Magyar Herald, 1988 (1-4. szám)
1988 / 3. szám
3rd QUARTER, 1988 MAGYAR HERALD Page 3 To be Magyar.... Continued from Page 1 His theory of psychoanalysis is the prevailing theory all over the world. According to him two equally powerful principles rule and govern our lives: inheritance and environment. (The force of “Must” and the force of “Choice”.) The first is in our blood from our fore-fathers, the second comes from the place, where we grow up. We, American Magyars, are the mixture of the two. Lajos Zilahy wrote a great novel: “The Spirit has expired!” It is about an American Hungarian, who returned to the homeland. The judgement of all concludes: in him the Hungarian Spirit has expired! They were wrong and so was the novelist himself. The spirit has lived in him, deeply rooted in his blood by inheritance; but the American environment in which he lived so long, made him different. Endre Ady in 1909 sent these words back to Hungary from Paris, from the place of his own, new environment: “This Ark of Covenant, my heart, I send and bid a militant good day. My kinsmen, many rumbling millions, although you may deny me, still, oh, still I must belong to you. Our bond of union came from destiny and not from virtue, worth, or sin, and not from want and even less from greed Within us great, exalted powers wait to be awakened into life; a lovely nation lies concealed in us... I must be yours, and it is all the same whether you want or want me not. One is our sun upon the glorious sky, but, oh, at times the racks of evil may conceal me from the light. ” Ady fenn idézett halhatatlan verse így csengett a költő ajkán az eredeti nyelven Párizsból haza és visszhangként cseng a mi ajkunkon is a tengerentúlról haza: „Szívem küldöm, ez ó frigy-ládát... Véreim, ti dübörgő ezrek, Tagadjatok meg, mégis-mégis Én a tiétek vagyok... Kötésünket a Sors akarta, Nem érdem, nem bűn, nem erény Nem szükség, de nem is ravaszság... Bennünk nagyságos erők várnak, Hogy életre ébredjenek, Bennünk egy szép ország rejtőzik. Tietek vagyok, mindegy most már, Hogy nem kellek, vagy kellek-e, Egy a Napunk, gyönyörű égen, Jaj, hogy elfed a Naptól néha A gonoszság fellege. ” „Küldöm a frigy-ládát. ” Ady Endre verse, Párizs, 1909 — NEWS ABOUT OURSELVES—i Musicians in Our Magyar Club The real purpose of our Magyar Herald is to tell stories about ourselves. We just printed a series of our musical talents. One was away at Florida at that time. We now complete that series by reprinting parts of a delightfully written article about Zoltán Tóth, one of our most faithful members, brother of our president. It appeared in the ‘Port St. Lucie Mirror’, written by Charlotte Himber. It speaks for itself, most eloquently done. ZOLTÁN TÓTH "Designing performer is a world class craftsman, too. ” Zoltán Tóth has played with symphonic orchestras all over the United States. But besides being a famous musician, he has won accolades in a series of other prestigious careers: • As a maker of cellos, his internationally known instruments surpass in tone quality many renowned antiques. His exquisite furniture graces his house in Cleveland and beautifies his winter home here; • As a one-of-a-kind instructor in the skill of sharpening fine tools, he runs seminars for the mechanically elite; An indomitable optimist, he is proud of his recovery after a fourth heart attack — a severe one which required a triple bypass. Toth, 67, carries himself well — a tall man with fair skin and hazel eyes, vigorous and firm. His manner has the engaging charm of a man fulfilled in his work, in his love — “44 years married to a wonderful wife,” in his artistic interests and the pleasures to achievement. “I’m really a loner,” he declares, and you listen dubiously, for he communicates with friendly ease. He explains, “there are other things I enjoy doing — listening to classical music on my hi-fi, traveling, long walks in the country, even looking at a single leaf on a tree. There’s so much 1 still want to do before my maker claims me, I just don’t have time.” When we stepped into the sunny home of this renaissance man, we could hardly believe such a serenely decorated residence started out as a mobile. We had interrupted him renovating the bathroom. “Let me show you my sharpening machine,” he said. We got an interesting lesson on the sharpening of blades. “Some blades have an edge so finely serrated that you can only detect the serrations with a strong microscope. For some types of work that’s the kind you need.” He demonstrated the fineness of the edge he had just run along the sharpening wheel by passing it delicately over the back of his arm, shearing off a quarter of an inch of feathery blonde hair. But the highlight of our interview came when he drew a dazzling cello out of the closet, its surface glinting like a huge jewel. “You get that surface with eight coats of varnish, sometimes ten, depending on the wood. This top of the cello is made of spruce, a lighter wood than the rest of it, which is maple.” He works on some of the parts while here in Florida. He brings down blocks of maple about 14 inches long and five inches square, out of which he carves the upper part of the instrument. He can make any of the four models of cellos. “Mine is what’s known as a Stradivarius model — it’s the one with the brightest upper register.” He drew his bow along the strings; the room came alive with the resonance of rich vibrant sound. It was then I noticed that one finger on his left hand was somewhat stunted, and politely tried not to stare at it as he played. He filled me in at once, by giving me the whole story of that disaster. “I lost a finger when I was 22, and had to stop playing. But since then, everything that has happened to me seems to fit together as though ordained. I played cello in the high school orchestra and won a series of contests, topped at age 18 by a scholarship to attend the Budapest Royal Academy of Music. After that, I was playing cello around the country.” „When 1 was 22, a saw removed half of one finger on my left hand; that was the end of my cello-playing for 15 years. — ” Genius will out, no matter what field is chosen, apparently, for Zoltán Toth achieved acclaim designing of buildings for General Motors and Standard Oil. “One day I attended the opening of the medical building I had designed for plastic surgeons. They had hired a musical trio to play for the gathering; among them was a cellist, and I mentioned that I had at one time won awards as a cellist but my musical carreer ended when I lost a finger. “Oh, but we can fix that,” said the surgeon, vehemently. And so he did! “Six days later I was in a hospital where surgery had been applied by grafting bone and tissue from my arm to build up the sawed-off finger, and that culminated in a reunion with my cello.” Toth returned to the concert stage and soon became famous as a cellist again. During this time his mechanical training sparked an interest in the construction of string instruments, and he began seriously to fashion cellos. His wife, Irma, arrived. He put his arm around her and gave her a hearty squeeze as he introduced her. Clearly, it was their enduring relationship in which he felt the greatest pride. They met when she was singing the lead in an operetta in Cleveland, and Zoltán played the cello. Irma sings now with the Spanish Lakes chorus. We here in Port St. Lucie are lucky to reap the benefits of this harmonious musical team.
