44. évfolyam / 1. szám (2006)

Russian Folksong – Song – Romance
Márta Papp

How can the specific style, tone, and atomosphere-felt to be so typically Russian in music-be apprehended by listening to Glinka or Stravinsky, Musorgsky or Tschaikovsky, Rakhmaninov or Shostakovich-such different composing individuals? The author of this paper tries to investigate this intriguing question after having studied a number of Russian music anthologies, song publications, folk music collections and numerous studies and essays in Russia-Soviet musicology and ethnomusicology. The looked for answer probably lies int he multiple and centuries old there-and-back effects of original peasant songs, specifically Russian city folklore and composed music.

On János Arany’s Song Collection and Some Problems Surrounding Critical Editions
Márta Bajcsay Rudas

The collection by one of the greatest Hungarian poets containing his favourite songs, put down in musical notation by himself towards the end of his life, was first edited and published (as far as the music was concerned) by Zoltán Kodály in 1952. Kodály’s rendering of Arany’s songs has been considered an example of how a critical source edition should appear from the musicological point of view. Now that the same song collection is about to be published as part of the series of the complete edition of Arany’s ouvre, some aspects have to be reconsidered. Ont he one hand, the lessons learnt from recent preparatory work on another set of material: Kodály’s Collection in Nagyszalonta, published in 2001 (an early folk music collection of which only a fragmentary though representative part was published in 1924) teach us that to reveal and explore all details, however paintstaking a job, is the only way to fin the clues when following in a scholar’s footsteps, in parallel with editing his material. On the other hand, a fashionable tendency to doubt any authenticity or competence in definitely answering difficult questions (and prefers presenting „virtual” texts on the world-wide-web of literary editions or encyclopaedias) discourages such work from following the traditional scholarly methods of producing critical source editions. Is it possible to exclude the „subjective factors” when rendering a source material? Is it necessary to take sides concerning „the real” versions? It is important to see that taking risks and responsibility are part of the game when preparing critical editions.

The Gradual of Szabéd
Péter Hoppál

There are twenty-five hand-written protestant graduals containing medieval Gregorian ceremonial chants translated into Hungarian know to date, six of which were used by the Unitarians of Transylvania. The previously unknown gradual with a slightly imperfect front and back cover comprising 31 folios that has been discovered recently int he small Rumanian village of Szabéd (©abed) in county Maros (Mureº) is considered special for several reasons. Under one of the hymns of the manuscript there is an inscription written by an unknown hand with a date from 1632 in it, which suggests that this is the oldest Unitarian gradual. The most substantial of the fifty-six titles the book contains are the compiled passion and the oratio (prayers) and the lamentation (laments) of Jeremiah. They are followed by a Te Deum reworded to reflect Unitarian dogmatic principles and – in line with the scheme of the ecclesiastical year – 23 responsories, 21 prose psalms, 6 hymns, 1 Benedictus and 1 Magnificat. The cursive Hungarian scoring of medieval origins uses no keys and is fairly legible but is incomplete at places. The gradual of Szabéd is all the more special because twelve of its fifthy-sixtitles contain responsories that do not appear in any other source. Unitarian graduals can be documented up to the 19th century-a study planned for the near future may even chalk out an isolated, independent tradition of late Hungarian Gregorian chant.

Introits of the Hungarian Protestant Graduals from Advent to Epiphany
Anette Papp

Even though European Gregorian chant fell into decline in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the reforms of the Council of Trent caused the Hungarian version of chant to vanish from Catholic practice, this monophonic music began a new, individual existence within the Hungarian Protestant Church. Hundreds of melodies were put to Hungarian texts and recorded in manuscripts (and Two printed choir books) called “Gradual Books”. This vernacular liturgical chant was used throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, and in some cases even until the 19th century. This study compares the Introits of 4 Graduals (Batthyány-Ráday-Óvári, Spáczay, Eperjesi, Öreg) with the material of Hungarian medieval sources and a number of codices belonging to the area of the pentatonic dialect. The aim of the research is to identify the textual and melodic models of the Protestant Gradual Introits. Are they simply the translations of the Latin items or do they include independent pieces, not documented in medieval or other Protestant sources? The order of analyzing the Gradual Introits followed the arrangement of the church year. The present article, therefore, concentrates on the period from Advent to Epiphany, dealing with nearly the half of the repertory.

Franz Liszt and Posterity : The History of the Hungarian Liszt Society during the Horthy Regime, 1932-1945
Klára Hamburger

Aims. Leaders and members. Social composition. Historical, political and economic background. President: 1932-1943: Countess Margit Zichy, daughter of one – armed pianist Count Géza Zichy; 1943-1945: landowner Mrs. Irén Szinyei Merse, wife to a depute, son of the famous Hungarian painter, Pál Szinyei Merse. Secretary General: Jolán Gerster, a pupil of Béla Bartók (piano) and her aunt, the famous singer and one-time MET star, Etelka Gerster.
Activities: performances of Liszt’s music in churches, concert halls, at the Opera and in the open-air. Outstanding events: Christus under Felix von Weingartner in 1933 and Vittorio Gui in 1936. A festive concert under Fritz Reiner, in May 1933. International piano competition, May 1933; among the winners: Annie Fischer, Louis Kentner, Andor Földes. Festive Jubilee Year 1935-1936, on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the birth and the 50th of the death of Liszt. Great Liszt Exposition at the National Museum (Dénes Bartha). Pilgrimage to the places of his birth and death: Raiding and [Hitler’s]-Bayreuth. Outstanding concerts: February 18th, 1936: 5 piano concertos, played by different artists, Totentanz by Béla Bartók; October 18th, 1936: a Memorial Concert; on the programme, among others: Concert pathétique, played by Ernõ von Dohnányi and Béla Bartók. – Soirées with talks on Liszt and music by Liszt, given by outstanding scholars and artists, including unknown late works. – Liszt Scholarship Foundation and Competitions for young pianists and composers.
End of activities of the Society during the German occupation, the Hungarian Arrow Cross terror and the siege of Budapest by the Soviet Army, in winter 1944-1945.