics Ensemble) was an instrumental figure in the process.

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New CD: Vadalma: Music of Elderflowers – 2018 Elder Records. Hungarian folk songs with traditional accompaniment and composed and improvised elements: "the original songs provide the framework..." Zina Bozzay – singer, composer, producer of this recording is active as a singer and singing teacher in Hungarian communities in her native California and studies folk singing in Hungary. Matthew Szemela – violin, Misha Khalikulov – cello

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Invitation to tender – Little Black Dress 2022 – by Hungarian Heritage House.

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Shepherd, bagpiper, story teller, singer Pál István (1919–2015) would have been 100 years old this year. Resident of Hungary’s Nógrád County all his life, Pál István was a fantastic informant, a treasury of ethnographic and cultural information. Printed here are excerpts of interviews with Pál István which were included in ethnomusicologist Agócs Gergely’s doctoral dissertation entitled [“Traditional Instrumental Music Culture of Hungarians in Slovakia”] (2010).

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Excerpts from a volume published in 1986 (Magvető Press, Budapest) containing personal diary entries, letters and narrative by Bukovina Székely wood carver Lőrincz Imre (1904–1995). The book tells his life story on the path from his native village of Istensegíts/Țibeni in Bukovina (Romania) to his final destination – the town of Majos, in Hungary’s Tolna County (today part of Bonyhád). This is a WWI story. In August 1914, the church bells in Istensegíts rang announcing the beginning of the war. That day the men in the village had to pack their bags and go off to war. Lőrincz Imre was 10, his father kissed him, told him to be good and to take care of the farm and the family. They never saw him again. His father died of dysentery as a Russian prisoner of war in Turkistan in 1915. Kóka Rozália’s series: On History’s Road.

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Interivew with Foltin Jolán – dancer, choreographer. After celebrating her 75th birthday in September 2018, Foltin Jolán muses on her life, dance and choreography. She discovered dance as a girl in the Bihari Ensemble and tells about beginning her studies at ELTE (university) in the Hungarian department then immediately realized that she was never going to be a Hungarian teacher – she wanted to work in dance. She went on to the professional Honvéd Ensemble, and began doing choreography in her 30s. Her folk dance theatre choreographies were part of the Honvéd’s main repertoire and has done choreography for children’s folk dance groups all over Hungary. By Grozdits Károly.

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Singer Bodza Klára gathered a group of her musician friends, singers and students to celebrate the Christmas season with a concert on December 21st, 2018. Folk songs and music of the Christmas season, old music, religious poetry, folk prayers. "The borders between folk and high culture, amateur and professional dissolved in performance of works that summed up several centuries of poetry and musical heritage and a personal faith in God." Review by Sándor Ildikó.

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Hungarian food and tradition – it’s fánk season. This time of year (winter) is the carnival season of celebrations before the beginning of lent. A typical pastry of the season is fánk – more or less a Hungarian doughnut. Festivities and foods of the season in the town of Csömör (on the outskirts of Budapest’s 16th district) are described and some international doughnut history provided, along with two fánk recipes from the end of the 1600s and 3 newer recipes two of which are yeasted dough deep fried in hot oil, the other ("hájas") uses pork fat and is baked. By Juhász Katalin.

By Sue Foy

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English Table of Contents 2019/2

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Jávorszky Béla Szilárd’s new book on the Vujicsics Ensemble – entitled: “A Vujicsics örökség”. Kossuth Kiadó, 2019. The book’s introduction provides an excellent summary of Vujicsics’s path leading up to their formation in 1974 taking over from an older generation that accompanied the local dance group in the Pomáz/Szentendre area just north of Budapest. During over the 45 years of activity (dance houses, concert tours locally and abroad,etc) the band has made 4 records and has beautifully been passing on their music to their sons, who in 1995 started a band successful in its own right called Söndörgő. Both bands play Balkan and music of the Serbian and Croatian minorities in Hungary.

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Cécó Workshop is involved in research on and popularization of folk dance and folk dance music of Voivodina. The initiative also actively encourages traditional dance in its earlier function as part of a local communitiy experience. The group was founded by Resócki Rolland. Members are young working people, secondary school and university students from the region who have taken part in local folk dance groups. They are supported by the Voivodina Hungarian Folkore Center and maintain contacts with the Ethnography and Cultural Anthropology Department at Szeged University and the Institute of Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In February they organized a conference in Szabadka/ Subotica, Serbia focusing on methodology for folk dance research and archiving materials collected. "Cécó” is what spontaneous dance and music gatherings used to be called in the Tisza River Region. Report by Mikuska Judit.

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New publication: Fehér Anikó: “Kis Kidéből nekem el kell menni...” [Folk music researcher Járdányi Pál] Published in 2018 by Fundamenta profunda / 9. Hungarian Academy of the Arts – Research Institute for Art Theory and Methodology. Járdányi Pál (Budapest, 1920 – Budapest, 1966) was a nationally recognized composer, music teacher, folk music researcher, also a violinist, music theorist. An expert in all these areas at the same time, his multi-faceted knowledge gave of all his work an unusual depth. Recommendation by Kiss Eszter Veronika.

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There is an exhibition of traditional weavings by Fodorné László Mária of Hungary’s Sárköz region at Vigadó Galéria, Budapest. The exhibition will be open from 2019 February 9 through Easter. Fodorné László Mária has lived her entire life in the village of Decs in Hungary’s Sárköz region (Tolna County). She recently celebrated her 70th birthday. She began learning weaving as a ten year old from her neighbor and she hasn’t stopped weaving since. She has taught several hundred girls, women and even her husband to weave. Fifty years ago they wove in every house in the Sárköz Region, now Fodorné László Mária is pretty much the last one still weaving. Printed here is ethnographer Bali János’s speech given at the exhibition opening.

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List of those from dance house circles who received awards on the occasion of the March 15th Hungarian National Holiday.

