Fraternity-Testvériség, 2003 (81. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2003-04-01 / 2. szám
FRATERNITY Page 5 Anniversary of the Hungarian National Anthem The history of the Hungarian nation reaches back more than a 1,000 years. Like every nation around the world, Hungary also had difficulty selecting an anthem that would best exemplify the mood and the spirit of its people. In most cases, at the early part of our nation’s history, anthems were selected from either folk songs or church hymns that were sung on various national holidays. This was the case until the end of the 18th century, when Joseph Haydn composed the famous melody of “Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser”, which later became the national anthem of Austria. During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, attempts were made to push this anthem upon the Hungarians without much success. The most gracious poem written by Ferenc Kölcsey, the “Himnusz”, had been well received since its inception in 1823. It was in 1843 that András Bártáy, a great leader of the reform movement and himself a great musician, declared a contest to write music to the above mentioned poem. Among the many works received was also the original work of Ferenc Erkel. However, since he was one of the judges, he withdrew his work. All the received compositions won the desired support of the judges. Mr. Bártáy declared another competition to find appropriate music on February 29, 1844. At this time, Mr. Erkel was not among the judges, and, therefore he submitted his composition. In one of the comments recorded in the historical archives, Erkel seems to remember how the composition came about. “It was awfully quiet. I just sat there next to the piano and was deeply in thought. I put the words in front of me. I read them over and over again. I was thinking hard. Then I remembered one of my early teachers from Pozsony, whose words rang back in my ears, as he said, ‘When you do a very important composition, my son, remember the sounds of the bells.’ In my ears I imagined the ringing of the great bells of Pozsony (now Bratislava - part of Slovakia), and when I put my fingers on the piano, all of sudden those fingers started to move and move, one note after another. By the time I realized, not even an hour had passed and the Himnusz was completed.” It was 160 years ago. The first presentation of the National Anthem, the Himnusz, was made on July 15, 1843 in the National Theater - Nemzeti Szinház. There are some interesting notes in connection with the Himnusz. It has been recorded that after the Second World War, when Hungary became part of the communist block, the National Anthem was only played but seldom sung because the beginning of it mentioned the word God in an atheistic land. There are also some records that Mátyás Rákosi, the leader of Communist Hungary, pleaded with Gyula Illés, a great literary genius, and Zoltán Kodály, the great composer, that they should re-write the Himnusz with the name of God taken out of it. Kodály said it was done right the first time around. From The Bethlen Home Hungarian Independence Day at the Bethlen Home On March 15, 2003, the Bethlen Home celebrated the 155th anniversary of the Hungarian Independence Day. The Rev. Imre A. Bertalan, Executive Director of the Bethlen Home, welcomed the guests and residents to this annual celebration. Following the presentation of flags by the staff of the Bethlen Home, the guests recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the National Anthem. The invocation was given by Rev. Dr. Joseph Posta. Edit Szep of the Bethlen Cultural Center shared some thoughts with us on Petőfi Sándor. Edit, who came to this country from Transylvania, also recalled the days when the Romanian Government forbade the people to celebrate March 15th. We were moved by her beautiful presentation. Irene Kovács, a resident of Ligonier Gardens and an active participant in cultural affairs at the Bethlen Home, recited Petőfi’s, “Szülőföldem.” HRFA Director Joseph Fabri recited the “Nemzeti dal.” The benediction was given by Rev. Levente Molnár. We congratulated Rev. and Mrs. Miklós Novak on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary. We thank Baba Uj vagi and Edit Szep for putting together this memorable program. We also thank the staff at the Bethlen Home for the wonderful reception that followed. Peggy Fabri, Branch Manager
