HUNGARIAN ETHNOGRAPHY, FOLKLORE and MUSIC HISTORY

GYÖRGY E. SZÕNYI
HUNGARIAN
ETHNOGRAPHY, FOLKLORE
and
MUSIC HISTORY
A course for international students.
UNIVERSITY OF SZEGED
Hungarian and Central European International Studies Center
2012

CONTENTS
I. RESOURCES, WHERE TO FIND FOLKLORE?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. Folklore on display.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Folklore assimilated.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. ETHNOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, AND FOLKLORE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1. Some Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
III. BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1. Conflicting views about the origins of Hungarian ethnic character.. . . . . . . . 2
2. The Hungarian Ethnogenesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. The Complexity of the Hungarian Ethnicity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
IV. HISTORICAL LAYERS IN HUNGARIAN FOLKLORE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
V. SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. The Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Power stratification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
VI. MATERIAL ANTHROPOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1. Settlements.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. The Lot / The House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
VII. FOLK COSTUMES AND ORNAMENTAL ART.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1. Folk Costumes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. Ornamental Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
VIII. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY – Customs and Beliefs .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1. The Role of Sacral Folklore.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. The Framework: The Calendar Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3. The Major Christian Feasts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4. Cycles of Life, Rites of Passage.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IX. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY – FOLK ART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1. Instruments of Expression In Cultural Anthropology; The Media. . . . . . . . 10
2. Folk Poetry And Prose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
X. THE STORY OF HUNGARIAN FOLK MUSIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1. The Origins of Verbunkos Music.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2. The Discovery of Pentatony.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
XI. FOLK DANCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1. Historical Layers Of European Dance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2. Hungarian national dances.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1

