"At the beginning of the 21st century, in the computer age we still believe in the irreplaceability of the human voice, the instruments made of natural materials and the power of the traditional music."
The roots
The traditional music
By the end of the 20th century the traditional village music in Hungary - thanks to modernisation - started to fade, some parts of it riched the 24th hour before final disapperance. The musicians of the old generation died, and just a few of them could be found, who kept the rich and extremely valuable cultural tradition, and the traditional style, and instruments.
The roots
The folk music revival
In Hungary during the early 70s a few young intellectuals sought their traditional music roots following the tracks of ethnomusicologists Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. These seeds for a folk revival and renewed cultural life grew as a reaction to the state controlled and censored culture of social realism, and encroaching western pop music. These pioneers traveled extensively to the countryside making field recordings which would preserve the fading musical traditions of village culture. This village culture continues to erode today with the encroaching growth of western style mass-media culture. During this time they recorded thousands of instrumental and vocal melodies. They also learned the playing of traditional instruments and so rescued folk instruments in danger of extinction such as the bagpipes or Somogy long flute. They learned way of traditional playing, made copies of the traditional instruments, and introduced to the new generation. The most significant result of that work is the Táncház (dancehouse) movement.
The roots
Táncház (dancehouse) movement
The Hungarian dancehouse movement of participatory folk dancing spread out from Budapest's many community house halls during the early 70s and became incredibly popular among the younger generation. By the 80s, the movement spread throughout the country and wielded an influential role in Hungarian underground culture.
