| Music of Hungary | ||||||
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| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | ||||||
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Hungary has made many contributions to the fields offolk,popular andclassical music. Hungarian folk music is a prominent part of the national identity and continues to play a major part in Hungarian music.[1][2] TheBusójárás carnival inMohács is a major folk music event in Hungary, formerly featuring the long-established and well-regardedBogyiszló orchestra.[3] Instruments traditionally used in Hungarian folk music include thecitera,cimbalom,cobza,doromb,duda, kanászkürt,tárogató,tambura,tekero andütőgardon. Traditional Hungarian music has been found to bear resemblances to the musical traditions of neighbouringBalkan countries andCentral Asia.[4][5]
Hungarianclassical music has long been an "experiment, made from Hungarian antedecents and on Hungarian soil, to create a conscious [variant of] musical culture [using the] musical world of the folk song".[6] Although the Hungarian upper class has long had cultural and political connections with the rest of Europe, leading to an influx of European musical ideas, the rural peasants maintained their own traditions such that by the end of the 19th century, Hungarian composers could draw on rural peasant music to (re)create a Hungarian classical style.[7] For example,Béla Bartók andZoltán Kodály, two of Hungary's most famous composers, are known for using folk themes in their music. Bartók collected folk songs from acrossCentral and Eastern Europe, including Croatia, Czechia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia, whilst Kodály was more interested in uncovering a distinctively Hungarian musical style.
A significant aspect of the cultural landscape in Hungary isRomani music, with a historical presence dating back many centuries.[8]
During the era of Communist rule in Hungary (1949–1989) a Song Committee scoured and censored popular music for traces of subversion and ideological impurity. Since then, however, the Hungarian music industry has begun to recover, producing successful performers in the fields ofjazz such as trumpeterRudolf Tomsits, pianist-composerKároly Binder and, in a modernized form of Hungarian folk,Ferenc Sebő andMárta Sebestyén. The three giants of Hungarianrock,Illés,Metró andOmega, remain very popular.
Unlike most European peoples, the Hungarian people,Magyars, emerged from the intermingling ofUgric and Eastern Turkic peoples during the fifth to eighth centuries AD.[7] This makes the origins of their traditional music unique in Europe. According to author Simon Broughton, the composer and song collector Kodály identified songs that "apparently date back 2,500 years" in common with theMari people of Russia;[9] and, as well as the Mari, theethnomusicologistBruno Nettl indicates similarities in traditional Hungarian music withMongolian andNative American musical styles.[10]Bence Szabolcsi, however, claims that the Finno-Ugric and Turkish-Mongolian elements are present but "cannot be attached to certain, definite national or linguistic groups". Nonetheless, Szabolcsi claims links between Hungarian musical traditions and those of the Mari,Kalmyk,Ostyak, northwestChinese,Tatar,Vogul,Anatolian Turkish,Bashkirian,Mongol andChuvash musics. These, he claims, are evidence that "Asian memories slumber in the depths of Hungarian folk music and that this folk music is the lastWestern link in the chain of ancientEastern cultural relations".[7]
According to Broughton, traditional Hungarian music is "highly distinctive" like theHungarian language, which invariably is stressed on the first syllable, lending a strongly accenteddactylicrhythm to the music".[3] Nettl identifies two "essential features" of Hungarian folk music to be the use of "pentatonic scales composed ofmajor seconds andminor thirds" (or "gappedscales"[10]) and "the practice oftransposing a bit ofmelody several times to create the essence of a song". These transpositions are "usually up or down afifth", a fundamentalinterval in theseries of overtones and an indication perhaps of the "influence ofChinese musical theory in which the fifth is significant".[10]
According to Szabolcsi, these 'Hungarian transpositions', along with "some melodic, rhythmical and ornamental peculiarities, clearly show on the map ofEurasia the movements of Turkish people from the East to the West".[7] The subsequent influence on neighbouring countries' music is seen in themusic of Slovakia,Poland, and, with intervals of thethird orsecond, in themusic of the Czech Republic. Hungarian and Finnoic musical traditions are also characterised by the use of anABBA binarymusical form, with Hungary itself especially known for theA A' A' A variant, where theB sections are theA sections transposed up or down a fifth (A').[10] Modern Hungarian folk music evolved in the 19th century, and is contrasted with previous styles through the use of arched melodic lines as opposed to the more archaic descending lines.[11]
The earliest documentation of Hungarian music dates from the introduction ofGregorian chant in the 11th century. By that time, Hungary had begun to enter the European cultural establishment with the country's conversion to Christianity and the musically important importation ofplainsong, a form of Christian chant. Though Hungary's early religious musical history is relatively well documented, secular music remains mostly unknown, though it was apparently a common feature of community festivals and other events.[11] The earliest documented instrumentation in Hungary dates back to thewhistle in 1222, theKoboz around 1237-1325,[12] thebugle in 1355, thefiddle in 1358, thebagpipe in 1402, thelute in 1427 and thetrumpet in 1428. Thereafter the organ came to play a major role.[7]