MANDATORY
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Szõnyi, György E. 2005. Hungarian Ethnography, Folklore, and Music History. Lecture Notes.
SZTE Hungarian Studies.
Video and PowerPoint materials shown in the class.
RECOMMENDED
Balassa, Iván; Gyula Ortutay. 1979, 1980. Magyar néprajz. Budapest: Corvina.
Balassa, Iván; Gyula Ortutay. 1984. Hungarian Ethnography and Folklore. Preface by Alexander
Fenton. Budapest: Corvina.
Dömötör, Tekla. 1982. Hungarian Folk Beliefs. Budapest: Corvina.
Dömötör, Tekla. 1988. Hungarian Folk Customs. Budapest: Corvina.
Gáborján, Alice. 1988. Hungarian Peasant Costumes. Budapest: Corvina.
Hofer, Tamás; Péter Niedermüller. 1988. Life History As Cultural Construction/Performance.
Budapest: MTA Folklore Institute.
Hofer, Tamás; Edit Fél. 1994. Hungarian Folk Art. Budapest: Corvina.
Hoppál, Mihály; Juha Pentikkainen. 1989. Uralic Mithology and Folklore. Budapest: EUR.
Kecskés, Péter. 1990. The Museum of the Hungarian Village at Szentendre. Budapest: Corvina.
Kodály, Zoltán. 1982. Folk Music of Hungary. Revised by Lajos Vargyas. Budapest: Corvina.
Kósa, László. 1984. Life and Tradition in Rural Hungary. Budapest: Corvina.
Lange, Roderyk. 1982. Dance Studies Vol. 6. In Memoriam György Martin. Jersey, Channel
Islands: Centre for Dance Studies.
Manga, János. 1969. Hungarian Folk Songs and Instruments. Budapest: Corvina.
Martin, György. 1980. Improvisation and Regulation in Hungarian Folk Dances. Budapest:
Akadémiai.
Martin, György. 1985. Peasant Dance Traditions and National Dance Types in East-Central
Europe in the 16th-19th Centuries. Budapest: Akadémiai.
Martin, György. 1988. Hungarian Folk Dances. Budapest: Corvina.
Moldován, Domokos. 1982. Love Spells and Death Rites in Hungary. Budapest: Gondolat.
Pócs, Eva. 1999. Between the Living and the Dead. A Perspective on Witches and Seers in the
Early Modern Age. Budapest: CEU Press.
Rácz, István. Finno-Ugric Folk Art. 1979. Budapest: Corvina.
Sárosi, Bálint. 1986. Folk Music. Hungarian Musical Idiom. Budapest: Corvina.
Scheiber, Alexander. 1985. Essays on Jewish Folklore and Comparative Literature. Budapest:
Akadémiai.
Somos, András. 1984. The Paprika. Budapest: Akadémiai.
Veres, Péter. 1996. The Ethnogenesis of the Hungarian People. Budapest: Ethnographical
Institute (Occasional Papers in Anthropology 5).
Important Periodicals
Hungarian Heritage. Budapest: European Folklore Institute.
Shaman. Journal of the Intrnational Society for Shamanistic Research. Szeged: Molnar and
Kelemen Oriental Publishers.
Very Important Weblink
Hungarológiai Alapkönyvtár .
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I. RESOURCES, WHERE TO FIND FOLKLORE?
One of Hungary’s hallmark in the eyes of foreigners is our famous folklore. Our giftshops
are full of folkloric souvenirs, toursists find old women selling their embroidery at many
frequented places, the folk music concerts and the folkdancing programs are always full, and the
visitors on the Puszta can easily find the tough Hungarian horsemen and cowboys as they parade
with their animals, dressed in spectacular folkdresses. And still, we have to admit, that living
Hungarian folklore is virtually extinct, except – for special political reasons – in Transylvania.
The survival and availability of rural culture can be seen in the following forms:
1. Folklore on display
1/ Museum villages, ‘skanzens’. The idea of the skanzen (of Swedish origin). Famous
sites: Szentendre, Ópusztaszer, Szombathely, Nyíregyháza.
2/ Collections, museums: the Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in Budapest and
in most local museums.
3/ Books, publications.
2. Folklore assimilated
1/ In literature and the visual arts: from the 19th century popular movement to
present day ruralism.
2/ In the music of Bartók and Kodály.
3/ The Dancing House movement since the 1970s. Historicist interpretations.
(1) Rural vs. urban folklore
Some elements of folklore have been assimilated in everyday life. These predominantly
relate to customs, which is an important field of ethnography. The importance of sacral folklore:
the study of those customs and folk-cultural productions which can be connected to the church
rituals and religious beliefs. Feast, family devotion, paraliturgical everyday customs, community
cult. By and large folk customs and beliefs fall within the territory of sacral folklore. The
structure of folk customs coincides with the Christian calendar year.
(2) Folklore abused, commericalized
“Folkisch” items sold to tourists; “Piroschka” tours; Gypsy music in restaurants.
(3) The special case of Hollókõ, village of the world heritage
th
In this village (which has been fortunately preserved in its 19 century state) time has
stopped. The inhabitants are forced to live a lifestyle which is long dead elsewhere. Although
beautiful, this way of preserving folklore is very debatable.
(4) The survival of living folklore in Transylvania
Because of the long political oppression of the Hungarian minority in Transylvania
(today’s Roumania), the ethnic Hungarians until recently stick to their customs, costumes and
language as a sign of resistance. Because of this the old rural lifestyle survived longer than in
present day Hungary. As
the oppressive system fell
in 1989, however, and together
with the modernization
beginning with the
reintroduction of capitalism
and market economy, the
old lifeways have started
quickly disappear. (Remember:
“gas-station culture”
attracts the youth in
the villages.)
Religious procession in Hollókö
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II. ETHNOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, AND FOLKLORE
1. Some Definitions
ANTHROPOLOGY
the study of the races, physical and mental
characteristics, distribution, customs, social
relationships etc. of mankind (institutions, myths)
ETHNOGRAPHY ETHNOLOGY
the branch of anthropology that the branch of anthropology
deals descriptively with specific that deals with the comparative
cultures esp with those of cultures of various peoples,
primitive peoples including their distribution,
folkways, etc.
FOLKLORE
the traditions, beliefs, customs etc.
of a people; the specific study of these;
it excludes social and material anthropology
(1) Major areas of ethnography (and ethnology)
1/ Social anthropology: society, social stratification, the family, kindred, and clan;
work distribution, the village hierarchy.
2/ Material anthropology: the settlement, environment, architecture; farming and
animal husbandry; alimentation, dressing, folk costumes, etc.
3/ Cultural anthropology: the peasant world view; folk customs; folk poetry, music,
and dancing.
III. BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
The Ethnogenesis Of The Hungarian People
1. Conflicting views about the origins of Hungarian ethnic character
1/ an undisputed variant of Western cultural models
2/ enthusiasm for Eastern cultures (Turanic origin, Hun-Scythian relationship,
Iranian-Sumeric origin)
3/ frustration: totally lonely, isolated culture (linguistic isolation)
2. The Hungarian Ethnogenesis
The relationship of the Finno-
Ugric peoples. Original homeland: the
upper-Volga region. The original Hungarians:
fishing-hunting people. (2500–
500 B.C.)
Transfer to the South: the Hungarians
merged with Turkic peoples
(Chuvash tribes) and adopted nomadic
lifestyle (500 B.C.–463 A.D.).
Moving westward, north from the
Black Sea (Khazar Empire, c. 630–830).
The Turkic influence resulted in animal
husbandry, domestication of sheep, cattle, The Family Tree of Finno-Urgic Peoples
2

