Hungary — Soundport Project

A 31-minute instrumental journey across Hungary in one continuous arc, from the Danube-dusk Romani art-music of Budapest to the Austrian-baroque chamber elegance of Győr. No vocals; pure instrumental storytelling.

Each track is composed from the music of its place: the cimbalom, primáš violin and táncház tradition of Budapest's twilight Danube; the Turkish-Slavic borderland tambura of southern Pécs; the bagpipe drone, citera and pentatonic old-layer fiddle of the puszta capital, Debrecen; Kodály's archaic ethnographic ground-zero in Kecskemét; the painted-house ugrós dances of Sárköz in Kalocsa; and the Tisza-river festival brass of paprika-warm Szeged.

Tracklist

  1. 01 Budapest cimbalom and primáš violin, the táncház heart on a twilight Danube 0:00 · 4:30
  2. 02 Pecs Turkish-Slavic borderland tambura, a Mediterranean-tinged south 4:22 · 3:45
  3. 03 Debrecen bagpipe drone and citera over the vast, stoic Great Plain 7:59 · 3:42
  4. 04 Kecskemet Kodály's home city, archaic pentatonic fiddle and quiet breath 11:33 · 5:55
  5. 05 Kalocsa painted-house Sárköz folk art, the village celebration at full bloom 17:20 · 2:52
  6. 06 Szeged Tisza-river festival brass, paprika-warm and open-air bright 20:05 · 3:43
  7. 07 Eger hurdy-gurdy and wooden flute in the baroque fortress wine country 23:39 · 3:56
  8. 08 Gyor pipe organ and string quartet, an elegant westward farewell 27:28 · 3:30

Photography credits