Magyar Hírek, 1984 (37. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)
1984-12-22 / 25-26. szám
Bride and groom aren’t they both lovely" The Goddess Justitia sitting on her throne among the clouds must be truly embarrassed. She was not painted in those days onto the ceiling of the vestibule of the Hungarian Supreme Court in Budapest to take delight in weddings of human beings, but to keep guard over justice. Alajos Hauszmann, the architect and the painter of the fresco. Károly Lotz could not possibly foresee that, after the Second World War, the building was to serve as a museum. The splendid building suffered heavily during hostilities. When it was restored, it became the home of the Hungarian National Gallery, the principal collection of Hungarian wotks of art, and when that institution was later moved to Buda Castle in 1973, it has been occupied by the Ethnographic Museum, and offered a long-lacked opportunity to show parts of this 160,000 piece collection under suitable conditions. The current exhibition “Bride and groom, aren't they both lovely” revives a motif of old wedding customs: nuptial costumes are shown that were worn in various regions. The short fur-lined coat (’mente’) made of broadcloth, an elegant piece worn slung over the shoulder, was the most fashionable part of the nuptial dress in the first half of the 19th century. Brides went to their wedding wearing the mente even in the second half of the century in many regions. Hand-embroidered sheepskin waistcoats substituted the mente for people in more modest circumstances. Both these garments were worn by women and men alike. In County Békés the bride customarily wore the sheepskin waistcoat of her groom after the wedding. But many things happened also before the wedding. Gifts were given, for instance. Often a whole house could be furnished with them. And the bride did not go into marriage empty-handed either. She did not only give an embroidered shirt to the groom, and stuck a gilded rosemary bouquet to his hat on the wedding day, but also had to have a hope chest of at least 280 pieces, even if she was an orphan. Daughters of better-to-do farmers took even 400 piece hope chests with them. In the event of divorce—which was very rare in those days—all this belonged to the wife, who could even take back the groom’s shirt she had embroidered with love and expectations of a happy married life. The trousseau was put on public show on the day of the wedding. Weddings usually took three to four days in the eighteens seventies, sometimes a whole week on the Great Plains. The eat’n swill and making whoopee started each afternoon. Then on the last day, when the hosts became really tired of work, and the women doing the cocking were bid to table as well, the Gypsy band was not allowed in, and only porridge was served instead of delicacies. Those who still did not make off were then shoved out with the porridge spoon. Nobody now sits around the long table on display. A few glazed pottery platters, plates, are on the home-spun tablecloth, and old musical instruments in the other corner. Even the Goddess Justitia does not know, whether the young couple who danced to the music of the old fiddle and zither lived a happy, peaceful life. But it is certain that once the wedding was over, the ceremony of tying up the hair of the bride followed, when it was brushed and knotted into a bun. Saying good-by to the paternal home was not always cheerful either. These were the words of the bride’s song: “On to the wagon my box. / On to the wagon my pillow. / I shall sit up there also. / Alas, my mother, / My nurse. They are taking me away so soon!” Luxurious weddings were usually demanded by the community. Thus those in poorer circumstances were faced with two alternatives: either they also arranged a great wedding and went deeply into debt, or they persuaded the groom to elope with the girl. When that happened there was no big wedding, only wailing and lamenting, even though everybody in the neighbourhood knew well why things turned out that way. MAGDA HERNÁDI PHOTO: ESZTER REZES MOLNÁR KODÁLY’S MUSIC TEACHING ON VIDEO The great undertaking of recording Kodály’s teaching methods on video was started two years ago, on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. The work has now reached the half-way mark. Four of the eight parts have been completed. The video cassettes, each of which runs for one hour, are already available in Hungary as well as abroad, and provide easy access to the unique Kodály method of music teaching not only in Hungarian, but also in English, French and German. This was the occasion for a conversation with József Kiss, the director of the series, the only director Kodály allowed to film him during his lifetime. “I am glad that I became closely acquainted with Kodály in the sixties” József Kiss said, when I mentioned this to him, “and thus I could make that twenty-minute film, which was first shown in 1965. This reel is an important document: a recording of Kodály’s voice, movements and personality.” József Kiss also made a two-part television documentary film about Kodály for the centenary, and published his personal recollections of Kodály in book form. “After such preliminaries I was particularly glad that I could direct the filming of the Kodály method. It is common knowledge that Kodály attributed outstanding importance to the musical education of children and young people. He pointed out repeatedly that people who developed their musical personality also became better in other fields, and improved morally as well. He called this process harmonic development. It can be greatly assisted by music. I still admire his views, and I tried to make this series in such a way, that I could pass on this faith, which I obtained from him.” “Are you therefore endeavouring to realize more, than simply a music PHOTOS: ROBERT ÁGOSTON educational objective with this series?” “Certainly. My aim, all our aim —since several people make this film, Katalin Forrai for instance is the professional adviser—is more complex than that. We are really making an educational film, which sums up this method for teachers using it, and provides assistance in their work. This is an education method from kindergarten to conservatorium, in the working out of which Kodály had taken part intensively from the beginning right to the end of his life. Countless children in Hungary today learn their musical idiom on the basis of his method already in kindergartens, almost simultaneously with learning to speak. Later, at general schools, secondary schools, even at the academies students improve their 62