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New records: Szászcsávási Dalárda (recorded 1992–1994 – traditional singing), Szászcsávás Band 6 (re-release of recordings from 1996–2007). Both are 2019 Fonó releases. Recordings of traditional music from the Tranyslvanian village of Szászcsávás (Ceuaș, Romania) played by the local band, and sung by local residents. All recordings were made on location in the village. Szászcsávás is unique in the Hungarian language area as probably the only place where the local singing tradition is polyphonic. This means that all the singing, not only in church, but also at weddings, celebrations and parties is sung in five part harmony, a practice that is passed down in the families. Producer: Szánthó Zoltán.

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New CD by Hungarian Heritage House: Táncház – Népzene 2022 (Hungarian Dance House – Folk Music)

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Interview with Salamon Soma. Soma is a musician, he plays shepherd’s flutes and accordion in several folk music formations. He studied piano. He is part of a second generation of táncház children – meaning that he grew up in a family that participated in – and he was surrounded by music and dance of – the dance house movement. Presently he is working on a doctorate at the Liszt Academy of Music, where he also teaches foreign students about Hungarian folk music – in English. "...Which in itself is not a simple task, given that there isn’t a unified terminology. Hungarian ethnomusicological studies, for the most part, have not been written for foreigners”. He mentions his family, Éri Péter, Ménes Ágnes, Németh Ildikó and Szabó Szilárd as mentors or people that have influenced his life path. Interview by Grozdits Károly.

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Székely Melinda: Changes in Hungarian Weddings in Ördöngösfüzes (Fizeşu Gherlii, Romania) 1930-2017. A short summary of an ethnographical research project done in Transylvania’s inner Mezőség region - north of the city of Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca , Romania. The researcher herself is a resident of the region. She focused her work on three periods of time: the 1930s, the 1960s period of collectivization, and the period following the end of the Ceauşescu dictatorship. Her work focused on changes in the sequence of events of weddings in the 3 time periods - in relation to space, time, roles, objects, clothing, foods, economic considerations, changes in relationship to sexuality, influence of media. Kriza János Ethnographic Society – Téka Foundation Kolozsvár (Romania), 2018.

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Fodor Sándor “Netti” (1922–2004). Biographical information on Netti Sanyi lead fiddler, Gypsy prímás from Transylvania’s Kalotaszeg region. He was the last of the generation of traditional musicians that learned and played in the traditional life of his region. An intelligent man, excellent musician, big personality, a professional that played his best in every situation - from local rural weddings and balls, to dance houses, folk music and dance camps in Hungary, performing on tour in Western Europe and the USA. His music and personality has been preserved in archives, on film, on many CDs. By Transylvanian ethnomusicolgist Könczei Csongor – first published in 2005 in Transylvanian journals “Művelődés” (2005:13-14) and “Kalotaszeg” (2005:9-10.).

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A short vignette by Móricz Zsigmond (1879-1942) a major Hungarian novelist and Social Realist. His novels expressed the lives of the Hungarian peasantry and dealt with issues of poverty. This is a story about visiting a relative in a tiny village someplace in today’s South Central Slovakia and an incident where the villagers beat up the village bar tender/owner –a Jew. The local bar owner happened to be the only one in the village who had read all of Móricz’s work and knew exactly who he was. “…those who lived without reading really suffered with the changing times…many of them lost everything….people are lost without deeper knowledge!" First published in Református Figyelő 1929 Dec. 21/republished by Athenaeum Kiadó, 2017.

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Exhibition: photos by Henics Tamás from 20 years visiting Transylvania’s Kalotaszeg and Mezőség regions. Tamás, a well-known and active figure in dance house circles, has already published three volumes of his photography. 15 years ago he founded the yearly music festival in the village of Mecsér in Northern Hungary. He plays folk viola and was born and grew up in western Hungary’s Őrség region. He also happens to be a succesful medical researcher who lives most of the time in Vienna. His exhibition is at Hagyományok Háza (1011 Budapest, I. Corvin tér 8.) from 2019 Mar 2 to Apr 5, then it moves to the Táncháztalálkozó for April 6-7th.

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List of 2019 summer Hungarian folk music and dance camps.

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A group of Székely Hungarians left Bukovina in the spring of 1910. They relocated in the village of Sztrigyszentgyörgy/Streisângeorgiu in Transylvania’s Hunyad County. Then in 1922-23, after WWI, 30 Bukovina Hungarian families left Transylvania for Brazil hoping for a better life. Some of those families ended up trying to make it somewhere in the Brazilian jungle, where they founded a community they named Boldogasszonyfalva. Sometimes news of the families in the Brazilian jungle found its way back to the cantor in Sztrigyszentgyörgy who kept a diary chronicling them. Here are excerpts from the diaries of village cantor Benkő Lajos (died approx 1983) for Kóka Rozália’s series: On History’s Road.

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New publication/recording: Dil-dil duda – CD of bagpipe music from Hungary’s Zala region. Includes extensive notes on bagpipe and folk music of the Zala region in Southwestern Hungary – in Hungarian with English translation. Produced by Végh Andor and G. Szabó Zoltán. Released in 2018 by Skrabut Éva ISBN: 978-615-00-3895-7

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Tradition and modernization – storytelling in Hungary. “Storytelling in Hungary today shows an interesting duality. There a wonderful storytelling tradition, and Hungarian folktale research is famous world-wide. The storytelling revival seen abroad, has only more recently begun in Hungary... Those arriving from ethnographic and folklore studies emphasize live storytelling.... But another important area is....stories or tales applied to other fields where emphasis is not necessarily on adherance to tradition, such as: story therapy, story pedagogy, story psychology, or [so-called] ’biblio therapy’.” The author of this article has “over the past seven years told stories abroad, in [Hungarian] preschools, schools, libraries, at conferences and festivals”. She is a member of the international Storytelling Peace Council. By Bumberák Maja.

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Eggs: the beginning of creation, symbol of fertility, and one of Hungary’s basic foods. As Easter approaches we consider the egg, its appearance in art and myth through the ages, its use in local Hungarian folk custom, painting eggs at Easter, and games played with eggs (tossing, rolling, egg dance, etc). In many places an egg was cracked into a baby’s first bath water so that the child healthy and pretty. Raw eggs, boiled, fried, stuffed and scrambled eggs are mentioned. Several variations of simple soups made with an egg cracked into it are described. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.

