HUNGARIAN MUSIC AND DANCE

The Legényes: is a men's solo dance

done by the ethnic Hungarian people

living in the Kalotaszeg region of

Transylvania.

Solo dance: ”legényes”

‘Verbunk’ and the birth of national dance

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.

‘Verbunkos’

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.

‘Táncház’‘Táncház’ is a dance music movement

which first appeared in the 1970s as a

reaction against state-supported

homogenized folk music.

Famous instrumentalists

Many of the biggest names in modern

Hungarian music emerged from the

‘Táncház’ scene, including ‘Muzsikás’ and

Márta Sebestyén.

‘Csárdás’

Csárdás is a very popular Hungarian folk dance that comes in many regional varieties, and is characterized by changes in tempo.

“salterio”Every country named the instrument

differently: in Germainregion “Hackbrett”,

in English region “

hammered dulcimer”,

in French region

“tympanon”,

in Italian and Spanish region “salterio” and in the Hungarian language “cimbalom”.

Ferenc Erkel - who was the founder of

the Hungarian opera - used the ‘cimbalom’

the first time in the Hungarian classical

music. This opera “Bánk bán” had his premier in 1861.

Béla BartókBéla Bartók observed that Hungarian "peasant music" use isometric (with an even number of structures) srtophe structure and certain pentatonic (five tone) formations, along with a liking for tempo giusto (rhythm consisting

chiefly of equal values).

Bartók studied over 300 melodies, and noted that

more modern tunes used for dancing featured

pentatonic turns with frequent leaps in fourths.

These features jointly may be considered as

altogether typical, and differentiate "Hungarian

peasant music" from that of

any other nation.

Hungarian rock giants

The three giants of Hungarian rock, Illés,

Metró and Omega, remained very popular,

especially Omega, which has followers

in Germany and beyond.

MEGASTARSIn recent times, talent shows have become a notable genre of

reality television, such as Idol, Got Talent and The X Factor.