and horses. Basics of plaugh agriculture. Byzantine sources call them Turks, Onugrians 'ten tribes'.
From this comes the internationally used name: (H)Ungarus, Ungar, Vengri; while the
Hungarians call themselves Magyars after the tribal name Magyer of Ugrian origin.
th In the 9 century seven Hungarian tribes with a Khazar group (Kabars) moved towards
West. From this time on Byzantine sources use the Magyar name. Further Turcic cultural influences:
runic script, cosmology (táltos shaman).
862–896: the Hungarians occupied the Carpathian Basin. This was the Conquest, or
Landtaking. 20,000 horsemen constituting about 100,000 families, altogether about half a million
Hungarians. In the new land: Slavic influences.
The Hungarian transfer to the Carpathian Basin
3. The Complexity of the Hungarian Ethnicity
(1) Neighbors, interacting cultures
Finnish, Polish, Slovakian in the North; Austrian-German in the West; Serbo-Croatian
in the South; Rumanian, Ruthenian in the East.
Later cultural influences: Italian, French, Osman-Turkish.
(2) Interacting nationalities in historical Hungary
Slovaks (Tót); Rumanians (Oláh); Germans (saxon/szász in Transylvania, sváb in
Hungary).
(3) Hungarian ethnic groups, ethnographic regions
Pockets of survival in Transdanubia - Õrség, in Upper Hungary the Palotses and Matyós,
on the Great Plain the Cumanians, in Transylvania the Székelys and in Moldva the
Csángos.
(4) Religious divisions
Roman Catholicism (WEST) vs. Greek-Slavic Orthodoxy EAST)
The importance of Reformation (Lutheranism and Calvinism mostly).
3

In spite of the Eastern origin the Hungarians retained very little of it in their folklore.
More decisive factors were the acceptance of Christianity and the influence of the
neighbors. Hungarian folk culture is a complex unity of its constituents and international
in character. Despite linguistic ethnic isolation, Hungarian folk culture became part and
parcel of Europe's rich and complex folk culture.
Ethnic And Folkloric Regions In Historical Hungary
IV. HISTORICAL LAYERS IN HUNGARIAN FOLKLORE
(1) The ethnography of the pre-conquest, nomadic period
Allied disciplines: historical linguistics, musicology, archeology. This ethnic culture has
only very remote links with present day folklore.
(2) From the Middle Ages to the 19th century
The great watershed of adpoting Christianity. Up to the 16th century there was no
distinctive folklore. From that time on we see a process of "descending/sinking cultural goods".
(3) Present day folklore
th
It was formed in the 18 and 19th centuries. The amount of data we have is from that
period (c. 1750–1950), however it represents various historical layers:
1/ Gothic: tables with large drawers, small wall cabinets, coffin shaped cloth-chests.
Geometric ornamental art.
2/ Renaissance: architecture (flower painted ceilings), furniture. Flowery
ornamental art, embroidery. Csárdás dancing. Folk ballads, poetry, "flower
songs". Renaissance dressing style: loose sleeved women's shirts.
3/ Baroque: architecture (manor house style), ornamental art (Turkish influences).
4/ 18th century: great shift, the emergence of "modern" Hungarian folklore, "new
styles".
Regional variants, peasant style – emerging from the capitalizing, prospering peasantry.
4

th th
Peasant Chests (19 And Early 20 Century), Representing Various Period Styles
V. SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Social anthropology has been a relatively neglected area of ethnography. An important link
between material and cultural anthropology. The social relations were formed by and forming
the other two.
1. The Family
FAMILY
the smallest work and cultural unit
the house
NUCLEAR EXTENDED
parents and children several generations on one land,
in patriarchal structure
'gazda', 'gazdasszony'
2. Power stratification
TROOP, CLAN, KINDRED
artificial kindreds: neighbors, godparents, etc.
the importance of fence, border
1/ government: nobles, lords, the village intelligentsia (priest, notary, doctor,
pharmacist)
2/ self-government: rich and poor peasants (judge of peace, night watch, fire watch)
3/ landless agricultural laborers (share laborers, seasonal workers, pick and shovel)
4/ artisans, enterpreneurs
5

(1) Links between smaller and larger regions and areas
Labor migrations (especially from the second half of the last century): seasonal workers,
pick and shovel men.
(2) Collective work and social gatherings
Reaping and harvesting, hay collecting, grape picking, housebuilding, barn stamping
through collective help (kaláka). Winter works at the spinning house, corn husking, etc.
Feasts: family (baptism, wedding, burial) and community (church holidays, election,
drafting) occasions, the role of the village pubs.
(3) Church order
Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, Jews.
(4) Markets and fairs
Hídi vásár on the Hortobágy; the Dorozsma, Feketetó fairs, etc.
VI. MATERIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
1. Settlements
All man-made objects from house to furnishing and clothing. Some decorated objects
overlap: they can be treated in folklore (becuase of the cultural function dominating over their
use).
THE SETTLEMENT The outskirts Farms
VILLAGES (határ) (farmsteads, tanya)
- central marsh "szer", "szállás"
- streets wood ties to neighboring
- stripe cemetery, churchyard settlements (road system)
R
(1) Population of SZEGED
Selling Cows at the Hortobágy Fair (1920s)
the city farmsteads
6