The 16th century saw the rise ofTransylvania as a centre for Hungarian music. It also saw the first publication of music in Hungary, inKraków. At this time Hungarian instrumental music was well known in Europe; the lutenist and composerBálint Bakfark, for example, was famed as a virtuoso player. His compositions pioneered a new style of writing for the lute based on vocal polyphony. The lutenist brothers Melchior and Konrad Neusiedler were also noted, as was Stephan Monetarius, the author of an important early work in music theory, theEpithoma utriusque musices.[7]
During the 16th century, Hungary was divided into three parts: an area controlled by the Turks; an Ottoman vassal state (thePrincipality of Transylvania); and an area controlled by theHabsburgs. Historic songs declined in popularity and were replaced by lyrical poetry, whilst minstrels were replaced by court musicians. Many courts or households maintained large ensembles of musicians who played the trumpet, whistle,cimbalom, violin or bagpipes. Some of these ensemble musicians were German, Polish, French or Italian; the court ofGábor Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania, included a Spanish guitarist. Little detail about the music played during this era survives, however.[7] Musical life in the areas controlled by the Ottoman Turks declined precipitously, with even the formerly widespread and entrenched plainsong style disappearing by the end of the 17th century. Outside of the Ottoman area, however, plainsong flourished after the establishment of Protestant missions in around 1540, while a similarly styled form of folk song calledverse chronicles also arose.[11]
During the 18th century, some of the students at colleges such as those inSárospatak andSzékelyudvarhely were minornobles from rural areas who brought with them their regional styles of music. Whilst the choirs in these colleges adopted a more polyphonic style, the students'songbooks indicate a growth in the popularity of homophonic songs. Their notation, however, was relatively crude and no extensive collection appeared until the publication ofÁdám Pálóczi Horváth’sÖtödfélszáz Énekek in 1853. These songs indicate that during the mid to late 18th century the previous Hungarian song styles died out and musicians looked more to other (Western) European styles for influence.
The 18th century also saw the rise ofverbunkos, a form of music initially used by army recruiters. Like much Hungarian music of the time, melody was treated as more important than lyrics, although this balance changed as verbunkos became more established.[7]
Hungarian folk music changed greatly beginning in the 19th century, evolving into a new style that had little in common with the music that came before it. Modern Hungarian music was characterised by an "arched melodic line, strict composition, long phrases and extended register", in contrast to the older styles which always utilize a "descending melodic line".[11]
Modern Hungarian folk music was first recorded in 1895 byBéla Vikár, setting the stage for the pioneering work ofBéla Bartók,Zoltán Kodály andLászló Lajtha in musicological collecting. Modern Hungarian folk music began its history with theHabsburg Empire in the 18th century, when centralEuropean influences became paramount, including a "regular metric structure for dancing and marching instead of the free speech rhythms of the old style. Folk music at that time consisting of villagebagpipers who were replaced bystring-based orchestras of the Gypsy, orRoma people.[3]
In the 19th century, Roma orchestras became very well known throughout Europe, and were frequently thought of as the primary musical heritage of Hungary, as inFranz Liszt'sHungarian Dances andRhapsodies, which used Hungarian Roma music as representative of Hungarian folk music[13] HungarianRomani music is often represented as the only music of the Roma, though multiple forms of Roma music are common throughout Europe and are often dissimilar to Hungarian forms. In theHungarian language, 19th-century folk styles like thecsardas and theverbunkos, are collectively referred to ascigányzene, which translates literally asGypsy music.[14]
Hungarian nationalist composers, like Bartók, rejected the conflation of Hungarian and Roma music, studying the rural peasant songs of Hungary which, according to music historian Bruno Nettl, "has little in common with" Roma music,[10] a position that is held to by some modern writers, such as the Hungarian authorBálint Sárosi.[14] Simon Broughton, however, has claimed that Roma music is "no less Hungarian and... has more in common with peasant music than the folklorists like to admit",[3] and authors Marian Cotton and Adelaide Bradburn claimed that Hungarian-Roma music was "perhaps... originally Hungarian in character, but (the Roma have made so many changes that) it is difficult to tell what is Hungarian and what is" the authentic music of the Roma.[15]
The ethnicCsángó Hungarians ofMoldavia'sSeret Valley have moved in large numbers toBudapest, and become a staple of the local folk scene with their distinctive instrumentation using flutes, fiddles, drums and the lute.[3]
Prominent folk ensembles, such as the Hungaria Folk Orchestra, the Danube Folk Ensemble and the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble have regular performances inBudapest and are a popular attraction for visitors.
