Playlist:  Folk Music and the Revival in Hungary (Introduction to World Music: Europe) by Jenna Makowski, Alexander Street Press

Some of the earliest recordings of Hungarian folk music were gathered in the first decades of the 20th centuries by composers such as Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly, who spent years traveling through Hungary's countryside and recording songs in the field. According to Bartok's notes, this song is "A hearty-voiced woman singing in a style which reminds one forcibly of Gaelic-speaking singers of Ireland and Scotland. This style is an old traditional one, in Dorian form on B flat." (Folk Music of Hungary. Liner Notes. Folkways Records, 1950.)

The ancestor of the cimbalom appears to be the Indian santur. It was probably brought to Europe by gypsies. In Hungary it was first mentioned in the 15th century but as a smaller version of the instrument we know today. The cimbalom became so popular that is was played in religious services in churches as well as inns. Today, it is a central instrument in Hungarian music. (Kalman Balogh: The Art of the Gipsy Cimbalom. Liner Notes. American Record Corporation, 2006.)

Czadas, or Csardas, is a traditional folk dance dating from the 18th century. It has morphed into various forms, including into classical compositions by composers like Liszst and Brahms, as well as into traditional dance repertoires in the contemporary tanchaz dance movements in Budapest today. Listen for tempo variations, a main characteristic of the genre. (The Music of Hungary. Vanilla OMP, 2009.)

Moldva is that part of Hungary which lies to the east of Transylvania in today's Romania. The Hungarians there are a very isolated minority. Due to this, folk music and dance have been preserved in there in a very archaic form. The group presents them as close to their original forms here as possible. (Csugo Zenekar: Folk Music from Hungary. Liner Notes. American Record Corporation, 2008.)