About the results of my folk music researches among the Turkic peoples (1987–2015) (original) (raw)

2022, MUSIC IN THE TURKIC-MUSLIM WORLD: THE SECULAR AND THE RELIGIOUS, Proceedings of the International academic conference, MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ZHIGANOV KAZAN STATE CONSERVATOIRE, Kazan, November 14–16,

Hungarian prehistory displays a peculiar duality of language and music: the language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family, while several pre-Conquest strata of the folk music are connected to Turkic groups. Intrigued by this phenomenon, Hungarian folk music researchers launched thorough comparative examinations quite early; to mention but the most important scholars: Zoltán Kodály [10] demonstrated Cheremis and Chuvash analogies in the first place; Béla Bartók [1, 2] drew still valid conclusions about the folk music of Anatolia from a relatively small material; Lajos Vargyas [36, 37, 38, 39] carried out the comprehensive historical investigation of the folk music of the Volga-Kama region; Bence Szabolcsi [30–35] demonstrated even broader international musical connections after surveying an enormous material; Katalin Paksa [12] studied the eastern relations of our narrow-range tetra- and pentatonic tunes; László Dobszay [5, 6] and László Dobszay – Janka Szendrei [4, 8] – applying a novel approach to the Hungarian folk music material – reviewed the international material in regard to the lament and psalmodic styles, among other things. In keeping with the noblest traditions of Hungarian folk music research, investigations authenticated by fieldwork have been going on to this day parallel with theoretical research. Most important among them for my present dissertation are Béla Bartók’s Anatolian collecting in 1936, László Vikár’s and Gábor Bereczki’s areal field research in the territory designated by the Volga, Kama and Belaya in 1957–1978 [Vikár 40–49; Vikár – Bereczki 50–53] and my field research activity among Turkic ethnicities since 1987 [14–29]. At the beginning, the main goal of this research series was to explore the eastern relations of the Hungarian folk music, which gradually broadened into the areal folk music research of the multi-ethnic Volga-Kama-Belaya region. I further expanded it into the comparative investigation of diverse Turkic-tongued groups living over the vast Eurasian territory. In the meantime, the study of Hungarian prehistoric connections was also going on.