Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1991. január-június (45. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1991-03-14 / 11. szám
Thursday, March 14.1991. AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO 11. flmÉRiifth HuncflRiflns HUNGARIANS IN THC WORLD FORGET ME NOT Serly? Louis (Lajos) Serly? Sorry, but this name doesn't seem to ring... Serly played the piano. Born in Hungary in 1855, he was a pupil of Franz Liszt, and a teacher of George Gershwin. There are tons of material on him in the Library of the Juillard School of Music, collecting dust since his death in 1939. Why blow it off? Because he was special. His first piano lesson, at age eight, set his course in life, through to the Academy of Music in a city called Pest (it became Budapest a few years later), studying under the director of the Academy, composer and virtuoso pianist, Franz Liszt. He had to have done well, for at age twenty, he was conductor of the Klagenfurt opera. Back in Budapest, he founded the first Hungarian symphony orchestra, then toured all the major cities of Europe, conducting his own orchestra. He was head conductor of the National Theatre in Budapest and Kolozsvár (today Cluj, Romania), and in 1896, at the ceremonies to commemorate the Millennium of the founding of Hungary, he wore the bright red uniform of the Hungarian hussars in a performance before the Emperor Franz Josef and the Empress Elizabeth Later he was nicknamed the Johann Strauss of Hungary, the founder of the Hungarian operetta, composer of three operas and over 500 songs, some of which are still sung as folksongs. Then came his major venture. He founded and constructed a theater in Budapest, which proved a disaster. The story has it that the authorities imposed such heavy taxes on it that it never had a chance. With six children, he was destitute, but determined to keep on going, elsewhere. The government, out of respect, or possibly by way of apology, paid for the whole family's tickets on the SS Pannónia run by the Cunard Line, and in 1905, at age of fifty, he began all over again, in New York. Other Hungarians must also have been feeling the scrunch, since it didn't take long before he had put together a 46 There are no authentic records about the first globe-trotting Hungarians. It is, however, known from legends passed by word of mouth that shortly after the Magyar occupation of the Carpathian Basin (towards the end of the 9th century), Hungarians had set off for the east to take news of their new homeland to those who had remained behind. Their names have been lost in the labyrinth of history, just like those of the first Christian pilgrims. The first authentic written record, a document now preserved in the Vatican Library, is a Latin travelogue written by a Dominican monk named Julianus, who set off with three fellow travelers in 1235 to convert pagan people to Christianity. Many followed in Julianus' footsteps in the course of subsequent centuries; they returned from their journeys with a wealth of knowledge of distant lands. Their latter-day followers were spurred on by an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Many attained world-wide renown through the results of their research work. Special mention must be given to Alexander Csorna de Kóros who, in autumn 1819, set off to find the ancient homeland of the Magyar people. After an adventureful trip he arrived in the virtually unknown Tibet. One outstanding result of this trip was the compilation of the first dictionary of the Tibetan language, a Tibetan-English dictionary. Other famous globe-trotting Hungarians were the linguist Antal Reguly, a scholar of Finno-Hungarian kinship, the geologist Lajos Loczy, who mapped China's unknown regions, and Aurel Stein, who, in the course of his extensive travels, reached the Middle East where he directed excavations which uncovered priceless artistic and archeo— member symphony orchestra and a 57 member choir, all of whom performed in Hungarian national dress. The next step was the founding of a Hungarian National Theatre in New York, which toured the US, performing everywhere where there were any number of Hungarians. In his spare time he edited a Commemorative Review of the Arts, wrote newspaper articles, and published a book predicting man-made cosmic catastrophe though he never lived to see Hiroshima or Chernobyl. In the final decade of his life he slowed down, giving music lessons. One of his pupils, George Gershwin, was quoted by the New York Times, as saying, that he had studied with a very expensive maestro, a pupil of Franz Liszt, who charged him a whole dollar a lesson. In his will he decreed that his ashes be returned to his birthplace, Losonc (Lucenec, Czechoslovakia, for the face of Europe had changed immensely since his birth). World War II. intervened. After years of waiting his remains were laid to rest in the Roman Catholic cemetery of Losonc. Ditta Pasztory, Bela Bartok's logical treasures. The list of other famous Hungarian explorers must include the ethnographers László Magyar and Lajos Biro, who led numerous successful expeditions to various regions of Africa. Kálmán Kittenberger, the world-famous hunter and natural scientist led expeditions to Equatorial Africa and, last but not least, Zsigmond Széchenyi. Although present-day globe-trotters are spurred on by the same thirst for knowledge, which drove their ancestors to set off again and again, their work differs considerably; preparation for expeditions now includes meticulous research. Moreover the vast majority of research expeditions result from interstate agreements. In recent years Hungary has maintained cultural contact at various levels with some seventy countries, providing for artistic, scientific and educational exchange programs. At present, lecturers from Hungary work at 22 universities around the world; they teach Hungarian language and culture. At the same time, on a similar exchange basis, individuals and groups from Hungary are able to study the culture of other nations. A clear indication of the international standing of Hungarian scientists is provided by the fruitful cooperation between the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the various United Nations organizations through which a constantly growing number of Hungarian scientists can now participate in UN international research teams. A good example is the international expedition comprising Swedish, Hungarian and Tanzanian scientists in the jungles of Tanzania; their task is to save this rich natural preserve from current destructive influences. widow put a marble plaque on his grave, engraved with the words and music of his most famous song, "Blue Forget-Me- Not." Based on the article by Jenó Bard, Hugarian Word. Feb. 2.1991. Endre Ady Three on the Meadow Hárman a mezon Just three of us were on the meadow: God and I and the peasant ’s curse about, And though I know we are all to die, I'll let loose a last merciless shout. I alone have no reason to tremble, Satan, you know, has a bid on my hide, And I shall preserve the peasant’s curse And stand guard for the meadow and its God. Things have turned pretty useless here In summer, winter, spring, and lazy fall, And miracles won 7 come to the meadow Unless we three stay put as we were. Translated by Dr. E. Bard