By Sue Foy

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English Table of Contents 2019/3

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Veress Sándor (1907–1992) – Hungarian composer, folk music researcher, student of Kodály and Bartók. Born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Veress Sándor died in Bern Switzerland. He emigrated from Hungary in 1949. He studied under Kodály at the Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest from 1925 to 1929, then as a student of Bartók until 1932. As long as he was in Hungary he maintained close contact with Kodály. As a result of his emigration, Hungary had been cut off for more than 40 years from contact with Veress and his work. This article from 2007 was part of an effort restore recognition of Veress’ life work in celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth, which was celebrated along with the 125th anniversary of Kodály’s birth. By Berlász Melinda (from Forrás 2007/12).

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The MTA BTK Hungarian Institute of Musicology has recently made more than 12,000 hours of audio material from their archives available to the public, online. They began implementing their online strategy in 2017. Go to: Sound Archives of the Institute of Musicology: hungaricana.hu/en/databases/zti – and try it out. By Bolya Mátyás (first published on the Hungarian Academy of Sciences MTA homepage 2019 May 20).

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A short vignette by Hungarian novelist and Social Realist Móricz Zsigmond (1879–1942) whose writings expressed the lives of the Hungarian peasantry and dealt with issues of poverty. This story is about meals he ate with three village families of varying economic status, and three different approaches to food dictated naturally by economic conditions. The richest family maintained the ‘French kitchen’. The middle level family ate traditional Hungarian food and plenty of it. The poor family with a lot of children ate boiled corn and poorly baked homemade bread. First published in Magyar Hírnök March 1936/republished by Athenaeum Kiadó, 2017.

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CD Review – Sacred folk music by Bergics Lajos with Zengő Ensemble, Berecz András BBTCD04, 2018. Bergics Lajos recorded a Roman Catholic mass with folk Hungarian liturgical music. Also on the recording are singers: Takács-Nagy Jázmin, Gráf Vivien, Bogárdi Aliz. There is also an interview with Bergics Lajos talking about 35 years of Zengő Ensemble. CD review by Fehér Anikó/interview by Mészáros B. Endre at bama.hu 2018 Nov. 2.

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CD review: Pearly Clouds: Szabó Enikő – voice, Dezső Tóni – saxophone, Gary Lucas – guitar, 2018 Fonó. Hungarian folk songs „taken down new paths with jazz /psychedelic atmosphere... meditative and thoughtful. A lucky meeting of three artists.” Review by Fehér Anikó.

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Remembering Antal Gyica Károly 1941–2019 – Hungarian traditional singer and dancer of Gyimesbükk/Ghimeș-Făget in Transylvania’s Gyimes Valley (Romania). Gyica Károly’s „son from Hungary” recalls time spent with him up in the alpine hut where the animals are pastured from spring through the fall. By Dóra Áron.

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Szép Magyar Ének – Fine Hungarian Song. Béres József. Akovita Press. 2018. Béres is a name well-known in Hungary for a popular line of health products. In 2009 Béres József published his first book of Hungarian folk songs. Now he has re-published his collection of Hungarian folk songs in an expanded, revised new version. His hope is to encourage Hungarians to keep on singing. By Béres József.

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Interview with Bolvári-Takács Gábor – new rector of the Hungarian Academy of Dance. Located in Budapest, the Dance Academy functions as a secondary school, college and now a university, offering professional dance training (dance specializations: ballet, folk, modern, ’fashion’, ballroom, theatre), as well as choreography, dance rehearsal leader, dance education, dance writing. Finishing students may earn diplomas on the secondary school, college, and university level. There are well over 100 on the teaching staff and some 600 students. Graduates are able to find work in their field. The new rector comes from an arts administration/humanities background. He works with an assistant rector who comes from Hungary’s dance world; in August, Volf Katalin will become artistic director. By Grozdits Károly.

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In 1979, the second class of folk dance students graduated from the State Institute of Ballet. On April 13, 2019 they had their 40 year reunion. When those from the 1979 graduating class auditioned for the program that would train them to be professional folk dancers – they were chosen from amongst 3000 children. Their teachers were Timár Sándor, Molnár Lajos Pubi, Zórándi Mari, Janek Jocó and others. Greeting by alumnus Hortobágyi Gyöngyvér (class of 1979) – who for many years has been a teacher and administrator at what is now called the Hungarian Academy of Dance

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Results of the solo and pair dance competitions organised by Bartók Folk Dance Ensemble. Photo by Majnik Zsolt.

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Bukovina, Bukovina – Part 15. Excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book of memoires. When the 1989 governmental changes made it possible to establish civil organizations in Hungary, the Székely Hungarians immediately formed organizations in towns where Székely people lived. But the government changes also caused formerly government owned/supported employers to fold. People found themselves unemployed. New businesses were started and soon went broke. During this unstable period Rozália gathered the material and published her first book of lore on Hungarian King Mátyás. In May of 1991 on the 50th anniversary of the Bukovina Hungarians’ arrival to Hungary, Rozália organized the first Bukovina Székely Meeting and Conference in Budapest and Érd. Twenty years later in 2011, the 70th anniversary of the Bukovina Hungarians’ arrival to Hungary was celebrated with meetings and conferences held in Budapest and Érd.

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From the archives. A report on work underway in the 1950s in Muharay Elemér’s tradition preservation workshop – then functioning within the Institute of Folk Arts’ Department of Ethnography in Budapest. In 1952 Pesovár Ernő was invited by Muharay to lead the dance folklore tasks in the department, which included collecting and archiving traditional dance, music, song, children’s games and folk theatre. In 2001 Pesovár added the postscript that Muharay’s complex concept for tradition preservation was at that time being continued by the Muharay Association, the Heritage Children’s Folk Arts Association, the Martin György Folk Dance Association and the Hungarian Heritage House. Written in 2001 by Pesovár Ernő (1926–2008)

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On History’s Road – Ferenc Gergely was born in Hadikfalva/Dornești, Bukovina in 1908. In 1927 he decided to immigrate to Western Canada to join other Bukovina Székely folks trying to make a new life in the province of Saskatchewan. He went first to the tiny town of Cupar where others from his village had settled. “Poor people went there from Bukovina, everyone was escaping the poverty, but they also found poverty in Canada.” After working as a farmhand for many years, in 1943 he was able to buy pastureland and began raising pigs and cattle. He married in 1954 and eventually moved into Regina. His first trip to Hungary to visit relatives was in 1988, when he told his story to Kóka Rozália.

