Great composers are rarely born. The tiny songs multiply like crickets in the field, but they can’t be included in a big and great song. Erkel was the last to make a lot of Hungarian music.
However, we have a much bigger problem than the possibility of birth. Our biggest problem is the foreign direction of higher music education and its unquenchable hatred for Hungarian music.
I don’t think we would have been born with great composing power throughout the last generation. We know that there are many who have experimented with the acquisition of songs, large and small, for twenty-five or thirty years.
What is the result?
Nothing in larger songs. In a smaller song, the so-called folk song, a lot of great melodies were born,-301- but how many great songs have been made, whether vig, serious, farce, or dramatic, are all truncated, lame, timeless or foreign music, or distortions of only Hungarian racial music.
And the sad truth is that only those who are far from the music academy could create pure Hungarian music; and the men and students of the Academy of Music produce either foreign music or Hungarian distorted music.
And that’s natural.
During the everyday irresistible pressures of the foreign direction, the young brain becomes marginalized and then becomes incapable of pure Hungarian musical works. Darwin’s law is a strict law. Against him, no theoretical reasoning is worth anything.
Until the Academy of Music is filled with strangers and Hungarian-hating sick souls, and until there Hungarian music education will take over without debate: we can only expect a great Hungarian musician from blind chance. But until then, state money should not be wasted on strengthening a foreign direction.
No country in the world conducts Hungarian music in higher institutions. That is what Hungary must do.
All other perceptions are mundane or betrayal.
We need to raise Chaldean. If a man is unable to fill his place: he must be replaced by two, five, ten. But the music of ourselves, the music of our eastern and southern neighbors, and the music of the peoples of Asia are more or less-302-we have to collect our related music and we have to clean Hungarian racial music from all foreign infiltrations. Let the world see once again something in the field of sound art, our noble, sublime and original and our richer than what has been known so far.
The musician world smiles at my admiration and my thousands of objectionable aspirations.
I do not want to discuss your objections now. Maybe it’s not relevant yet. And ye bear witness against him as a great witness.
This is the doctrine of the mighty emperor of the Germans, William. Who has a lively sense of sound art, whose soul is capable of great flame, whose true German is not in the world today, and perhaps has not been who he has ever been, since he got to know Hungarian music, he is just a fan of it, he only appreciates it like maybe myself.
Hohenzoller’s sympathy and true adherence to Hungarian music is almost wonderful. I have to prove this in a few cases. There is also some luck and some merit in Káldy’s operation.
Prior to that, a Hungarian lieutenant, Hugó Peczek, served in the joint Austrian-Hungarian army thirty-seven years ago. Descendant of an old Hungarian noble family. I knew him little myself, but I was in inner friendship with his family for decades. He was the son of Bishop János’ sister, whom I recorded in my work “Journey around Lake Balaton”. He was born in Dárda, Baranya County; Fifty years ago he came to Veszprém to live with his parents and siblings. The right in Pest and -303-He graduated in Vienna, but his strong inclination attracted him to military life and, despite the will of his enlisted parents, he enlisted as a soldier in the No. 4 Deutschmeister Regiment. From there he joined Baron Ramming’s No. 72 Hungarian Regiment in Bratislava and took part in the Schleswig-Holstein War in 1864 with his regiment.
He really liked the music. He also played the piano excellently and had a fairly theoretical musical background, and his comrades had many pleasant lessons with Hungarian pieces of music. He was also well known by his colonel as a lieutenant musician.
In this war, Frederick, heir to the throne, the Prince of Prussia, the father of the later emperor, today’s German emperor, was there at the main command, and there was also Prince Charles, Prince of Prussia.
Prince Károly Frigyes already knew Hungarian music as well. He had heard it in several places and more than once and in it, whenever he heard it, he always sighed huge feelings, arousing strong and noble dreams. He communicated this to the heir to the throne, Frederick, and they both asked the colonel if the band of his regiment could not play Hungarian melodies.
You could be an elf! We lived under the worst Austrian encroachment, the military bands certainly did not learn Hungarian music. But anyway, these bands work mainly with wind and percussion instruments, which are not suitable for Hungarian music.
The colonel did not give much encouragement to the royal princes of Prussia. However, Prince Charles did not shy away.-304-
“But, dear colonel, there are enough Hungarian boys in the regiment, even if the band doesn’t touch it, the boys will just swell the Hungarian music.”
The Prince of Prussia was of the opinion that at least two out of every three Czech puppies had reached the trumpet: the Hungarian sons, the good inter-deceitful lads, were also born musicians.
