Budapest éjjel

Title

Budapest éjjel
Budapest at Night

Subject

Romanies Hungary Music
Folk music Hungary

Description

This is a vinyl record of songs performed by Sándor Lakatos and his Gypsy Band, an instrumental group from 1960s Hungary. The album is from 1965 and in English is titled Budapest at Night. Lakatos was a violin player who's family had a long history of playing Hungarian folk music, specifically violin. Lakatos was also "... a descendant of the legendary Gypsy primas Janos Bihari" and was himself a very well renowned prima (the orchestra's soloist and leader).(Piskor, 94) He and his band made traditional Gypsy music while also incorporating innovation, and performed all over the world. Lakatos was Romani, a word describing a population that has existed in Hungary for centuries, and are often referred to as gypsies. (Junghaus, 3:17) They are a nomadic people who emigrated from India about 1500 years ago, and now mostly live throughout eastern Europe. Romani are all very different, living in small communities each with their own characteristics specific to their evolution and host country. But two defining characteristics that most Romani people have in common are the fact that they are highly discriminated against both socially and politically, and that they have an extremely strong cultural foundation in music. "It is very hard to live from a love of music. So hard that many of us went over into other [classical] styles..." describes Istvan Farkas, a Hungarian Romani violinist who started making violins to support himself. As shown, music is an integral, unavoidable aspect of Roma culture. (Junhaus, 1:40)

Farkás, István, performer. Redefining Roma Culture. Produced by Open Society
Foundaitons and Tímea Junhaus, 2017. Open Society Foundations,
www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/
it-s-time-roma-people-speak-themselves?utm_source=news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_060317&utm_content=Mm4zvs8dtPNtGg49yW4nEgO3gWN7H6N90wLxl_sZJw.
Gypsy Violins Hungarian-Slovak Gypsies in America. E-book, Cleveland, OH, Saroma.
King of Gypsy Fiddlers. Orchestrated by Sandor Lakatos. last.fm, CBS

Creator

Sándor Lákatos and his Gypsy Band

Publisher

Qualiton Records

Date

1965

Contributor

Molly Thayer

Format

12'' Vinyl Record

Language

Hungarian
English

Type

LP

Identifier

CSC_GBA_14
Qualiton SLPX 10071
Qualiton LPX 10071
https://storiedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/22
https://storiedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/files/original/f6c694de70934c8c0a0224c75581b207.jpg
https://storiedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/files/original/6729a06f86b87ea2b3e9bdd4b6eee112.JPG

Files

f6c694de70934c8c0a0224c75581b207.jpg
6729a06f86b87ea2b3e9bdd4b6eee112.JPG

Collection



Citation

Sándor Lákatos and his Gypsy Band, “Budapest éjjel,” A Storied People, accessed March 19, 2024, https://astoriedpeople.oberlincollegelibrary.org/items/show/55.