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Vadrózsa Dance Ensemble, an amateur folk dance ensemble in Budapest’s Angyalföld district, recently received an outstanding rating from the Martin György Folk Dance Association jury for their performance of a choreography entitled: Folk Classic. The choreography created by Fundák Kristóf, Kaszai Lili and Gera Gábor was inspired by Györgyfalvay Katalin’s 1983 choreography „Bújócska”. „The Fundák–Kaszai–Gera piece can be forced neither into a modern dance theatre box , nor an authentic folk dance box – they work in a wider space with DANCE written on the door....” By B. Koltai Gabriella.

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Catalogue of Hungarian historical legend – In 2018 Hungarian folklorist, senior member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences Magyar Zoltán published his catalogue (at Kairosz Kiadó): an index of types and motifs based on more than 20 years of his own collection work and research on Hungarian legend. The catalogue is published as a series of 12 handbooks and draws on more than 112,000 Hungarian folklore texts and stories found in ’human historical knowledge’. Recommendation by Bumberák Maja.

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Interview with Kelemen László, composer, director of the Hungarian Heritage House, musician. Kelemen talks about his music education in Transylvania, his first employment as music teacher and chorus director in Nagyenyed/Aiud, Romania; his first employer in Hungary (Zeneműkiadó) and his composition work. He is a recipient of a Kodály Scholarship/grant (late 1980s), the Lajtha Prize in 2016, and the Erkel Ferenc Award in 2019. By Csermák Zoltán first published April 2nd 2019 at szekelyhon.ro.

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Egg recipes from the oldest old Hungarian cookbooks. Probably the first Hungarian cookbook was published by Misztótfalusi Kis Miklós in 1695 in Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca (Transylvania), and it has been re-published over and over again: in the 18th century, in 2003 and so on. 10 egg recipes from this book are printed here, including: egg-cheese, milk-egg aspic, poached egg, stuffed eggs, egg-fried bread. The second oldest Hungarian cookbook is Czifray István’s cookbook printed in Budapest by publisher Trattner János in 1816. This book has also seen many reprintings. There are 64 egg recipes in it – some are under the heading of „Foods for Lent”, others under „Egg Dishes”. Some of the recipes are: ox eye, egg pie, carp blood pie, egg sausage, baked eggs. By ethnographer Juhász Katalin.

By Sue Foy

4

English Table of Contents 2019/4

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Ökrös Csaba (1960 – June 26, 2019) – folk musician. Csaba was born in Szolnok, Hungary. He attended an elementary school specializing in music in Jászberény. He began playing violin at the age of 9 and got involved in folk music and the dance house movement in 1976. He went to Transylvania to learn from traditional musicians and to do collection work, then to Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary to play fiddle for the Hegyalja Folk Dance Ensemble. He moved to Budapest to play for the Bartók Ensemble, then played for the State Ensemble and went on to accompany every professional dance group in Budapest, playing over the years with all the best dance house bands, including his own bands Újstílus and Ökrös Band. From 2010 on he taught fiddle in the Folk Music Department at Budapest’s Liszt Academy of Music. A well-known figure in the Budapest dance houses, from the early 1980s on he was prominent amongst those who introduced folks abroad to how exciting dancing to live Hungarian folk music can be. Printed in this issue is an obituary by Hegyi Zoltán from Magyar Hang 2019 July 5-11.

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Two new publications from Hungarian Heritage House: DVD of Transylvanian dances collected between 1997–2001, during the Final Hour collection project. This DVD presents video recordings of traditional dancers from 20 different Transylvanian communities with accompanying texts by Varga Sándor, Sztanó Hédi, Galát Péter, Pávai István; it is a bilingual publication (Hungarian/English), edited by Sztanó Hédi. Új Pátria 2019. Horváth Attila – Árendás Péter: Vízmelléki népzene. A book with accompanying DVD of traditional folk tunes collected from fiddler Kozák József from the village of Ádámos/Adămuș in the region of south-central Transylvania known as “Vízmellék”. Focus is on playing style and repertoire – includes the kontra-double bass accompaniment. Part of the Instrumental Folk Music series. 2019.

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Interview with choreographer, director, ethnographer Novák Ferenc. He speaks of his long career, folk dance theatre versus staged authentic folk dance, folk dance in Hungary and the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble’s performance space at Budapest’s Millenáris Park. „...It took four years to complete the National Dance Theatre...it was beautiful, everyone was happy...until the institution began to function, when we realized that the venue isn’t ours... it is controlled by Millenáris Park...” By Hajba Ferenc – first published in “168 Óra” 2019. June 15. Announcement from the Offical Hungarian Government News – 2019 July 26 (Magyar Közlöny 130) the Hungarian government has allocated 638 226 000 forints from the national budget towards construction of a home theatre for the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble (formerly: Honvéd). The preparational phase must be completed by 2021 November 1. Location will be Budapest 1087, Kerepesi út 29/b. The project shall be implemented and managed by Honvéd Ensemble Artistic Nonprofit Ltd in cooperation with the Human Resources Minister.

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Part II. Veress Sándor (1907–1992) – Hungarian composer, folk music researcher, student of Kodály and Bartók. Born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Veress Sándor died in Bern, Switzerland. He emigrated from Hungary in 1949. He studied under Kodály at the Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest from 1925 to 1929, then as a student of Bartók until 1932. As long as he was in Hungary he maintained close contact with Kodály. For more than 40 years Hungary had been cut off from contact with Veress and his work. Printed here is Veress ’s salute to Kodály Zoltán on his 70th birthday discussing amongst other things Kodály’s choice to stay in Hungary rather than emigrate during/after WW II as many Hungarian artists did. First published in Látóhatár January, 1953/ later in Forrás 2007/12.

