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Verbunkos and Roma orchestras

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Genre

Verbunkos and Roma orchestras · After 1715, the imperial army lured young men into service in Hungarian inns with drink, dance and music. From that recruitment, in German Werbung, grew the verbunkos, a name that appears in the 1770s. A slow section with dotted rhythms, the lassú, is followed by a fast and virtuosic section, the friss. Roma violinists such as János Bihari made the style famous. Liszt, Brahms and later Bartók incorporated it into their own work.

Listening

Listening tip. Here Bartók himself plays piano, with the violinist Joseph Szigeti and the clarinettist Benny Goodman, in the first movement of his Contrasts, which he called Verbunkos. Can you hear the dotted rhythms and the proud, stately gait of the old recruiting dance?

See also

Categories: Genres