In the 19th century,verbunkos was the most popular style in Hungary. This consisted of a slow dance followed by a faster dance; this dichotomy, between the slower and faster dances, has been seen as the "two contrasting aspects of the Hungarian character".[3] The rhythmic patterns and embellishments of the verbunkos are distinctively Hungarian in nature, and draw heavily upon the folk music composed in the early part of the century byAntal Csermak,Ferdinand Kauer,Janos Lavotta and others.[11]
Verbunkos was originally played at recruitment ceremonies to convince young men to join the army, and was performed, as in so much of Hungarian music, by Roma bands. One verbunkos tune, the "Rákóczi March" became a march that was a prominent part of compositions by bothLiszt andHector Berlioz. The 18th-century origins of verbunkos are not well known, but probably include old dances like theswine-herd dance and theHajduk dance, as well as elements of Balkan, Slavic and Levantine music, and the cultured music of Italy and Vienna, all filtered through the Roma performers. Verbunkos became wildly popular, not just among the poor peasantry, but also among the upper-class aristocratics, who saw verbunkos as the authentic music of the Hungarian nation. Characteristics of verbunkos include thebokázó (clicking of heels)cadence-pattern, the use of the interval of the augmented second, garlands of triplets, widely arched, free melodies without words, and alternately swift and slow tempi. By the end of the 18th century, verbunkos was in use in opera,chamber andpiano music, and in song literature, and was regarded as "the continuation, the resurrection of ancient Hungarian dance and music, and its success signified the triumph of the people's art".[7]
TheviolinistPanna Czinka was among the most celebrated musicians of the 19th century, as was the Roma bandleaderJános Bihari, known as the "Napoleon of the fiddle".[3] Bihari,Antal Csermák and other composers helped make verbunkos the "most important expression of the Hungarian musicalRomanticism" and have it "the role of national music". Bihari was especially important in popularizing and innovating the verbunkos; he was the "incarnation of the musical demon of fiery imagination".[16] Bihari and others after his death helped inventnóta, a popular form written by composers likeLóránd Fráter,Árpád Balázs,Pista Dankó,Béni Egressy,Márk Rózsavölgyi andImre Farkas.[17] Many of the biggest names in modern Hungarian music are the verbunkos-playingLakatos family, includingSándor Lakatos andRoby Lakatos.[3]
Though the Roma are primarily known as the performers of Hungarian styles like verbunkos, they have their own form of folk music that is largely without instrumentation, in spite of their reputation in that field outside of the Roma community. Roma music tends to take on characteristics of whatever music the people are around, however, embellished with "twists and turns, trills and runs", making a very new, and distinctively Roma style. Though without instruments, Roma folk musicians use sticks, tapped on the ground, rhythmic grunts and a technique calledoral-bassing which vocally imitates the sound of instruments. Some modern Roma musicians, likeAndo Drom,Romano Drom,Romani Rota andKalyi Jag have added modern instruments likeguitars to the Roma style, whileGyula Babos'Project Romani has used elements ofavant-garde jazz.[3]
Ethnic Hungarians live in parts of theCzech Republic,Poland,Romania,Slovakia,Serbia,Slovenia, and elsewhere. Of these, the Hungarian population of Romania (both in the region of Transylvania and among theCsángó people) - being the more rural, outer rims of the kingdom of Hungary - has had the most musical impact on Hungarian folk music. The Hungarian community in Slovakia has produced theroots revival bandGhymes, who play in the táncház tradition.[18] The Serbian region ofVojvodina is home to a large Hungarian minority
Transylvanian folk music remains vital part of life in modern Transylvania. Bartók and Kodály found Transylvania to be a fertile area for folk song collecting. Folk bands are usually a string trio, consisting of a violin, viola and double bass, occasionally with acimbalom; the first violin, orprimás, plays the melody, with the others accompanying and providing the rhythm.[3] Transylvania is also the original home of thetáncház tradition, which has since spread throughout Hungary.