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Review of singer Balogh Melinda’s record: Napkerék. Tranyslvanian Gypsy folk music. A Fonó release, 2019. “Melinda’s voice rings so naturally….” Edited by Kelemen László, good choices of music and accompanying musicians. “There is professionalism and freedom in this music…. I would recommend it to everyone.” By Fehér Anikó.

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Reviews of five new Hungarian folk music recordings on the Fonó label: Cimbaliband/Danics Dóra: Iram “…the best pop band in Hungarian folk life, or the best folk band in Hungarian pop life”. Lajkó Félix & Vołosi – the polish string band with Hungarian fiddler from Voivodina region of Serbia.”…the best world music string production”. Balogh Melinda – Napkerék: authentic style Transylvanian Gypsy folk music with singer from Jászberény (Hungary). ”…the key is her alive and radiant person, natural, effortless singing style…”. Lakatos Róbert and Rév: Révület “…this time Lakatos Róbert focuses on folk music of his region: Southern Slovakia, and the best segment thereof not only in place but in time…”. Gyimesvölgyi Népzene Kostelekről (Folk music from Kostelek/Coșnea in Eastern Transylvania’s Gyimes Valley) features authentic folk music by singers and musicians of Kostelek: Vaszi Levente, Vrencsán Anita, and Zúgató Band. Reviews by Rácz Mihály 2019 June 26. langologitarok.blog.hu

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Celebrating the 160th anniversary of the birth of “the great story teller” Benedek Elek (Kisbacon 1859–1929) who was a Hungarian journalist, writer and member of Hungarian parliament. He was born in Transylvania, lived a good part of his life in Hungary, then in 1921 moved home to his native village of Kisbacon/today Bățanii Mici in Romania’s Kovászna/Covasna County. To this day he is well known in Hungary for his children’s stories. Amongst his final written words were: ‘the main thing is to work’ ”... fő, hogy dolgozzanak”. Printed here is an essay dealing largely with the fact of his return to his native village in Transylvania. By Halász Péter.

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Farewell to Vrábel János (1953-2019). Vrábel János was a Hungarian from Voivodina (Serbia), born in Csóka/Čoka, he taught school until 2002 in the town of Zenta/Senta (Serbia). A retired drawing teacher and bee keeper, he was a recipient of the Hungarian Tree of Life award and recognized by Hungary as a folk musician and instrument maker with the title of Master of Folk Arts. As a recognized member of the Hungarian minority in Serbia he was a recipient of a so-called “national pension”. He will be missed in his community. By Kozák József.

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Rest in Peace Rónai Lajos (1953 – June 27, 2019). Rónai Lajos was active teaching and playing music, accompanying folk dance ensembles all over Hungary’s Galgamente region (Bag, Aszód, Hévízgyörk). He founded both the Tarisnyás and Fix Stimm bands and dedicated his life to music and folk music. He was a key figure in his area in preserving and keeping local traditional music alive. Printed here is the eulogy by Péter Tibor president of the Bag Folk Arts Association given at the funeral on July 2, 2019 in Hévízgyörk, Hungary.

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Interview with Zs. Vincze Zsuzsa associate director of the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble (formerly Honvéd). Mrs Zsuráfszky Vincze Zsuzsanna has been working alongside her husband, nationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, director, dance researcher Zsuráfszky Zoltán for more than 30 years – putting authentic Hungarian folk dance on stage for local and international audiences. Presently one of her main tasks is dramaturgy – she writes the scripts for the choreographies. Here she tells how she came from Pécs to Budapest, some about the path of her career and her creative process as the ensemble’s dramaturgist. By Grozdits Károly.

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In Transylvania according to tradition, village folks often keep sheep. That usually means that each family entrusts their sheep to the care of a local shepherd who tends the village flock. Hungarian medical researcher, photographer Henics Tamás who doesn’t actually live in the Kalotaszeg village of Méra, nevertheless takes part (often remotely) in the sheep raising culture there in an effort to help keep the related traditions alive. This summer he was able to be there at sheep dipping time as done in Transylvania. This is his description of this task, this community event – where some 500 sheep – the local flock were efficiently ‘dipped’ – referring to the method farmers use for protecting the sheep from infestation against external parasites. Photos and text by Henics Tamás.

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New publication: Virágvölgyi Márta: [Vajdaszentivány Folk Music – Horváth Elek’s tunes]. Published by the Óbuda Folk Music School, 2019. In this publication there are 150 melodies (with precise playing technique noted) which represent the majority of dance music of the Transylvanian community of Vajdaszentivány/Voivodeni. The old style major viola harmony accompaniment is also indicated. Traditional fiddler Horváth Elek is still alive. He was recognized in 2014 with Hungary’s title of Master of Folk Arts. The introduction by Vavrinecz András is printed here.

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Hungarian novelist and Social Realist Móricz Zsigmond (1879–1942) expressed the lives of the Hungarian peasantry and dealt with issues of poverty. In this vignette he writes: “…When I was a little boy…there was still a Hungarian world in Hungary…today to the eye, Hungary’s world is certainly different…There is no more folk costume…the Hungarians, it seems, want to move completely out of Asia, but we should help them, so they can become Europeans… museum Hungarianness should not be preserved in this life, rather, an alive Hungarianness, [so Hungarians] can become deserving members of world culture…” First published in Amerikai Magyar Népszava 1933 July 9/Republished by Athenaeum Kiadó, 2017.

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Interview with traditional flute player Dóra Áron upon release of his first solo recording entitled “Szélfútta” which features tunes from all over the Hungarian language area from Moldavia to Zala County. Most of the other musicians on the recording are fellow revival musicians, though recordings of Antal Károly Gyica, a traditional village musician from Transylvania’s Gyimes region are included. The recording has been released in an unusual format: pendrive. By Béres Sándor.

