{"id":73944,"date":"2026-09-28T11:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fennougria.ee\/?p=73944"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:02:16","slug":"when-hungarians-sought-connections-with-mari-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fennougria.ee\/en\/when-hungarians-sought-connections-with-mari-music\/","title":{"rendered":"When Hungarians sought connections with Mari music"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the 1950s, the renowned Hungarian composer Zolt\u00e1n Kod\u00e1ly<\/strong> (1882\u20131967) sent his student L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Vik\u00e1r<\/strong> (1929\u20132017) on an expedition to Mari El, accompanied by the linguist G\u00e1bor Bereczki<\/strong> (1928\u20132012), who was fluent in the Mari<\/a> language. The first research expedition of these Hungarians to what was then the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic took place in 1958. In total, the researchers organised six expeditions, the last of which took place in 1979. The researchers recorded hundreds of songs from the Hill Mari, Meadow Mari and Eastern Mari regions.<\/p>

The first recordings made during the fieldwork inspired Zolt\u00e1n Kod\u00e1ly\u2019s major creative output, and in 1961 the composer completed a collection of Mari folk songs entitled “\u00d6t hegyi-mari n\u00e9pdal” (\u201cFive Hill Mari Folk Songs\u201d), the lyrics of which were translated into Hungarian by G\u00e9za K\u00e9pes<\/strong> (1909\u20131989).<\/p>

Cheremis folksongs (1971)<\/h3>

The culmination of this long-term work was the pioneering anthology Cheremis Folksongs<\/a><\/em> (1971). Vik\u00e1r and Bereczki published the book in Budapest in 1971. Later, the Hungaroton record label released a series of archive recordings, which are now available on YouTube<\/a>. Hungarian researchers noted the outstanding quality of traditional Mari music. Today, related languages sound foreign and incomprehensible to unaccustomed Hungarians, but, for example, the authors believe that a Hungarian ear immediately perceives a sense of kinship in a Hill Mari melody. Common features are evident in the pentatonic scale and the characteristic alternation of phrases by a fifth. The melody is repeated a step lower, creating a deep sense of inner unity between the cultures, the authors argue. At the same time, the authors believe that Hill Mari songs are more flexible, more poetic and seem to be \u2018imbued with the wind blowing from the right bank of the Volga\u2019.<\/p>

Hill Mari melodies<\/h3>

The authors of the book argue that Kod\u00e1ly sensitively preserved the natural character of authentic Mari singing, opening the first song of the cycle in B flat minor and 5\/4 time. The piano gently guides the bass line, whilst the mounting dissonances emphasise the melody\u2019s sadness and unresolved emotional pain. Of the five songs in the cycle, only one is performed at a varied tempo. All the other pieces are imbued with concentrated sadness and deep emotion. According to the authors of the book, the melodies reflect the people\u2019s centuries-long history, which has been carefully preserved by folk singers. Hungarian musicologists have also pondered the origins of this melancholy: perhaps it is precisely this worldview that unites many related peoples \u2013 the Finno-Ugric peoples \u2013 notes musicologist M\u00e1t\u00e9 Holl\u00f3s<\/strong>. In his view, the surviving recordings and anthologies serve as a living bridge between Hungarian and Mari cultures.<\/p>

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