Táncház (literally "dance house") is adance music movement which first appeared in the 1970s as a reaction against state-supported homogenised and sanitised folk music. They have been described as a "cross between abarn dance and folk club", and generally begin with a slow tempoverbunkos (recruiting dance), followed by swiftercsárdás dances. Csárdás is a very popular Hungarian folk dance that comes in many regional varieties, and is characterized by changes intempo. Táncház began with the folk song collecting of musicians likeBéla Halmos andFerenc Sebő, who collected rural instrumental and dance music for popular, urban consumption, along with the dance collectorsGyörgy Martin andSándor Timár. The most important rural source of these songs wasTransylvania, which is actually inRomania but has a large ethnic Hungarian minority. The instrumentation of these bands, based on Transylvanian and sometimes the southern Slovak Hungarian communities, included afiddle on lead withviolin, a kontra (a 3-string viola also called abrácsa), and bowed double bass, and sometimes acimbalom as well.[3]
Many of the biggest names in modern Hungarian music emerged from the táncház scene, includingMuzsikás andMárta Sebestyén. Other bands includeVujicsics,Jánosi,Téka andKalamajka, while singers includeÉva Fábián andAndrás Berecz. Famous instrumentalists include fiddlersCsaba Ökrös andBalázs Vizeli, cimbalomistKálmán Balogh, violinistFélix Lajkó (fromSubotica in Serbia) and multi-instrumentalistMihály Dresch.[3]
Hungary's most important contribution to the worldwide field ofEuropean classical music is probablyFranz Liszt,[15] a renowned pianist in his own time and a well-regarded composer of 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies and a number of symphonic poems such asLes préludes. Liszt was among the major composers during the late 19th century, a time when modern Hungarian classical music was in its formative stage. Along with Liszt and his French Romantic tendencies,Ferenc Erkel's Italian and French-style operas, with Hungarian words, andMihály Mosonyi's German classical style, helped set the stage for future music, and their influence is "unsurpassed even by their successors, because in addition to their individual abilities they bring about an unprecedented artistic intensification of the Romantic musical idiom, which is practically consumed by this extreme passion".[19] Elements of Hungarian folk music, especially verbunkos, became important elements of many composers, both Hungarians likeKalman Simonffy and foreign composers likeJohannes Brahms andLudwig van Beethoven.[11]
Hungary has also producedKarl Goldmark, composer of theRustic Wedding Symphony, composer and pianistErnő Dohnányi, composer and ethnomusicologistLászló Lajtha, and the piano composerStephen Heller. A number of violinists from Hungary have also achieved international renown, especiallyJoseph Joachim,Tivadar Nachéz,Jenő Hubay,Edward Reményi,Sándor Végh,Franz von Vecsey,Ede Zathureczky,Emil Telmányi,Tibor Varga andLeopold Auer. Hungarian-bornconductors includeAntal Doráti; ;Eugene Ormandy;Fritz Reiner;George Szell andGeorg Solti,Ádám Fischer andIván Fischer, as well asGregory Vajda.[15]Pianists of international renown:Géza Anda,Tamás Vásáry,Georges Cziffra,Annie Fischer,Zoltán Kocsis,Dezső Ránki,András Schiff andJenő Jandó
The origins of Hungarian opera can be traced to the late 18th century, with the rise of imported opera and other concert styles in cities likePozsony,Kismarton,Nagyszeben andBudapest. Operas at the time were in either theGerman orItalian style. The field Hungarian opera began with school dramas and interpolations of German operas, which began at the end of the 18th century. School dramas in places like thePauline School inSátoraljaújhely, theCalvinist School inCsurgó and thePiarist School inBeszterce.[3]
Pozsony produced the first music drama experiments in the country, though the work ofGáspár Pacha andJózsef Chudy; it was the latter's 1793Prince Pikkó and Jutka Perzsi that is generally considered the first opera in a distinctively Hungarian style. The text of that piece was translated fromPrinz Schnudi und Prinzessin Evakathel byPhilipp Hafner. This style was still strongly informed by the VienneseZauberposse style of comedic play, and remained thus throughout the 19th century. Though these operas used foreign styles, the "idyllic, lyric and heroic" parts of the story were always based on verbunkos, which was becoming a symbol of the Hungarian nation during this time.[3] It was not until the middle of the 19th century that Ferenc Erkel wrote the first Hungarian language opera, using French and Italian models, thus launching the field of Hungarian opera.[17]