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Bukovina, Bukovina – Part 16 – Excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book of memoires. In 1992 Kóka Rozália was hired to work at the Hungarian Institute of Culture as organizer for folk singing groups of Hungarians and other ethnic groups in the Carpathian Basin, and to arrange professional help for leaders of traditional zither ensembles. In 1995 she instigated the establishment of the Vass Lajos Folk Music Association; activities of this organization through 2002 are listed. In 2008 she organized an excursion for her folk singing group to Transylvania to visit locations related to the Bukovina Székely people – such as Madéfalva, Csíksomlyó, Csíkzsögöd. In 2010 they went to Csernakeresztúr/Cristur in Transylvania and to Bukovina.

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On History’s Road – A man’s story of his family’s move to, and then escape from Serbia’s Bácska/Bačka region with the Bukovina Székely Hungarians between 1941–1945. It’s a terrifying personal story of flight during WWII in Hungary and what one small boy and his family went through, somehow managing to stay alive. He was 12 when his family, along with some of the Bukovina Székely people, ended up in the town of Bonyhád where they were re-located in homes left by Swabian Hungarians who had been deported to Germany... As told to Kóka Rozália on August 17, 2007 by Papp János.

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New publication: Virágvölgyi Márta: [Gyimes Folk Music – Halmágyi Mihály’s tunes]. Published by Óbuda Folk Music School, 2019. Written music and audio-visual material. This publication features melodies collected from traditional musician Halmágyi Mihály of Transylvania’s remote Gyimes region. Halmágyi played with his wife who sang and accompanied him on the hit cello, he died more than 20 years ago. “…every stylistic characteristic, musical element, such as the closing formulas of the musical lines are indicated using a unified method…the most important thing is that they are not forced into major and minor keys, instead the melodies are heard in the natural and modal musical lines…these melodies are traditionally played on a fiddle that has one resonating, sympathetic string…” Printed here is the recommendation by fiddler Vizeli Balázs.

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Hungarian food traditions: bread is a staple food in Hungary. To make bread, all you need is excellent quality flour, water, salt and leavening. However like many other places, today it is difficult to find REAL bread in the stores in Hungary – storebought mass-produced bread, here too, is full of additives, preservatives, bad flour and more. Hungarians are beginning to experiment with starters, grinding their own wheat and baking their own bread according to traditions. Szabó Balázs of Kővágóőrs, Hungary has been doing this for years and has written a book about making good bread. The fifth twoday bread festival and contest was recently held in Budapest promoting traditonally made bread, and so on. By Juhász Katalin.

By Sue Foy

5

English Table of Contents 2019/5

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The Cymbalom – a 21st Century Instrument. Conversation with musician, cymbalom player Lukács Miklós on his life, his instrument, music and the cymbalom competition held recently at the Budapest Music Center of which he was an organizer. Awards were given in classical, contemporary and “open” categories with an additional 10 special awards. The competition is to be held every three years. Known as both a classical and jazz musician, since 2001 Lukács has been teaching at the Rajkó-Talentum School of Dance and Music, and since 2011 at the Snétberger Music Center. Interview by Grozdits Károly.

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The Kőszeg Folk Dance Ensemble, a group that was led by Hortobágyi Éva from 1978 to 1985, recently had a reunion – an event that successfully brought old group members together. The town of Kőszeg is located in Western Hungary. Ten educators that deal with folk dance came out of the group. As part of the celebration, together they went to see a performance of Kőszeg’s Hajnalcsillag Ensemble. Report by By Grozdits Virág – organizer.

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Kerékfy Márton: Népzene és nosztalgia Ligeti György művészetében [Folk music and nostalgia in the works of György Ligeti] Rózsavölgyi és Társa Kiadó, 2018. Budapest. ISBN: 9786158053365. Kerékfy, with amazing analytic strength and the thoroughness of philology, explores the influence of Bartók and use of folk music motifs in Ligeti’s later works; includes detailed analysis of the Violin Concerto from 1992. Ligeti György (Dicsőszentmárton1923–2006 Vienna) was born in a Hungarian speaking secular Jewish family in Transylvania. He attended Romanian secondary school in Cluj, was sent to do forced labor in 1944 and emigrated to Austria in 1956. Printed here an article by Csont András from “Magyar Narancs” (2019/20)

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New Publication: Gőbölös Gábor: 60+1 játék amit szeretek [60+1 games I like]. A collection of trainings, games and comments from the mouths of children gathered over 17 years of teaching experience working at the Sárvíz School of the Arts in Aba (a small town in Hungary’s Fejér County). Gőbölös Gábor works with children and adults, folk dancers and drama teachers. The book is aimed at beginning and advanced group leaders, elementary school teachers, trainers and camp leaders who already know a lot of Hungarian games but may be looking for a new angle or approach. Self published. Review by Majer Tamás (feol.hu).

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Part III. Veress Sándor (1907–1992) – Hungarian composer, folk music researcher, student of Kodály and Bartók. Born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Veress Sándor died in Bern, Switzerland. He emigrated from Hungary in 1949. Between 1925 and 1932 he studied under Kodály, then Bartók at the Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest. As long as he was in Hungary he maintained close contact with Kodály. For more than 40 years Hungary had been cut off from contact with Veress and his work. Printed here are two texts by Veress saluting Kodály Zoltán on his 75th birthday. One text was first published in "Új Látóhatár" an emmigrant’s magazine based in Münich; the other text was heard on Radio Free Europe – both in December of 1957. By music historian Berlász Melinda.

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Balogh Kálmán "Muszka" 1945–2019 was a traditional lead fiddle player. He was from Nagypalád (Велика Паладь / Velika Palagy / Velyka Palad') a village of less than 200 inhabitants located in Ukraine on the borders of Ukraine, Romania and Hungary. His music bore influences from Szatmár, Palóc, Ukraine, Transylvania. He was a member of the Gypsy minority of the region, leader of his band and leader of his traditional Roma community. He played for Hungarian, Jewish and Ruthenian weddings and events, while also knew shepherds’ tunes and repertoire of the local Gypsy community. By Módos Máté.

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New Publication: Bartók, Béla: Turkish Folk Music from Asia Minor/ Hungarian title: Török népzene Kis-Ázsiából – Published by Sipos János. L’Harmattan Kiadó 2019. Budapest, Hungary. This is the first Hungarian translation of Bartók’s work which has already been published in English (1976 and 2002) and in Turkish in 2017. It contains Bartók’s transcriptions, results and analysis of folk music collection work he did in Turkey in 1936 and was written before his death in New York. Includes samples of the actual music collected. Printed here is the introduction by ethnomusicologist Sipos János – whose main area of research has been traditional music of Turkey and points eastward.