Photograph of a centrally developed village
and the plan of a striped settlement (one
street).
2. The Lot / The House
The gate (remember Transylvanian gates) - yard (outbuildings) - house (walling, roofing;
the clean room, living room, kitchen, pantry; the stove) - furniture.
(1) Regional differences in architecture
Geographic influences, available building materials. High roofed wooden buildings in the
mountains, flat, ranch style clay buildings on the Plains. Tiled roofs vs. thatch.
7

(2) The rhythm of work
That of nature: seasons, animal breeding.
Daily life:
work - eating - sleep - feasts.
VII. FOLK COSTUMES AND ORNAMENTAL ART
On The Border Of Material Anthropology And Folklore
1. Folk Costumes
(1) The cultural factor
The role of tradition. Prescriptions for dressing style according to age, family status
(married, children), etc. After the first grandchild – obligatory garment for elderly persons.
Traditionally regulated feast-garments: for baptism, wedding, burial (mourning).
The role of authorities: state/governmen (banned overdecorated clothes that imitated
noble wear); church (under the slogan of morals, puritanism BUT sometimes church decorations
inspired folkloric motives).
(2) Historical layers
Very little is known about Finno-Ugric (öv [belt], szíj [stripe], szalag [ribbon]) and
Turcic origins (saru [sandals], csat [brouch], ködmön [short fur jacket], köpönyeg [cloak], gyûrû
[ring]. In the later periods we must count with a bi-directional movement of influences between
the Hungarians and their neighbors.
(3) The elements of folk costumes
Hairdo - headdressing - underwear - outer wear - mantle (coat-like outerwear) -footwear.
(4) Most important geographical areas
Transdanubia: ÕRSÉG, SÁRKÖZ, MEZÕFÖLD; Upper-Hungary: PALÓTS and
MATYÓ counties; Transylvania: KALOTASZEG, MEZÕSÉG, SZÉKELYFÖLD, CSÁNGÓ
counties in Moldva.
2. Ornamental Art
Not individual artworks, rather, decorated objects
of general utilitarian use. The importance of functionality,
and also the first elements of independent aesthetical
value.
(1) Most important fields of ornamental art
Furniture – woodcarving – textile, embroidery –
pottery – bone carving – egg painting, etc.
(2) Historical layers
The last 200 years can be documented well
enough. General remarks: very conservative art, descending
cultural goods. The most ancient layers of
ornamentation point back to shamanism, pagan cosmological
systems and calendars. Geometrical ornamentation
from the Gothic, flower motifs from the Renaissance
(Italian-Turkish influence) period. Baroque and
Rococo influences are less significant (except in architecture);
Austrian-German, Slavic, Rumanian influences.
8
Pottery Is An Important Area Of
Ornamental Art

(3) General Hungarian characteristics
Simple, clean colors: black, red, blue (more colors appeared only in the last century
[Kalocsa, Matyó]). Original folk objects were never overdecorated. Proportionality.
Hungarian Embroidery With Geometric And With Flower Patterns
VIII. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Customs and Beliefs
1. The Role of Sacral Folklore
Sacral folklore is the study of those customs and folk-cultural productions which can be
connected to the church rituals and religious beliefs. Feast, family devotion, paraliturgical
everyday customs, community cult. By and large folk customs and beliefs fall within the territory
of sacral folklore.
2. The Framework: The Calendar Year
An archetypical experience of man: the cyclic progress of time (a cultic uniy and unity
in a cosmic framework.
COMPONENTS: Old Testament tradition
Pagan (Greco-Roman) systems
archaic systems of European nations
BASIS: astronomical year (economic/agricultural cycles)
RESULT: New Testament calendar (events of the Gospels)
METHOD: assimilation by substitution
BASIC AIMS: to gain blessing (for field, crops, family, woman [fertility]) and
prevent maleficium.
3. The Major Christian Feasts
1/ Advent (holy time, four weeks of fasting before Christmas).
9