At the end of the 19th century, Hungarian music was dominated by compositions in the German classical style, while Viennese-styleoperettas gained immensely in popularity. This ended beginning in about 1905, whenEndre Ady's poems were published, composer Béla Bartók was published for the first time, and Zoltán Kodály began collecting folk songs. Bartók and Kodály were two exceptional composers who created a distinctively Hungarian style. Bartók collected songs across Eastern Europe, though much of his activity was in Hungary, and he used their elements in his music. He was interested in all forms of folk music, while Kodály was more specifically Hungarian in his outlook. In contrast to previous composers who worked with Hungarian popular musical idioms, Kodály and Bartók drew a sharp line between the popular music played by Roma (also known as "magyarnóta", or Hungarian music or Gypsy music) and the music of farmers.[20] Their work was a watershed that incorporated "every great tradition of the Hungarian people" and influenced all the later composers of the country.[21]
For the first half of the 20th century, Bartók and Kodály were potent symbols for a generation of composers, especially Kodály. Starting in about 1947, a revival in folk choir music began, ended as an honest force by 1950, when state-run art became dominant with the rise ofCommunism. Under Communism, "(c)ommitment and ideological affiliation (were) measured by the musical style of a composer; the ignominious adjectives 'formalistic' and 'cosmopolitan' gain currency ... (and the proper Hungarian style was) identified with the major mode, the classicalaria,rondo orsonata form, the chord sequences distilled" from Kodály's works. Music was uniformly festive and optimistic, with every deviation arousing suspicion; this simplicity led to a lack of popular support from the public, who did not identify with the sterile approved styles. The most prominent composers of this period wereEndre Szervánszky,Ferenc Szabó andLajos Bárdos.[22]
Beginning in about 1955, a new wave of composers appeared, inspired by Bartók and breathing new life into Hungarian music. Composers from this era includedAndrás Mihály,[23]Endre Szervánszky,Pál Kadosa,Ferenc Farkas andGyörgy Ránki. These composers both brought back old techniques of Hungarian music, as well as adapting importedavant-garde and modernist elements of Western classical music.[24]György Ligeti andGyörgy Kurtág are often mentioned in the same sentence. They were born near each other in Transylvania and studied inBudapest in the 1940s. Both were influenced by Stockhausen. Kurtág's modernism borrowed many influences from the past. By contrast Ligeti invented a new language with chromatic tone clusters and elements of parody. Both were multi-lingual and became exiles. This is reflected in the texts for their works. The foundation of theNew Music Studio in 1970 helped further modernise Hungarian classical music though promoting composers that felt audience education was as important a consideration as artistic merit in composition and performance; these Studio's well-known composers includeLászló Vidovszky,László Sáry andZoltán Jeney.[11]Miklós Rózsa, who studied in Germany and eventually settled in the United States, achieved international recognition for his Hollywood film scores as well as his concert music.
Hungarian popular music in the early 20th century consisted of lightoperettas and the Roma music of various styles.Nagymező utca, the "Broadway ofBudapest", was a major centre for popular music, and boasted enough nightclubs and theatres to earn its nickname. In 1945, however, this era abruptly ended and popular music was mostly synonymous with the patriotic songs imposed by the Russian Communists. Some operettas were still performed, though infrequently, and any music with Western influences was seen as harmful and dangerous.[18] In 1956, however, liberalisation began with the "three Ts" ("tiltás, tűrés, támogatás", meaning "prohibition, toleration, support"), and a long period of cultural struggle began, starting with a battle overAfrican Americanjazz.[18] Jazz became a part of Hungarian music in the early 20th century, and although common place in Budapest's venues such as the Tabarin, theAstoria and Central Cafe which set up its own coffee jazz band,[25] it has not achieved widespread renown until the 1970s, when Hungary began producing internationally known performers like theBenkó Dixieland Band andBéla Szakcsi Lakatos.[11] Other renowned performers from the younger generation are theHot Jazz Band and theBohém Ragtime Jazz Band.
