Magyarországi cigány népdalok

Curatorial Note

Released by Hungaroton in 1976, this two-LP anthology constitutes an important early large-scale sound document devoted specifically to Roma folk music in Hungary. Collected and edited by Rudolf Víg, its thirty-nine performances were recorded in Roma performers’ homes during the spring of 1975 and encompass slow songs, dance songs, ballad material and dance repertories in Romani and Hungarian. The extensive multilingual documentation accompanying the set reflects its explicitly ethnomusicological purpose and allows the recordings to be approached as documented oral tradition rather than simply as commercial entertainment. By foregrounding community-based vocal and musical practices distinct from the professional urban cigányzene tradition, the collection preserves a particularly rich record of Roma vernacular musical culture in Hungary during the 1970s.