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Bukovina, Bukovina – Part 17. Excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book of memoires. Here is a description of a diary kept by a clergyman in Hidas (Baranya County, Hungary) who described the Bukovina Székely people’s relocation to Serbia’s Bácka region in 1941. Dr. Bognóczky Géza photographed the Calvinist inhabitants of the Bukovina village of Andrásfalva before they left. The photographs portray the fear, grief, pain and insecurity that accompany such a move. These photographs became an exhibition shown in 2011. Rozália also describes the process of her becoming a corresponding member of Hungarian Academy of Arts in 2014.

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Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House held a summer symposium August 9–11, 2019 in Mikháza (Călugăreni, Romania) a tiny village in the Upper Nyárád region of Transylvania’s Maros/Mureș County. During the symposium, lectures were given by Kelemen László, Pávai István, Tálas Ágnes, Agócs Gergely and many others; concerts by Barozda, Heveder, Lelkes, Öves ensembles and the Marosszék Kodály Zoltán Children’s and Youth Chorus. The event closed with a mass by Franciscan monk Böjte Csaba. The event was organized as part of Hungarian Heritage House’s networking efforts. HHH has outposts in Hungarian inhabited Transcarpathia, Slovakia, former Yugoslavia and branches in 3 towns in Transylvania. Report by Lokodi Imre.

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Folk music research and nationalism – by Bartók Béla first published in Tükör 1937. V. 3. Pp 166-168. Bartók describes a situation where an ethnographer collected material that he publishes as belonging to his own ethnic group. Another ethnic group becomes insulted claiming that the same material belongs instead to them. He mentions “insulted national feeling”. He writes that “where politics start, is where art, science, rights and understanding end….in every branch of science international cooperation is desirable…and is especially needed in folk music research…”

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New recording: Boglya Ensemble: Vasi népzene [folk music especially for dancing – from Western Hungary’s Vas County – collection of melodies 1.] From Békefi Antal’s collection. Two years ago Földesi János and Boglya Ensemble – a dance house band that’s been around for 35 years – received from Békefi Antal’s family his complete collection of audio material. While listening, transcribing, selecting material from this huge collection, they began to think about this publication... Released by Földesi János, Földesi Jánosné, ifj. Földesi János. Szombathely, 2019

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Illés Albert’s story of relocation from his village in Bukovina in 1941. He and his family were first re-settled in the Bačka region of today’s Serbia. But in 1944 they had to flee northward into Hungary and were homeless for a time in the area where the final battles of WWII were going on. In 1945 Illés Albert and his family were placed in the house of a Swabian Hungarian family (that had been expelled to Germany) in the village of Felsőnána (Tolna County, Hungary). The residents that remained in this village were not welcoming. Two of his children died when a hand grenade left over from the war exploded one Sunday. In 1966 he moved his family to the town of Érd (near Budapest). Mr. Illés did not read or write. His story was recorded in five sessions between January 25 and March 29, 2001, then transcribed and a select number of copies went to his family, the town of Érd and Hungary’s National Library. He was born in Bukovina on January 12, 1919.

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Memories of a visit to the Transylvanian village of Szék on János Name Day Dec 27th between Christmas and New Years when carolers arrived: three Gypsy musicians. It was “wolf-howling cold” out and the musicians went house to house. “…It was 1985, the sign at the edge of the village read: Sic. The country is Romania. But for us it’ll always be Transylvania…it’s not my first trip here, I’m not an ethnographer, just a simple, city person from Hungary with an obsession for Transylvania…” By Szávai József.

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Hungarian food traditions – Bread is a staple food in Hungary and Hungarians are finally beginning to rethink their bread as the quality of store-bought bread gets worse and worse. Here is information about kinds of wheat, flour, leavening, the use and care of starters, kneading and baking. Instructions for making bread as done in Transylvania’s Gyimes region (which uses potato), and for making a holiday chestnut bread are provided. By Juhász Katalin.

By Sue Foy

6

English Table of Contents 2019/6

Page 3

A school known as the Lorántffy Zsuzsanna Elementary School of Music, has since 2001 officially been called the Kodály Zoltán Elementary and Secondary School of Music. It is located at Marczibányi tér in Budapest’s second district. This is Boda Péter’s story. In the early 1950s he began elementary school there in a “normal” (not music-focused) class simply because the school was the nearest one to his home. When he was in 3rd grade, he was transferred to the music class, as the test case: how would a student who had no talent or ear for music, fare in such a class. He continued with the music class until the end of 8th grade. Since it was clear that he would not continue studying music, he went on to a secondary school with a different emphasis and became an architectural engineer who was not sorry to have studied music as a child. Interview by Grozdits Károly.

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Exhibition: Hegedűvel és puskával [with violin and gun] The role of Hungary’s Gypsies in World War I presents the work of Hungarian archeologist, historian Scholtz Róbert. The exhibition travelled from Budapest to various Hungarian county seats. In the military Gypsies were given tasks that related to their skills and regular work, or they had to guard war prisoners, or do the the lowest ranking tasks in the military such as cleaning the latrines, removing and burying the dead. They also served as spies, scouts, cavalry men, front line charging forces, sailors. Gypsy musicians were placed in miltary bands or in bands of Gypsy musicians who played in the trenches at the front.