In the early 1960s, Hungarian youths began listening torock in droves, in spite of condemnation from the authorities. Three bands dominated the scene by the beginning of the 1970s,Illés,Metró andOmega, all three of which had released at least one album. A few other bands recorded a few singles, but theRecord-Producing Company, a state-runrecord label, did not promote or support these bands, which quickly disappeared.[26]
In 1968, theNew Economic Mechanism was introduced, intending on revitalising the Hungarian economy, while the band Illés won almost every prize at the prestigiousTáncdalfesztivál. In the 1970s, however, the hard-liners of the Communist party cracked down on dissidence in Hungary, and rock was a major target. The band Illés was banned from performing and recording, while Metró and Omega left. Some of the members of these bands formed a supergroup,Locomotiv GT, that quickly became very famous. The remaining members of Omega, meanwhile, succeeded in achieving stardom in Germany, and remained very popular for a time.[26]
Rock bands in the late 1970s had to conform to the Record Company's demands and ensure that all songs passed the inspection of theSong Committee, who scoured all songs looking for hidden political messages. LGT was the most prominent band of aclassic rock style that was very popular, along with Illés,Bergendy andZorán, while there were other bands likeThe Sweet andMiddle of the Road who catered to the desires of the Song Committee, producing rock-basedpop music without a hint of subversion. Meanwhile, thedisco style ofelectronic music produced such performers as the expensively produced and managedNeoton Familia,Beatrice andSzűcs Judit, while the more critically acclaimedprogressive rock scene produced bands likeEast,V73,Color andPanta Rhei.[26]
In the early 1980s, economic depression wracked Hungary, leading to a wave of politically disillusioned and alienated yet vibrant youth culture, a crucial part of which were hard rock, punk, new wave and art rock. Major bands from this era included Beatrice, who had moved from disco to punk and folk-influenced rock and were known for their splashy, uncensored and theatrical performances,P. Mobil,Bikini,Hobo Blues Band,A. E. Bizottság,Európa Kiadó,Sziámi andEdda művek.[26] The first major prison sentences for rock-related subversion were given out, with the members of the punk bandCPg sentenced to two years for political incitement.[26][27]
As the communist system was falling apart, the Hungarian Record Company (MHV) was privatized and smaller independent labels such as Bahia and Human Telex were formed. Major multinational companies such as EMI established headquarters in Budapest. Hungarian popular music became incorporated into the global music industry.[28]
Clubbing andelectronic dance music started gaining popularity in Hungary following the change of regime in 1989[29] and corresponding toElectronic music's increasing popularity in the worldwide musical mainstream. The political freedom and cultural boom of western culture opened the way for the clubbing scene, with several venues starting all around the country, especially inBudapest and aroundLake Balaton.
The 1990s also marked the creation of several dance formations, notably Soho Party,Splash,Náksi & Brunner and also rave formations such as Emergency House and Kozmix.[30] Notable techno and house DJ-s areSterbinszky,Budai, andNewl. The workings of the scene culminated in events likeBudapest Parade, the largest such street festival in Hungary, that was held yearly from 2000 to 2006, attracting more than half million visitors.[31] The history of Electronic Dance Music and Techno culture in Hungary is documented in Ferenc Kömlődy's book "Fénykatedrális", (1999 in Hungarian).
A thriving underground scene was marked by the start ofTilos Rádió in 1991, the first free independent community station, starting out as apirate radio. The station soon developed strong ties with the first alternative electronic formations, and inspired to start many others.[32] Bands likeKorai Öröm andMásfél (also checkMyster Mobius) started, playing ambient, psychedelic music.Anima Sound System, one of the most influential bands on the scene, was created in 1993 playing dub and trip-hop influenced by acid jazz and ethnic music.[33] Several other bands and formations followed, likeColorstar andNeo. Neo has won a worldwide reputation for their unique electro-pop style and the "Mozart of pop music" award (Cannes, 2004) they received for their soundtrack album called "Control". Apart from Anima, ethnic and folk influenced the scene in many ways, exemplified by formations likeBalkan Fanatik, orMitsoura. One of the most successful Hungarian electronic musician isYonderboi, who recently co-createdŽagar, gaining wide reputation in the country. In the past few years,dubstep has gained popular attention as well, nationwide.
