Szabolcs-Szatmári cigány népdalok

Curatorial Note

Released by Hungaroton in 1984, this ethnomusicological LP documents Roma folk-song traditions from Szabolcs-Szatmár in northeastern Hungary through performances by local Roma singers. Collected and edited by Rudolf Víg, the recording presents slow songs, dance songs and ensemble vocal repertories in sequences that preserve both individual performance and communal musical practice. An accompanying Hungarian–English study by ethnomusicologist Katalin Kovalcsik provides additional documentary context. The album is particularly significant for foregrounding community-based Roma vocal traditions rather than the professional urban cigányzene commonly associated with Hungarian “Gypsy music,” making SLPX 18082 an important regional sound document of Romani oral and musical culture in late-socialist Hungary.