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Choreographer, director: Foltin Jolán (Budapest: 1943. September 13 – 2019. October 27) Foltin Jolán’s inexhaustible creative activities, her life-work, centered around the Bihari Folk Dance Ensemble (active there from 1959 on), Honvéd Dance Theatre and the Children’s Folk Arts Heritage Association. She developed methodology for folk dance in children’s education. "Her mother tongue was folklore". Her work and intellect were highly valued in her community. She was recognized with numerous national and professional awards. MTI 2019 October 28. A memorial and farewell gathering was held on Nov. 24, 2019. Also printed here are memories of Foltin Jolán by her student, the folk singer Herczku Ágnes. Published 2019 Nov. 5 at: wmn.hu

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Part IV. Veress Sándor (1907–1992) – Hungarian composer, folk music researcher, student of Kodály and Bartók. Born in Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania), Veress Sándor died in Switzerland. He emigrated from Hungary in 1949. Between 1925 and 1932 he studied under Kodály, then Bartók at the Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest. As long as he was in Hungary he maintained close contact with Kodály. Then for more than 40 years Hungary was cut off from contact with Veress and his work. Printed here is Veress’ salute to Kodály on his 80th birthday (first published in the emigrant’s publication "Új Látóhatár" December, 1962. Münich). By music historian Berlász Melinda.

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Race Purity in Music – by Bartók Béla was first published in English in Modern Music 1942 pp153-155. Printed here is the Hungarian translation of this article which deals with the question of whether ‘impurity‘ is a good thing in peasant folk music, or not. "The number of melody types in Eastern Europe is surprisingly rich ...in a relatively small area...what is the reason for this richness of melody types? The continuous exchange of melodies between the various ethnic groups...” From a collection of Bartók’s writings published by Szőllősy András at Zeneműkiadó Vállalat. Budapest 1966.

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New Publication: Music from the Transylvanian village of Bonchida/Bonțida and surrounding area: Ocskay Rita and friends. Released by Piliscsabai Táncház Egyesület, 2018. Music and history of this area are presented in a recording and a booklet – the fruit of Ocskay Rita’s research on Transylvania’s Bonchida, Válaszút/Răscruci – Kis Szamos/Someșul Mic region (Romania). Ocskay Rita and a group of revival/táncház musicians mainly from the Budapest area (two of which have roots in Bonchida) play on the recording.

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Bukovina Day – November 23, 2019 at Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Bukovina Székely Hungarians’ 1944 arrival to Hungary, this all day event was organized by the Érd Bukovina Székely Culture Association, Hungarian Heritage House, Érd City Government and the Dance House Association. The event, a celebration of Bukovina Hungarian history, culture and tradition, included an exhibition of historical photographs, book sale, traditional story telling, folk songs, crafts, gala performance (folk music, dance, song) and dance house. Printed here are speeches given during the day by Csibi Norbert (opening the photograph exhibition) and Dr. Andrásfalvy Bertalan – patron of the event.

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Traditional music of the Transylvanian village of Ádámos /Adămuș – this article concentrates on the playing style, technique and bowing of the kontra and double bass accompaniment. The band from this village included: lead fiddle, kontra (a modified fiddle or viola) and double bass. This village in Transylvania’s Vízmellék region is located a few kilometers outside of the town of Dicsőszentmárton/Târnăveni in Maros/Mureș County, Romania. Dates of collection work done here and the musicians’ names are provided. Description of the accompaniment is organized according to names of the traditional dances, thus the names of the music played: magyaros, lassú, féloláhos, székely verbunk, szökő, szegényes. By Árendás Péter.

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New Publication: Bartók, Béla: Turkish Folk Music from Asia Minor/Hungarian title: Török népzene Kis-Ázsiából – Published by Sipos János. L’Harmattan Kiadó, etc. 2019. Budapest. This is the first Hungarian translation of Bartók’s work originally published in English (1976, 2002), then in Turkish in 2017. It contains Bartók’s transcriptions and analysis of folk music collection work he did in Turkey in 1936. Samples of the actual music collected are included, and are also found at: bartok.neprajz.hu/neprajz.torok¬¬_sipos. Bartók wrote the book after he emigrated to New York, then placed the manuscript in the Columbia University library in July of 1944. Printed here is part 2 of the introduction by the editor of this edition, ethnomusicologist Sipos János who specializes in traditional music of Turkey and points eastward.

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New publication: Széki Soós János: Vándorforrás. Philidor Intézet/Magyar Napló Budapest. 2019. In Hungarian. For years, even decades, Széki Soós János’s short stories about his birthplace, the Transylvanian village of Szék/Sic, have appeared in folkMAGazin. "His book is ethnography and literature all in one... He strives to document ...the world he knew in his childhood.... Until the 1970s traditions in the village of Szék were untouched and alive.” Review by T. Kovács Péter.

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Bukovina, Bukovina – Part 18. This final installment of excerpts from Kóka Rozália’s book of memoires provides us with a history of the Bukovina Székely Hungarians. It starts with historical information leading up to the 1764 massacre and expulsion of Székely villagers of Madéfalva/Siculeni in Transylvania’s Harghita County (today Romania), and tells how survivors ended up settling in Bukovina between 1776 and 1786. In the late 1800s groups of Bukovina Hungarians left to settle in other areas of Transylvania, Romania, Serbia. In the early 1900s a number of Bukovina Hungarians emigrated to Canada. In 1941 as a result of events related to WWII, the remaining Bukovina Hungarians were transported to Northern Serbia, where they were given land and houses. Three years later however they had to leave everything and flee into Hungary. They were finally placed in villages in Southwestern Hungary in 1946-47. Today some 300 families of Bukovina Hungarian descendants live in Érd, Hungary. Associations of Bukovina Hungarians exist in many places where descendants live, keeping their traditions and heritage alive.

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Traditional cuisine of the Budapest region: the Slovaks of Csömör. "We started by looking for old women that still wear traditional clothing and asked them about their eating habits from childhood on... what ingredients were used, what were the every day meals and the holiday ones, especially the Slovak cooking. What came out was that family, local folk tradition and foods are important in keeping their [Slovak] identity alive. Main ingredients in old Slovak cooking were potato, cabbage and vegetables of the season. Little meat was eaten on normal weekdays, it was used mainly for flavor – i.e. smoked meats. Fresh meat, mainly poultry was for Sundays and holidays; fresh pork was eaten only at pig slaughtering time. Recipes provided are: peasant dumpling soup, Christmas cabbage soup, tomato soup with potato dumpling or noodles, potato pancake, flutni (potato fritters fried in oil), wedding strudel ring, two holiday sweets: bitó, guglicska.

By Sue Foy