Experimental and minimal scene is in its early age, although several crews and DJs are working, organising numerous events. Notable performers includec0p,Cadik,Ferenc Vaspöeri andIsu.
Hip hop and rap have been developing in Hungary with two scenes, underground and mainstream, which is mostly popular among young people in Hungary. Underground rappers condemn the mainstream for "selling" their music and usually provide deeper message. Mainstream hip hop is dominated by the pioneer of Gangsta rap in Hungary,Ganxsta Zolee, and there are also other famous ones includingFankaDeli,Sub Bass Monster,Dope Man, andLL Junior. Mainstream hip-hop is extremely popular among theRomani youth.
Bëlga started as an offshoot hiphop project atTilos Rádió. As lyrical innovators and phenomenal parodists, they gained wide popularity for an extremely explicit criticism ofBudapest public transport companyBKV, as well as hilarious wordplays and self-irony. Their lyrics are significant beyond the hip-hop scope as a cultural documentation of turn-of-the-millenniaCulture of Hungary.[34]
Hungarian Slam sessions are rare and few, and still a novelty for the mainstream, but are gaining popularity with literary performers, emcees and audiences alike.[35]
Despite being unknown among most Hungarian people,hardcore andmetal are flourishing styles of music in Hungary. Metal bands are formed all over the country. Dominant styles aredeath metal,black metal andthrash. There are alsopower metal,folk metal andheavy metal groups, includingDalriada andThy Catafalque.
Hardcore andmetalcore are most common in Budapest and Western Hungary, in towns likeGyőr,Csorna,Szombathely andVeszprém, but Eastern Hungary andDebrecen is getting into a more and more important place in the hardcore scene. The first Hungarian acts that tagged themselvesHardcore like AMD,Leukémia,Marina revue emerged in the late 1980s, and were followed by a number of acts, constituting a scene that flourishes since the early 1990s.[36] Notable bands wereDawncore andNewborn of the late 1990s gaining also some international success. Members of these bands went on to formBridge to Solace andThe Idoru. Other important, active bands:Hold X True,Fallenintoashes, Embers, Suicide Pride,Subscribe,Road,Shell Beach,Hatred Solution,Blind Myself,Superbutt,Stillborn (Hatebreed tribute). An internationally known band isEktomorf, infusing heavy ethnic content with harsh vocals,[37] One of North America's most popular metal band with record sales over two million albums;Five Finger Death Punch was formed by the Hungarian born, Golden God Shredder Award winning guitaristZoltan Bathory
Extreme hardcorepunk and grindcore bands from Hungary include Jack (crustgrind), Human Error(crustcore), Step On It (allschool hardcore), Another Way (fastcore), Gyalázat (crustpunk).
The origins of the Hungarian indie music scene go back to the early 1980s whenEurópa Kiadó, Sziami and Balaton released their records. The first revival took place in the mid-1990s when bands like Sexepil gained international success, followed byHeaven Street Seven. The second and most notable revival of the indie-alternative scene took place in the mid-2000s when bands likeAmber Smith,The Moog signed to international labels. Other notable bands includeEZ Basic,The KOLIN andDawnstar. The Hungarian indie scene is closely intertwined with electronic music therefore artists likeYonderboi andŽagar are often considered part of the indie scene.
The Hungarian indie music has its special, Hungarian languaged line. It is based rather on 1980s bands likeEurópa Kiadó or Neurotic. The most notable bands and artists areKispál és a borz (the lead singer and songwriterAndrás Lovasi was honored by theKossuth Prize[38]),Hiperkarma (Róbert Bérczesi made alone the first album), andQuimby (most notable member isTibor Kiss).
The origins of the Hungarian punk movement go back to the early eighties, when a handful of bands likeETA,QSS,CPG, andAuróra emerged as angry young men playing fast and raw punk rock music. Like many other musicians of their age, they often criticised the communist government. They were a part of the national movement to reject the oppressiveness, and particularly the censorship, of the communist regime. As their music was on the verge of acceptance both by the public and the authorities, concerts were held under tight police control, and often caused moral outrage. With band members often living under constant surveillance, prison was a serious possibility. Two members of the bandCPG were found guilty and sent to prison for two years for allegedly unmoral lyrics. After their release, they had to leave Hungary, as didAuróra’s lead singer.
