Katalin Paksa's Definitive History of Hungarian Folk Music: Layers, Styles, and Ethnomusicology 

UPC: 9789634560821X 

MPN: 978-963-456-082-1 

Brand Name: Balassi Kiadó / Institute for Musicology, Research Centre for the Humanities

Overview

Katalin Paksa’s A History of Hungarian Folk Music is the essential, scholarly English-language overview of the historical layers and styles of Magyar népzene. Starting from the foundational research of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, this volume meticulously integrates subsequent academic achievements to bridge the gap between ethnomusicology and folk music teaching. The book provides deep analysis of Hungarian folk music's complex history, exploring its ties with linguistically related peoples, its interactions with European folk music and art music, and the fascinating process of folklorization. Enriched with numerous music examples, photos, and facsimiles, it is an indispensable resource for students, researchers, and enthusiasts of Central European musical heritage.

Product Features

• Format: Scholarly Hardcover
• Length: 320 pages 
• Dimensions (Approx.): Not provided. (Assumed: Standard Academic Textbook Size)
• Genre: Ethnomusicology, Music History, World Literature, Hungarian Studies
• Key Topics: Prehistoric Archaic Stratum, Ugrian Period (Primitive Stratum), Lament Style, Pentatonic Styles (Narrow-Range, Fifth-shifting), Medieval Folk Music, The New Style (Nineteenth-Twentieth Centuries).
• Special Features: Includes comprehensive bibliography, lists of localities, and indices of syllabic numbers and cadences. Set of musical examples available digitally via the Institute for Musicology.
• Translation: Translated by Judit Pokoly and revised by Maria Domokos, Pál Richter, and Vera Lampert.

Interesting Facts

Author Katalin Paksa is a renowned Hungarian musicologist and a leading figure in the tradition established by Kodály and Bartók, focusing her career on preserving and analyzing the nation’s folk music heritage. This book is the official English translation of the 5th revised edition of Magyar népzenetörténet, making the most current Hungarian ethnomusicological research accessible to a global audience. The original research efforts of Bartók and Kodály in the early 20th century were groundbreaking, not just for cataloging Hungarian music, but for fundamentally changing the field of ethnomusicology itself. Their collection methods and style classifications—such as the "Old Style" (featuring narrow-range, descending pentatonic melodies) and the "New Style" (characterized by wider ranges and arch forms)—are central to Paksa's historical overview, providing a crucial framework for understanding Hungarian musical identity.

Publishers

• Original Publisher: Balassi Kiadó (2019, Hungarian edition)
• English Edition Publishers: Balassi Kiadó and the Institute for Musicology of the Research Centre for the Humanities (BTK Zenetudományi Intézet)
• Responsible Publishers: Andrea Soóky (Director, Balassi Kiadó) and Pál Richter (Director, Institute for Musicology)

Hashtags

#HungarianFolkMusic #KatalinPaksa #Ethnomusicology #BartókKodály #MagyarNépzene #MusicHistoryBook #BalassiKiadó #PentatonicScale #BuyOnline #RareMusicBook