The colourful world of Hungarian folk music! – VIDEO

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Music is a universal language between people. Naturally, each nation around the world has its own variety in the medium. Folk music holds an important meaning to cultures in all corners of the world. Hungary proudly boasts a colourful folk music history. Throughout the ages, composers made recordings of many pieces of folk music. Continue reading below to find out more about the wonderful world of Hungarian folk music!

What is folk music?

The term folk music and its equivalents in other languages denote many different kinds of music; the meaning of the term varies according to the part of the world, social class, and period of history, writes Britannica. Families were the ones to pass down this traditional genre. Instead of learning it from reading, they learned through hearing. Through this genre, we can gather information on the daily lives and activities of the people of the past.

Folk music research in Hungary

Hungarian folk music research started centuries ago with the recording of a folk song. The organised folk song collection started in 1896, with Béla Vikár laying the foundations. Following him were composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály in the early 20th century, writes Sulinet.

The Bartók family made a significant contribution not only in collecting but also in classification, research, systematisation and practical use. Bartók alone collected about 40 000 folk songs. Today this number has increased to 300 000, 150 000 of which have written records.

Kodály also made a lasting contribution to music education. The Kodály Method, named after him, introduced the teaching of folk songs into public education. Many countries around the world utilise this techinque today.

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Categorising Hungarian folk songs

Seeing the large number of Hungarian folk songs, categorising them is not an easy task. Thankfully, we have a list of pointers through which we can classify each piece of music. Here are a few of them:

Occasion

Songs are divided into three groups according to their use: occasional (wedding, nativity work songs), non-occasional, and dance.

Style

Hungarian folk songs are divided into two main groups. The first is the old style: this includes the old folk songs, dating back to the 1880s. Following that, the new style: characterised by uniformity, in the 19th century this style emerged in the Carpathian Basin.

Attila Péczely collected this old-style Hungarian folk song titled Megrakják a tüzet (Fueling the fire) in Sándorfalva, 1933. It is one of the most well-known Hungarian folk songs.

Region

We differentiate between four or five distinct regions when talking about folk music. Keep in mind that within each region, we can find even more sub-regional differences! The main regions are the following: Transdanubian, Upper Hungary, Great Hungarian Plain, and Transylvanian. The fifth region, Moldavian, is sometimes categorised under Transylvanian.

If this sparked your interest in Hungarian folk songs, we recommend you visit this website from the Hungarian Institute of Music. Here, you will find a collection of folk songs by region, with a user-friendly interface.