The change of regime in 1989 brought a new situation, and bands now revolted against corruption and the Americanisation of the country. They felt that the new system retained the bad things from the previous one, but lacked that good things that many expected. In lyrics, they often mention the newly appearing organised crime, and the still low standard of living.
Today the Hungarian punk scene is low profile, but vibrant with several active bands, often touring the country and beyond. Summer brings a slew of punk and alternative festivals where they can all be sampled. Top venues playing punk music around Budapest includeVörös Yuk,Borgödör,Music Factory andA38 Hajó.
Major bands includeAuróra, the oldest Hungarian punk band with twenty-five years of history, come from the northwest Hungarian town ofGyőr and their originally street punk music has been recently updated with a ska-punk flavor,HétköznaPI CSAlódások (also called PICSA), a simplistic but powerful punk band, most popular in the end of the 1990s. They, similarly toJunkies,Fürgerókalábak, andProsectura, are part of the new wave of punk bands that had risen in the mid-late 1990s in Hungary. Out of the newer bands, two northeast Hungarian bands are the most known, both playing California punk:Alvin és a mókusok come fromNyíregyháza, whileMacskanadrág are fromSalgótarján.
Budapest, the capital and music centre of Hungary,[15] is one of the best places to go in Hungary to hear "really good folk music", says world music authorSimon Broughton. The city is home to an annual folk festival calledTáncháztalálkozó ("Meeting of the Táncházak", literally "dance houses"), which is a major part of the modern music scene.[3] TheBudapest Spring Festival along with theBudapest Autumn Festival are large scale cultural events every year. TheBudapesti Fesztivál Zenekar[39] (Budapest Festival Orchestra) has recently been awarded the Editor's ChoiceGramophone Award.[40] Long-standing venues in Budapest include thePhilharmonic Society (founded 1853), theOpera House of Budapest (founded 1884) theAcademy of Music, which opened in 1875 with President Franz Liszt and Director Ferenc Erkel and which has remained the centre for music education in the country since.[7]
Several musical festivals have been launched since the early 1990s propelled by increasing demand of the developing youth culture. Aside from country-wide events likeSziget Festival orHegyalja Festival, local festivals started to emerge since the first half of the first decade of the new millennium, with the aim to showcase known bands in all regions of Hungary.[41]
Growing out of a low-profile student meeting in 1993, Sziget Festival became one of the largest open-air festival in the world, taking place each summer in the heart of Budapest, the 108 hectare Óbudai island. Visited by hundreds of thousands from all over Europe, it is the largest cultural event in Hungary, inviting world-class performers from all genres.[42]
Also having a history from 1993,VOLT Festival is the second-largest music festival in the country,[43] held each year inSopron. With a colorful mix of musical styles, and popularity increasing each year, is considered to be the "cheaper version" of Sziget. Also founded by the Sziget management,Balaton Sound is a festival of mainly electronic music, held yearly inZamárdi, next toLake Balaton. With prestigious performers and exclusive surroundings, it tries to position itself as a high-standard event.[44]
Hegyalja Festival, held inTokaj, the historic wine-region of the country, is the largest such event in the Northern part. Visited by 50.000 guests each year, it showcases mainly hard rock and rock formations, but many more genres are present.BalaTone, another major event near lake Balaton is held inZánka.Magyar Sziget, held inVerőce, has a nationalist theme, with mainly right-wing performers, bands representing the recently emerged nationalistic rock, folk and folk-rock.[45]
As a tradition, each larger University (or more precisely, itsstudents' union) holds a periodical music festival, "University Days", of various size, the largest one is PEN (of theUniversity of Pécs). Examples of smaller, local festivals areSZIN held inSzeged, the freeUtcazene Fesztivál held on the streets ofVeszprém,Pannónia Fesztivál inVárpalota,[46] or the recently (2008) startedFishing on Orfű, held on the beach of theOrfű lake.
The HungarianMinistry of Culture helps to fund some forms of music, as does the government-runNational Cultural Fund. Non-profit organisations in Hungary include theHungarian Jazz Alliance and theHungarian Music Council.[47]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Kárpáti, János (ed), Adams, Bernard (trans) (2011).Music in Hungary: an Illustrated History. Rózsavölgyi.ISBN 978-615-5062-01-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
