Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
VERBUNK
The birth of national dance
"Recruitment Songs" (verbunks) conjures up the Age of Romanticism and national revival in Hungary. The contemporary society created "national" forms of music and dance through a process of countrywide "globalization". This resulted in a common dance dialect that existed above the different traditions of various regions. During this process, the tastes and fashions of different social strata were unified through the careful mediation of contemporary dance gurus. This performance is a memorial to the development of the "national dance" and its survival in folk tradition.
In the first part, archaic dance forms (jumping dances, whirling dances, pair dances, and military dances) are shown. These in turn were used as source material during the unifying programs of the Romantic Movement.The "verbunk" (recruitment dance) developed from archaic men's dances, whilst the "czardas" developed from the closed, whirling, stooping and cajoling couple dances, which appeared during the 16th and 17th centuries in the Carpathian Basin. Thus, the verbunk and czardas are combinations of past forms. The reinterpretation of such forms meant the synthesis of Hungarian dance figures and styles into a form that expressed the Romantic Age and the development of national identity in Hungary.
At first the development of the czardas signaled the awakening of national identity in the more narrow upper levels of society, but later, after the defeat of the 1848 Hungarian War of Independence, it stood for the awakening of a much broader social strata: even the word czardas (from csárda, "inn") has its roots in the language of common people. The influence of this dance lives on today in both Hungary and the neighboring countries.
The second part of the show gives us a taste of this variety, showing us the different folklorized versions of the former national dance.
The most common musical performers of the age were the gypsy bands. The orchestra of the Hungarian State Folk Dance Ensemble plays a dual role: in addition to performing the music accompanying the dances, it gives voice to independent concert pieces from the period as well.
First performance: 14 September 2003, Keszthely, Hungary
Part I
László Kelemen: Opening
Zsolt Szilágyi- Zoltán Varga: "I Begin My Dance..."
Old Hungarian Jumping and Cajoling Dances
Zoltán Varga: Kázmér Sárközy's "Magyar Dance"
Procession and Slow Hungarian Dance from Transylvania
János Bihari: Colonel Hadik's Favorite Song and Fast Dance
Recruitment Songs from the First Third of the 19th Century
Zsolt Juhász: "Make those Spurs Jingle..."
In Memory of the Recruitment Songs of the Eszterházy Hussar Regiment
János Lavotta: Slow Magyar Dance and Fast Dance
The Popular Music of the National Awakening
Márk Rózsavölgyi- Zsolt Juhász: Recruitment Dance
Recruitment Dance Fantasy to Popular Music of the Reform Age
Ferenc Sebő- Zsolt Juhász: Palotache - Magyar czardas
A Dance Evoking the Atmosphere of the National Salons
Part II
Zoltán Varga: Rákóczi March, Circle Dance and Skipping Dance
Peasant Couple Dances and Male Dances from the Rábaköz region
János Bihari: Recruitment Song and Fast Dance
The Popular Music of Gypsy Fiddlers in the Reform Age
László Kelemen- Zoltán Varga: "From the City of Vienna, West to East..."
Recruitment Song and Czardas from the village of Kisnemes
László Kelemen: After the Revolution
The Collapse after the 1848 Revolution...
Zsolt Szilágyi: "Let's Dance a Czardas, Stamp the Floor..."
Hungarian Dances from the Szilágyság Region
Zsolt Juhász- Zsolt Szilágyi- Zoltán Varga: "Let's Dance Now As Others Danced Of Yore..."
Choreographers: Zsolt Juhász, Zsolt Szilágyi, Zoltán Varga
Musical Editor: László Kelemen
Costume: Beáta Lőrincz
Set Design: László Érchegyi
Conductors/Lead fiddlers: Ferenc Radics , István Pál , Tamás Gombai
Solo singer: Ágnes Herczku, Júlia Kubinyi
Dance Instructor: Richárd Kökény ("Harangozó Gyula" Award)
Assistants: Beatrix Borbély , Katalin Jávor , Péter Varga
Performed by
the Dance Ensemble and Orchestra of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
Artistic Director: István Pál
Director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble: Gábor Mihályi ("Harangozó Gyula" Award, "EuróPAS" Award)
Special thanks to Jolán Borbély, Dr. Ernő Pesovár and Dr. Bálint Sárosi for their professional advice.
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Hungarian State Folk Ensemble: Verbunk CD |
