The Eighth Tribe, 1978 (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1978-04-01 / 4. szám
Page 14 THE EIGHTH TRIBE April, 1978 THE MAGYARS 896 A. D. — From the Urals to the Danube (A Magyarok Bejövetele) by Joseph Erdélyi, Jr. Piano Solo — /Tone Poem Time: 31 minutes — $5.00 ERDELYI MUSIC PUBLISHING CO. Suite 600, 1967 Broadway New York, NY 10019, U.S.A. Written by a new composer on the music scene: Joseph Erdélyi, Jr., (BMI — Broadcast Music Incorporated ), this Liszt-Kodály flavored composition, a tone poem, describes the coming or migration of the Hungarians from Asia to Europe a thousand years ago. Price $5.00 “What Mihály Munkácsy (1844- 1900) and Árpád Feszty (1856-1914), Hungarian painters, did on canvas, I try to do with music”, said the composer. Munkácsy’s and Feszty’s works portray the occupation by the Hungarians of the Carpathian Basin in 896 A.D. So also my composition, “The Magyars 896 A.D. — From the Urals to the Danube” depicts the coming of the Magyars from the Ural Mountain Region across the western part of Asia to Central Europe, the present home of the Hungarians. This thirty-one minute piece is rhapsodic in nature and should be played with great feeling and with abandon. ABOUT THIS TONE POEM In the beginning ... The Magyars in the Ural Mountain Region are pondering the question: Should they leave their native land and seek a new home? A trumpet or some other instrument is sounded to call the people together to decide on the question. Opinions are voiced .. . Pro and con ... Discussions go on .... They decide ... They will leave ... And head west. They begin to journey. They start to march. 500,000 strong. Magyars all. The horses neigh. They march and march until they reach the Carpathians. And when they see the Danube Basin they cry out, “Halt! Halt! Here is our new home. This is our new home. Halt! Halt!” (Álj! Alj! Itt az uj haza! Itt az uj haza! Álj! Álj!) and “Here is our new home! This is our new home! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” (Itt az uj haza! Itt az uj haza! Éljen! Éljen! Éljen.) Excitement fills the air. They enter the new territory. They revel... There is merrymaking ... All is joy ... All is joy. They came ... They saw ... They conquered. In the beginning... Now a new beginning.. . Now there is solace, calm... The of the Empire, and in light of the numerous past efforts on the part of the emperors to make that country into their fief, it was only natural for the “King of the Magyars” (Rex Ungar orum) — as the “King of Hungary” (Rex Ungariae) was still known at that time — to throw in his lot with the Papacy. And Ladislas did, although simultaneously he also kept Hungary’s national interests in mind. The pro-papal policy initiated by King Ladislas, with minor vacillations, generally remained the basis of Hungarian foreign policy throughout the protracted struggle between the popes and the emperors. Although motivated primarily by considerations of national interest, this policy may also have been aided by the increasing emotional attachment to Christianity among the Magyar masses. By the end of the eleventh century the new faith appears to have struck deep roots among them, and the year 1083 also witnessed the canonization of the first Hungarian saints, including King St. Stephen, his son St. Emeric, Bishop St. Gerard, and the two hermits from the Zobor Hills, St. Zeorard and St. Benedict. Simultaneously the institutions of Christianity were also expanding. After the conquest of Slavonia, Croatia and Dalmatia — to be discussed later — King Ladislas founded the Bishopric of Zagreb (1093). He developed and virtually re-founded the Bishoprics of Várad and Gyula-Fehérvár in Eastern Hungary, and also prepared the ground for the Bishopric of Nyitra 'n Northwestern Hungary. Ladislas’s policy was continued by King Coloman, who was much more prone to granting special privileges to the Church. Thus, in the Synod of Tracal (c. 1200) Coloman granted the clergy extensive rights in influencing Hungary’s judicial system, while, in the subsequent Synods of Esztergom (c. 1104 and c. 1112) — in line with the reform movements within the whole Church — he made priestly celibacy obligatory, and also forbade the sale of church offices (simony). Moreover, contrary to King Ladislas and his predecessors, King Coloman also gave up his prerogative to name and to invest the Hungarian bishops. With this measure he accepted fully the papal position in the investiture controversy. King Coloman died in 1116, leaving Hungary much stronger and considerably larger than when he or his predecessor ascended the throne. But his death initiated a new period of turmoil in Hungary that did not end until the emergence of the brilliant Béla III to the throne in 1172. In the meanwhile, however, notwithstanding the five and a half decades of internal turmoil, the expansion of Hungarian power into the neighboring lands continued unabated. 100