Lucia feast (Luca calendar, Luca's stool, wheet growing)
2/ Christmas – New Year (commemorates Christ's birth, however, a modernization
of the winter solstice).
Christmas (preparations with straw, the tree, Bethlehem playing - colenda, the
Xmas table [sweet bread, poppyseed pasta, walnut, honey, apple, crumbs]);
Sylvester/New Year; Epiphany (consecration of water, consecration of houses).
3/ Carnival period (a period of joy and excess before the time of lent/fasting,
leading to the mystery of Easter (death and resurrection).
Shrove Tuesday (the last meat eating day, disguising).
4/ Lent – Easter (a period from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, the resurrection,
followed by Easter Monday).
Palm Sunday (catkin collecting); Passion Week (the bells go to Rome, rattling,
beating Pilate [children beat church benches], calvary pilgrimage); Holy Saturday
(resurrection procession, consecrated baskets, "watering" of nubile girls).
5/ After Easter.
Ascension Day (the footprints of Christ). Whitsun/Pentecost (wind customs [Holy
Ghost]). Chorpus Christi (procession, petal throwing, work forbidden).
Shrove TUE Sunday after full moon following Spring equinox
Ash WED �Palm Sunday/Passion Week/EASTER �Ascension Day/THU �Whitsun/SUN �Corpus Xti THU
40 days 40th day 50th day 60th day
Bethlehem Playing and Easter Watering (1950s)
4. Cycles of Life, Rites of Passage
Folk customs either relate to the ecclesiastical year – and through this to the general
cosmic cycles of nature –, or to the cycles of the individual human life (birth–coming of age /
puberty–mating–death). These turning points of the individual life are marked by socially
important feasts, rites of passage (in European Christianity: baptism, confirmation, wedding,
burial).
IX. CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY – FOLK ART
1. Instruments of Expression In Cultural Anthropology; The Media
1/ language (a/ Hungarian dialects; b/ folk literature)
2/ music
10

3/ dance
2. Folk Poetry And Prose
(1) The theory of Hungarian folk literature
Folk literature is oral tradition, community production. Folk literature belongs to the
superstructure – has close connections with ideology. Certain structural elements are identical
with that of high literature.
FOLK LIT. HIGH LIT.
the individual talent is the community is
reflected in the community reflected in the
product individual product
functional aesthetical function
changeable fixed
occasion-oriented
importance of empathy
(2) Antecedents
Flower songs (16th century), kuruc songs (18th century). Rising interest in folk poetry
from the late 18th century, a strong cult of rural culture in the mid-19th century – the effect of
Romanticism.
(3) Genres
Structural characteristics: parallelism, image from nature + parallel/contrast. The
beginning nature image is an Eastern characteristic feature.
River Tisza rolls on downwards,
Never will it flow up backwards.
Still I have my sweetheart's kisses,
Let her take back those she misses!
Songs love songs
songs of wandering and captivity
outlaw songs
herdsman songs
soldier songs
wine songs
mocking songs;
Folk ballads;
Tales and legends;
Proverbs and riddles.
(4) Some Examples of Folk Poetry
SONGS OF WANDERING
AND CAPTIVITY
Sweet birdie, sweet birdie,
Chattering sweet birdie,
Take what I've written her,
Take what I've written her,
Fly to fair Hungary.
If she asks who sent it,
Tell her, bird, he sent it,
Whose despair and sorrow
E' er his heart do harrow
Till the woes have rent it.
11
Oh how tall you greenwood have grown!
Oh how far you sweet dove have flown!
If I could that greenwood hack down,
I could take my sweetheart back home.
Szuha (Heves County)
***
I did leave behind my country,
Famous dear old little Hung'ry;
As I looked back,half the way gone,
From my eyes the tears did roll down.
Woe my dinner, woe my supper,
Woeful is my every hour.
As I watch the starry heaven,
Of my crying there's no ending.
God I beg you give me lodging,

