Pilu’s Band from Görgényoroszfalu (Solovăstru). Original village music from the Upper Mureş region

The Final Hour Program and the “Új Pátria” Series

Since the governmental changes in Romania in 1990, the ease of crossing of the borders, increased possibility of working abroad, influx of consumerism and the cultural and sub-cultural effects caused by new of availability music cassettes have all contributed to more rapid changes in the folk traditions in Transylvania, even in the remotest villages. That is why the Fonó Budai Zeneház set to work to provide the financial background and facilities necessary to do this comprehensive collection of Transylvanian village music.

The Final Hour project is supported by the Institute of Musiscology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Starting in September 1997, there have been regular recording sessions with bands from Transylvanian villages who still play the local traditional music. Each band is at our disposal for five days during which time it is possible to make archival recordings of not only each band’s repertoire of melodies which serves the entertainment needs of more than one ethnic group, but also to document information regarding customs surrounding the traditional music and dance life. Singers and one or two couples of good dancers arrive to Budapest for these recording sessions with each band, helping to maintain the vocal and dance function of the instrumental music. Part of the program is devoted to documentation of the existing Transylvanian traditional flute music.

The CD archive resulting from work of the Final Hour program offers a vast amount of material on the musical traditions of Hungarians, Romanians, Gypsies, Saxons and Jews in Transylvania for research studies as well as a wealth of authentic material and background information for those involved in popular folk music movements. The complete collection will be available for scientific research in the archive of the Institute of Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

The Fonó Records has started this series of CDs under the title “New Pátria,” presenting selections of the most representative material from the collection. This series is the spiritual descendant of the “Pátria” series from the end of the 1930’s by Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály and László Lajtha in cooperation with the Hungarian Radio and the Museum of Ethnography.

The Upper Mureş River Valley and its folk music traditions:

In terms of geography, the name of this region comes from the river basin which starts at the uppermost reaches of the Maros (Mureş) river following it all the way down to the city of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureş). A century ago a mixed population of Romanians, Hungarians, Gypsies, Saxons and Jews inhabited this area, in our time however, the latter two ethnic groups have decreased to a minimum. The exploration of the folk music of the region began relatively late, though it came along with important findings which have been definitive in 20th century music history. In several of Béla Bartók’s works melodies are used which he collected from this area in his compositions. Bartók’s other important finding from this area was the so-called three stringed viola which is used exclusively for playing accompaniment consisting of triads. In the Upper Mureş River Valley the cymbalom was established as an integral part of the local bands. We have made recordings for this CD of how the band sounds both with and without the cymbalom.



Because of Görgényoroszfalu (Solovăstru)’s geographical location, and given that the transportation conditions in the Upper Mureş River Valley were more favorable than in the Transylvanian Heath (Mezőség) area, Pilu’s band was often invited by Romanians, Hungarians, Gypsies and Jews alike to play in the surrounding areas. Their extraordinarily rich repertoire motivated us to make selections of material which have filled up these two CDs. Given that Pilu’s band was most often hired to play in Romanian villages, most of his vocabulary of melodies make up the material played for Romanians, but it’s important to know that a significant portion of the melodies when played for the other ethnic groups are adjusted with smaller or larger variations to fit the type of music requested by the audience at hand. Track 4 on CD 1 includes two melodies which are played as lullabies for Romanians in the Görgény (Gurghiu) Valley, though the same melodies are used as laments and soldier’s songs by the Hungarians in the Kalotaszeg (Huedin) area and in the Transylvanian Heath (Mezőség). The melody of track 3 of CD 1 is also interesting. First it is heard as a slow processional couple dance, de-a-lungu, then it is used for the fast turning couple dance, forgatós (or invirtita), as in the European dances of the Renaissance period, wherein the same melody is used for a slow dance and for a fast one as well. In the slow dance the rhythm is syncopated, but in the fast one it is no longer the case. In fact this melody was also recorded by Bartók in 1914 with the musicians in Felsőrépa (Râpa de Sus), he then used it in his 1st Rhapsody written for violin and piano in 1928.



CD 1

1. Invitation to dance
2. Stick dance (Gurghiu Valley)
3. Couple dances (Gurghiu Valley)
4. Lullabies
5. Soldier’s songs from Görgényoroszfalu (Solovastru)
6. Soldier’s songs from Görgénysóakna (Jabenita)
7. Wedding tunes from Görgény (Gurghiu) and Bölkény (Beica) Valley
8. Wedding tunes (Upper Mureş River Valley)
9. Tune for serving the roasted chicken at the wedding meal (Upper Mureş River Valley)
10. The shepherd has lost his sheep
11. Invitation to a work party
12. Christmas greeting
13. Goat mask tune – winter folk custom
14. Lament about falling into the unknown
15. Căluşeriul - Banu mărăcine, Romanian dance
16. Ceavărul, Romanian dance
17. Plopişul, Romanian dance
18. Şepţeţâtă, Romanian dance
19. Raţa - Alunelu - Brâu, Romanian dances
20. Sârba - Mureşanca - De doi - De-a lungu - Învârtita, Romanian dances
21. Rara sau Târnăveanca, Romanian dances
22. Romanian turning dance tune imitating a bagpipe
23. Romanian turning dance tune imitating a mill
24. Tune imitating a clock striking
25. Romanian dances of German origin from Toplica (Topliţa) area

CD 2

1. Romanian dances (Bölkény/Beica Valley)
2. Tune for serving the roasted chicken at the wedding meal
3. Tunes for wedding yells - Mezőség (Transylvanian Heath)
4. Romanian dances - Mezőség, Nyulas (Milas) area
5. Lament for hoeing in the fields
6. Romanian dances (Mezőség, Teke/Teaca area)
7. Lament
8. Romanian dances from Sajó (Şieu) Valley
9. Men’s dances (Hungarian verbunk, Romanian bărbunc)
10. Hungarian couple dances
11. Hungarian table songs
12. Hungarian couple dances
13. Gypsy table songs
14. Slow and fast Gypsy couple dance
15. Hungarian Gypsy song for the wake
16. Romanian Gypsy song for the wake
17. Funeral processional (all ethnic groups)
18. Jewish wedding song

Performers:
LUCACIU Aldalbert “Pilu”, Görgényoroszfalu (1924) - violin
MOLDOVÁN “Vasvilla” Béla, Dedrádszéplak (1935) - violin
RÂMBĂ Adalbert, Görgényoroszfalu (1924) - kontra
LAKATOS Gábor, Magyarbölkény (1933) - cimbalom
PREDA Dumitru, Görgényoroszfalu (1924) - double bass