Music of Hungary

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Music in Hungary covers folk, popular and classical styles. Folk music is a key part of Hungarian identity and continues to influence modern music. A well-known folk event is the Busójárás festival in Mohács. Traditional instruments include the citera, cimbalom, cobza, doromb, duda, tárogató, tambura and other voices and strings. Hungarian folk often echoes the music of nearby Balkan and Central Asian cultures.

Hungarian classical music grew by blending old Hungarian roots with European ideas. Two famous figures, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, used folk music to shape a distinct Hungarian style. Bartók collected folk songs across Central and Eastern Europe, while Kodály focused on creating a uniquely Hungarian sound.

Romani (Gypsy) music is another important part of Hungary’s musical landscape. Under communist rule, a Song Committee censored popular music. After 1989, Hungarian music revived in jazz, modern folk and rock, with artists like Rudolf Tomsits, Károly Binder, Ferenc Sebő and Márta Sebestyén. The big Hungarian rock groups Illés, Metró and Omega remained popular.

Hungary’s origins lie in a mix of Ugric and Eastern Turkic peoples, giving its traditional music a unique character. Some scholars note connections to the Mari, Mongolian and Native American traditions, while others warn against tying it to any single group. Hungarian folk is known for two features: pentatonic scales built from major seconds and minor thirds (the “gapped” scales), and the practice of transposing melodies by a fifth to create the essence of a song. An ABBA-type form, where sections repeat with transposed parts, is also common.

In the 19th century, verbunkos, a music style used at army recruiting, became very popular. It mixes slow dances with faster ones and features expressive melodies without words. Notable performers include Panna Czinka and János Bihari. Verbunkos helped shape Hungarian Romantic music and gave rise to nóta, a later popular style.

Transylvania (now in Romania) has been a vital source of Hungarian folk, and the táncház movement began there in the 1970s as a new way to celebrate traditional dance music. Csárdás, a famous Hungarian dance with changing speeds, spread from these communities.

Hungarian classical music also produced many great names. Franz Liszt is a world-famous pianist and composer of Hungarian Rhapsodies, and Ferenc Erkel helped found Hungarian opera. In the 20th century, Bartók and Kodály again led a folk revival in art music. György Ligeti and György Kurtág are major modernists. Budapest hosts many festivals and venues, including orchestras and concert halls.

In the 20th century, popular music moved through light operettas, jazz, rock and later electronic dance music. After 1989, clubbing and electronic scenes grew, with clubs and festivals such as Sziget, VOLT and Balaton Sound. The capital’s big venues and the country’s festivals have helped Hungary become a lively center for music of many kinds. The indie, punk, metal and hip-hop scenes also flourished, with bands and artists contributing to a diverse musical culture across the country.