Tired I have grown of wand'ring,
Living aye a lonely outcast,
Day and night my tears roll down fast.
Gyula (Békés County)
POLITICAL SONGS
1848
Lajos Kossuth sent a summons:
He is short of troops, battalions.
If ít's two or three that's missin',
Gladly we shall thírteen send hím.
Long live the Magyar!
Lajos Kossuth sent a summons:
He has too few troops, battalions.
If he once more sends his callin',
All of us must go and fall in.
Long live the Magyar!
The Great Plains
Eighteen hundred eight and forty
Was the year that freedom won we;
Serve we shall no lordshíps ever,
All the world is free forever!
1 have land to plough at leisure,
Bide my lunch-time at my pleasure.
Love is all 1 have for dínner:
Hug my sweet rose for to win her.
Kalotaszentkirály (former Kolozs County)
LOVE SONG
Evening's fallen, dark the fields grown everywhere;
Do you love me still so true, my sweetheart fair?
I have plucked this red rose for your lovely hair,
Yours shall it be Camival time for to wear.
Kiskunhalas (Pest County)
SONGS OF HEARDSMEN
Look at me a horseherd,
Pride of Hortobágy land.
Cowherd, though he looks good,
After me he must rank.
Rarely will I hobnob
With some hook-staff shepherds,
Even less palaver
With some dirty swineherds.
(Hortobágy)
If a man lives merrily,
It's the shepherd verily:
In the greenwoods,
on the lowlands,
Walks he, pipes he, plays the flute;
Ambles, stops and shuffles foot.
If a man's lot's misery,
It's the swineherd's verily:
All the winter, all the summer
Tends his pigs out on a limb;
Shepherd lads poke fun at him.
Balatonboglár (Somogy County)
SEASONAL WORKERS’ SONG
Grapes they are growing,
Vines are a-groaning
Under their heavy weight.
Two needy farmhands
Want to go ploughing
But have no bread to take.
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'Tis but some onion
They have to munch on;
It has a bitter smack.
Shallow the ladle,
Long is the table,
What a poor, meagre snack!
Roguish the master
Chases girls after;
Keeps of the 'days' no track.
But the day lab’rer,
Every poor eighbour
Gets but a meagre snack.
(Gcnerally known)
SOLDIERS’ DRAFTING SONGS
I've become a soldier,
Native land's defender,
Mother is a-crying,
Now I'm taken from her.
Mother is a-crying,
And my rose in sorrow:
Blossom black of mourning
Sorrows in her window.
FareweIl my rose dear,
I am off and leaving,
Don't forget me ever,
I shall not you either.
Egyházaskér (former Torontál County)
***
Now the drum is rolling
In the city market,
Now the flag is hoisted
High atop the turret.
Now must they be marching,
Poor and helpiess fellows,
They must leave behind them
Many wives and widows.
When the rose's root's cut,
Then the bloom is fading,
When a bird has no mate,
Then her heart is aching.
Okorág (Baranya County)
WINE SONGS
Wine, wine, wine,
Did you drink such good red wine!
If the women start a-sipping,
Soon their topknots go a-slipping.
Nagyszalonta (farmer Bihar County)
***
God created cockerels,
Cockerels and pickerels,
And he made some water wells
For to water animals.
But as even quacks do claim
Drinking from a well is shame:
Toads and frogs infest the same,
And a man's life mar and maim.
Mohács (Baranya County)
MOCKING SONGS
Corn-cake, milky, sugar-coated,
Soon I will become betrothed:
Bride today and wife tomorrow,

Goodwife then, a year tomorrow.
Corn-cake, stodgy, made with flour,
Old man am I, past my flower,
Got one thing to pin my hope on:
I have such a sprightly woman.
(Generally known)
***
Lizzy's busy lentils shuckin'
Waitin' till her great goodluck's in.
When she is not all alone in,
O the bench goes creakin', groanin'!
Pusztafalu (farmer Abaúj County)
***
Puszta lads are hard-up fellers, hard-up fellers,
All the money that they earn is merely fillérs.
Though they search their trouser pockets, trouser
pockets,
All they find there is but pumpkin seeds or peanuts.
Hódmezõvásárhely (Csongrád County)
A FOLK BALLAD
László Fehér
(The Convict's Sister)
László Fehér roped some mounts in
Down below the black wood mountain.
Some he whipped off, some he snaffled;
Görc town was dismayed and baffled.
"Come on, come on, men of Görc town;
László Fehér we have run down.
Put the irons on the brigand,
Chain the left leg with the right hand."
"Cive yourself up, doggone betyár,
Say your name, you outlawed beggar!
Give yourself up, doggone betyár,
Else your name speak, outlawed beggar!"
"Stockings white my horse's legs wear,
Sister mine's called Anna Fehér."
"What's your horse like asked you not we,
Nor about your sister haughty."
"Give yourself up, doggone betyár,
Say your name, you outlawed beggar!
Give yourself up, doggone betyár,
Else your name speak, outlawed beggarl"
"Stockings white my horse's legs wear,
And my name is László Fehér."
"Put the irons on the brigand,
Chain the left leg with the right hand."
Off to take hím they were risen,
For to take him to the prison.
Off to take him they were risen,
Rode him off to darkest prison.
Anna Fehér when they told her
That they caught and jailed her brother,
Gave her coachman orders, said she,
"Get the coach-and-six all ready.
Get the coach-and-six all ready,
Put some gold on, gold with pecks three,
Put some gold on, gold wíth pecks three,
I shall get my brother set free."
Anna Fehér could not wait more,
Hied she to the iron-shod door:
"Brother, brother, László Fehér,
Are you sleeping, resting in there?"
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"Neither resting nor a-sleeping,
On you, sister, I am thinking.
Neither resting nor a-sleeping,
On you, sister, I am thinking."
Anna Fehér could not wait more,
Hied she to the iron-shod door:
"Brother, brother, László Fehér,
What’s he called, the magistrate here?”
“Justice Horvát is the villain,
He's the rascal fit for swinging.
Justice Horvát is the villain,
He's the rascal fit for swinging.”
Anna Fehér none could hinder,
She will to the judge's winder:
“Justice Horvát, Lordship listen,
Get my brother out of prison.
Get my brother out of prison,
I shall give you gold in ransom."
"Keep your gold, I don't want any,
All I want is, lie down with me."
Anna Fehér could not wait more,
Hied she to the iron-shod door:
"Brother, brother, László Fehér,
Justice told me, this he did say:
"He'll today be freed of fetter
If we were to sleep together;
He'll today be .freed of fetter
If we were to sleep together."
"Sister, sister, Anna Fehér,
Do not go to spend the night there;
For he shall your maidenhead take
And he shall your brother's head take.”
Anna Fehér could not wait there
She will to the judge's chamber;
She did aye spend one night with him,
Gilded poster bed they lay in.
When it struck one midnight after,
From the courtyard came a clatter;
"Oh, Your Worship, Justice Horvát,
What's that clatter down the courtyard?"
"Thats my coachmam makes his horse drink,
It's the curb-bit makes that clinking.
That' s my coachman makes his horse drink,
It's the curb-bit makes that clinking."
Anna Fehér could not wait more,
Hied she to the iron-shod door:
"Brother, brother, László Fehér,
Are you sleeping, resting in there?"
"Sister, sister, Anna Fehér,
Do not seek your brother in here;
O'er greenwood, o'er meadows,
There he hangs high from the gallows!"
Anna Fehér none could hinder,
She will to the judge's winder:
"Judge, Your Lordship, Justice Horvát,
May the horse you're riding stumble,
May the horse you're riding stumble,
May you from the saddle tumble,
May the horse you're riding stumble,
May you from the saddle tumble.
Thirteen cartloads' straw for palliasse
Go a-rolling in your mattress;
Thirteen years you lie on straw-sacks
Till their bottom with your weight sags.