The colonel was no longer reluctant.
He summoned Hugo Peczek, told him the wishes of the Prussian royal princes, and asked him to do something if he could.
Lieutenant General Peczek promised. But only on the condition that he finds enough gypsies in the regiment, and that he and the gypsies are relieved of their daily and camp service and that he is helped to obtain a violin, bassoon and cymbal as soon as possible. His money was enough, he got the tool, but the cimbalm was really obtained from Pest at the speed of a military courier. They couldn’t find any closer. The other instruments were also available in Berlin.
He found a lot of gypsies. He played the violin one by one. Ten selected. Their names were: Bodris, Balás, Kurucz, Recsko, Oláh, two as Sárközi, Kiss and Pisnyi Zsiga. This Pisnyi was particularly adept, it became the primate among them, the lieutenant chief conductor himself.
Where did these gypsies were: I don’t know. They can still live and live among them, they can’t be older than 60 or 62, but they can’t be younger. Probably beyond the Danube all s maybe Bratislava and-305-most of Nitra counties. You can meet among our gentle readers, who will come across one another and give me news about it as well. They can tell a lot about the Hungarian music of the Schleswig-Holstein campaign and the enthusiasm of the royal princes of Hohenzollern.
It barely took a couple of weeks, the band formed and learned. From the second half of Julius onwards, the princes and chiefs of war, and all the generals and chief officers who were nearby, listened to the military bands only when he had to. Their whole soul was immersed in Hungarian music. Bismarck himself, the later iron chancellor, pondered several times, daydreaming about the wonderful melodies of this music.
Hundreds and hundreds of folk songs were played. Kurucz music was not yet generally known at the time. »The tree fell from the almond«, »The candle burns on the green table« s Kossuth’s song was liked by the royal princes the most. They could never decide if the sad or cheerful music was kinder to them.
A Flensburg photographer, someone named Brandt, also took a picture of them while they were playing there. The royal princes stayed there in a castle-like building. In front of the gate shady trees s table and wooden benches. There gypsies proudly wear blue boots and white military jackets. He puts down all. Lieutenant Peczek sits next to the bassist and steers from there. In the middle is the cymbal. Wide balcony above the gate. There sit the royal princes. The heir to the throne himself, the later unhappy emperor, on the railing of the balcony -306-he elbows, he heads his head to his hands and he daydreams. There were fewer faces in the world than his own, more powerful, nobler, and at the same time gentler.
On September 11, the heir to the throne was in the port of Apenrade. Lunch was on board one of your cannon boats at two o’clock and he asked Lieutenant Peczek’s gang there. The music and its enjoyment lasted almost dusk. The heir to the throne could barely get rid of him. With a warm handshake, he thanked Peczek for the great beauty. And he said these words:
“Your music is very beautiful, but I can hardly judge it.” I am also receptive to other music, but all other music only affects my nerves. Hungarian music permeates my whole soul.
Among other commemorative gifts to Lieutenant General Peczek, he obtained the Royal Crown Order of Prussia from his father, the King. And besides, he got him a lot of order, even, if I remember correctly, Russian.
What attention and tenderness there was in these Prussian “highest lords!”
Zsiga Pisnyi, the primate, fell ill and was hospitalized in Tondern. A dog line is already for the gypsy when he is placed in the hospital. Both the heir to the throne and the royal prince Charles visited him. They would have spoken to him kindly, except that the gypsy did not speak German and the Prince of Prussia did not speak Hungarian. They finally fenced off an interpreter from somewhere. What does the gypsy want?
“I would have no wish, Your Majesty, not to spend so much money on me.”-307-
– What do you mean by that?
“Instead of a lot of expensive medicine, a good drink of a day would be enough for me.”
The princes laughed.
But it was then arranged that the gypsy, when he recovered, would go to the musicians again and not have to wear a rifle and calf. The violin is lighter.
His son, Emperor William, also inherited the love of Hungarian music from Emperor Frederick. But he loves her even more and sinks even more than his prosperous father.
This came to the fore when he came to Hungary in September 1897 and visited Budapest. It was then that he became acquainted with kurucz music and that was the first time he saw and heard it.
Káldy introduced him to both.
From this time on, our music has no more powerful and noble friend on the round earth than the German emperor. He does not forget even in his career as world governor. He comes to mind many times and is always deep in his soul whenever he gets it.
Getting to know kurucz music, as far as I know, I need to talk in detail.
