The Transylvanian Violin

O wydarzeniu

So what’s so special about the Transylvanian violin? A violin is a violin — you might say. It’s a folk violin, so what? Of course, it’s not the violin itself that’s special, although in Gyimes the resonant strings of the violin recall the Renaissance viola da gamba.

It is the traditional style of playing the violin across Transylvania which has enchanted folk music researchers from the time of Lajtha’s field work in Szék onwards, making Transylvania the Mecca of the dance house movement where we must all make a pilgrimage, if not to play music then at least to the market at Feketetó…
Like everything in this storm‐tossed Carpathian Basin, there is a separate tale behind all this which is rooted in our history. One consequence of the Turkish conquest was that the eastern territories of Hungary (including Transylvania) were cut off from the cultural “winds of fashion” blowing in from the west since the time of Saint Stephen. Transylvania was thus only able to trade and maintain contacts with the western half of Europe through the north‐western corridor. Although resourceful merchants brought the violin to Transylvania from Galicia, the accompanying melodies and dances were adapted by local musicians to local tastes. This is how it the Renaissance remained in fashion right up until the Turks were driven out, so that Renaissance and Baroque playing styles define Transylvanian folk violin music to this day. In this concert, we will draw from the unique musical treasure trove that has survived in Europe with the cooperation of traditional Transylvanian musicians and their dance house colleagues from Hungary.” (László Kelemen)