Thirteen doctors be all busy,
With your sores should grow a-weary.
Thirteen stores of chemists, druggists
Empty for you all their physics.
X. THE STORY OF HUNGARIAN FOLK MUSIC
th
Towards the end of the 18 century “Hungarian
music” became quite famous all over Europe. It was wandering
Gypsy bands who propagated this kind of music and
it became so popular, that almost all famous Romantic
composers of various Western (and Eastern) European
nations started composing “Hungarian Dances” or “Hungarian
Csárdás.
Among others, such composers were Joseph Haydn,
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms,
Johann Strauss, Hector Berlioz, and Piotr Tchaikovsky.
The greatest advertizer of Hungarian-Gypsy music
was the Romantic giant, Hungarian-origin FERENC LISZT
(1811-86), who, while spent most of his life abroad, offered
his Hungarian symphonies and rhapsodies to the international
public. Liszt almost accidentally got acquainted with Hungarian-Gypsy
music and never engaged in any research about
its origin, which is quite an interesting storyin itself.
1. The Origins of Verbunkos Music
Verbunkos music was invented by Gypsy musicians who
were employed by the Austrians to assist recruiting Hungarian
th
soldiers in the Habsburg army from the early 18 century on.
(Werbung = ‘advertisement,’ adopted in Hungarian as verbunk.)
The ‘verbunk’ was popularized by Hungarian-Gypsy
musicians and orchestras all over Europe, offering emotion and
rhythmic pulsation – typical romantic attitudes. In the time of
rising nationalism and the resistance movement against the
Austrians in Hungary, verbunkos also became a national
hallmark, which became the musical foundation of the Hungarian
aristocratic dance, palotás (from the word palota,
‘palace’) and later the national folk dance, csárdás (from the
word csárda, ‘country inn’).
Hark you, judge, what I am saying:
Be it blood you wash your face in,
Fire set your towel blazing,
May you never God's good grace win!"
Liszt, the Romantic Hungarian
2. The Discovery of Pentatony
th
Verbunkos dancing (18 century)
The great career of verbunkos music ended in the late
th
19 century. A new generation of musicologists, first of all
BÉLA BARTÓK (1881-1945) and ZOLTÁN KODÁLY set out to faraway villages and collected folk
music directly from the peasants. The were aided by a new technical invention, the phonograph
by the help of which they could also record their findings. The greatest discovery was, that the
most ancient – previously unknown – layer of Hungarian folk music was identified as pentatonic
(five scale) as opposed to the eight-scale music common in Europe. However, outside Europe,
world music is everywhere pentatonic so the Hungarians brought this heritage with them from
Siberia and the Asian steppes.
14

