Paksa Katalin - Németh István: Muravidéki magyar népzene (Budapest - Lendva, 2018)
A régió népzenéjéről
ABOUT THE FOLK MUSIC OF THE REGION 47 intonation, that is, the use of intervals not being perfectly regulated yet, and sometimes by speech inflection. The description by Ferenc Gönczi also befits kotyolás in the Mura region: “its tune is rudimentary, monotonous” (Gönczi 1914, 259-262). The good wishes he cites are similar to the ones in the Mura region: “May your hens and geese sit in their place like my two little ...!” (cf. 1), “May your pig have as large lardoon as the door, door, door!”, “May you have as many chicks as stars in the sky, blades of grass on the earth!” (cf. 3). The text often contains ribald, imprintable details referring to fertility. It is noteworthy that the Lucy day custom of the local Slovenians performed by girls “dressed up like witches” has nothing to do with the Hungarian custom. Apart from lucázás, a winter custom is the Nativity play, which, unfortunately, is not perpetuated on any audio recording. Károly Horváth published a Nativity play from Felsőlakos (Horváth 1992, 196) with the notated tune, which in our book is included as a Christmas greeting and Christmas song with a different text (8, 11). The date of Christmas greeting is 24th December, Christmas eve. Groups move from house to house and sing Christmas carols, sometimes whole cycles under the windows. The household rewards them with different gifts. In Zalagyertyános and Petesháza the greeting consists of four songs (7-10). The custom is also discussed by Ferenc Gönczi; in his time it was only performed by boys (Gönczi 1914, 267). On St. Stephen’s day and St. John’s day, 26th and 27th December, respectively, people went with musicians to greet, they did not remember that the tunes used to have texts (unlike in Zala county villages). But New Year’s greeting was found in several forms. Notable is the twin-bar greeting which is only known in the Mura region (13-15). Asection of the text is identical with the regös incantation (“Adjon az Úristen ennek a gazdának...” [May God give this host...]). In Őrihodos two kinds of New Year’s greeting is used depending on religious denomination: the Calvinists sing Új esztendő, vígságszerző [Here is New Year, bringing much joy] (16, 17), while the Lutherans sing Nékünk születik mennyei király [A heavenly king is born to us] (18, 19). Variants of the Catholic folk hymn O, szép Jézus, ez új esztendőben [Oh, fair Jesus, in this New Year] are widely known but they differ more or less from the forms in church songbooks (20-22). Ferenc Gönczi wrote that “earlier 10-12-year-old schoolchildren” used this song for greeting “wherever they got permission from the inhabitants of the house. Then they wished ‘strength, health, plenty in everything, and salvation after death’” (Gönczi 1914, 229). The visit of the Magi was the custom on Epiphany day. In Köt teenage girls performed it: five or six stopped under windows greeting the household with the folk hymn Háromkirályok napját, országunk egy istápját [The day of the Three Kings, protectors of our country] and received some money in return. The custom ceased in 1939 but variants of the church hymn were still known in Petesháza, Csente and Kapca (23). In spring, on 12th March, the day of Doctor of the Church Pope St. Gregory the Great “Gergő-children” whom the teacher picked from among the best pupils go round