Bartók on a field trip in Slovakia (next page) and working with his phonograph (right)
According to Bartók: "folk music is the melodies used by a community to express the musical
instinct spontaneously". 3000 base melodies plus their innumerable variants have been collected.
(1) Historical layers
1/ Pentatony (most ancient layer, five scale melodies with "quint drop").
2/ Western influences (Renaissance harmonies).
3/ "New style" of modern Hungarian folklore melodies:
5 5 5 5
A A A A -- A A A A -- A B B A
Bartók's findings of the proportion of Hungarian folk music:
ancient pentatony 9%
new melodies 30%
folkish (gypsy) 23%
foreign 38%
(2) Occasions for singing
Work – feast – games – church. Folk instruments: pipe, bagpipe, fiddle, hurdy-gurdy,
zithern.
Old Piper (photograph from the 1930s)
15

XI. FOLK DANCE
In case of folk dances, the role of descending elite culture is particularily strongly manifest. In
East-Central Europe the concept of folk dance mixes with the concept of national dance culture,
a characteristic of national Romanticism in the 19th century.
The development of modern national dances was a direct result of the conscious effort
of the elite who wanted to mobilize all strata of society. Romantic intellectuals wanted to raise
the folk dance to the level of theater dance.
Two simultaneous movements, "upward" and "downward": the creation of new artificial
dance forms for public use, which were selectively taken from peasant dance traditions
(verbunkos � palotás); and the rapid dissemination of these new dances among the rural
population (palotás � csárdás).
1. Historical Layers Of European Dance
And Characteristic Dance Territories
The regional differences in European dance traditions represent phase differences. Close
scutiny reveals that all of these genres were parts of the general dance history of Europe during
different eras.
HISTORICAL LAYERS
(Elite dance styles in W. Europe)
DANCE TERRITORIES
Early medieval: collective chain dances. Balkan zone (Bulgarians, Rumanians, Greeks):
chain dances, representing early medieval
structures, because of the isolation (Turkish
occupation) from the rest of Europe.
Late medieval and Renaissance: male dances and
improvised free couple dances.
Baroque and Classicism: country dance.
Combination of couple and group dances. Simple
movements, rich spatial choreography.
Carpathian basin (Slovaks, Hungarians,
Transylvanian Rumanians): male dances and free
couple dances.
West-European zone, including Austria and
Poland: walking, whirling, jumping variants of couple
dances (waltz, polka).
2. Hungarian national dances
Hungarian national dances show a great variety. Rather uniquely Hungarian folk culture
has absorbed all three major traditions mentioned above (medieval chain, Renaissance individual,
early modern country dances).
1/ Medieval origin dances: chain and round dances, körtánc, karikázó. Characteristic
movements: widening and closing circular motion, pendulum-like whirling,
rotation of the circle.
2/ Hajdu – originating in the 15th-18th centuries. A weapon dance, representing
armed herdsmen who often served in the anti-Turkish wars, later in the anti-
Habsburg insurrections. The dance was performed by men alone, or by men
forming a circle. Informal, improvised structure, virtuoso handling of weapons,
fighting gestures, acrobatic jumping, rhytmical exclamations.
Newer derivations of hajdutánc: botoló, kanásztánc [swineherd's dance],
ugrós [jumping]. Individual, couple, or group dances always with rods, sticks.
Legényes ["manly"], introductory dance at the beginning of feasts. Rich culture
of forms, motions.
3/ Verbunkos – 'verbunk' = recruiting soldiers. Characteristic for the 18th and 19th
centuries. During recruiting village lads were persuaded to join the (Austrian)
army by drinking, revelry, music and verbunkos dance. Verbunkos music was
often played by gypsy bands and by the end of the 18th century it was generally
considered in Europe as a typical Hungarian dance. So it became the main
Hungarian musical idiom of our national Romanticism.
16

4/ Csárdás - a couple dance version for verbunkos music. Developed in the second
half of the 19th century and quickly went through folklorization.
(1) The varieties of Hungarian folk dances
The great variety of dances in Hungarian folklore partly originates from the mentioned
three Hungarian national dances but also a great variety of foreign and historical influences
contributed to its development. From Northern Europe couple dancing was adopted, while from
the Balkans group dancing (chain, round, cotillon [changing partners]). In Hungary we find
complex combinations of these basic patterns.
(2) The social context of dancing
The importance of the Dancing House. Its derivation in present day urban (university)
folklore. (Sebõ Ensemble, Vízöntõ, Muzsikás.)
Girls’ Chain Dancing (photograph from the 1920s)
Representation of Dancing on a Carved Wooden Box
17