At 12:30 p.m. Friday in the Simon Music Center, Ph.D. and M.A. Hooker presented her studies in the challenges Hungarian gypsy musicians faced as laborers throughout the course of the 19th century as part of the Musicology Colloquium Series event entitled “Gypsy Music as Labor in Twentieth-Century Hungary.”
Prior to the lecture, every seat was filled as Alison Mero, Ph.D. and current adjunct lecturer in the Musicology Department, explained that these musicology lectures are something the entire department faculty attends to hear about different topics in music.
“Because we all do so very different things, it’s a great audience to get your work out outside of the specialties,” Mero said. “We often get to hear research before it comes out in conferences and publication, which is very exciting.”
When the lecture commenced, Hooker explained that at the beginning of the 1900s, these musicians often performed at restaurants, cafés and private events and were seen in the eye of the public as not being serious musicians.
“These performers were frequently dismissed as merely tradition bearers valued for their faithful transmission of the tradition even if it means suppressing their individual creativity,” Hooker said.
With the popularization of Hungarian gypsy music on the radio in 1925, Hooker said the musicians were not treated well. This led to the Gypsy War of 1934, when gypsy bands were required to have their music screened before being aired on the radio. The musicians went on strike in anticipation of wanting radio stations to not critique their music and be seen as musicians instead of merely performers.
“They did not appreciate being denied the respect they felt they deserved,” Hooker said. “There was also this crucial financial aspect to the dispute of often not being paid except through tips from the restaurant.”
Hooker said the strike was settled when there was a shift toward more studio broadcasts, but things changed in the 1950s as cafes closed.
Hooker said in January 1950, the socialist party aimed to optimize the organization of this work force by requesting cultural managers to admit a list of the all the choirs and instrumental ensembles in Hungary.
Three years later, the Budapest Office Program was created as a sort of union for musicians and to help them get jobs in a more organized fashion. They also provided performance licenses based on their rankings from auditions.
“Only category ‘A’ musicians could lead a band in top establishments or abroad, but everyone could get a job, so to speak,” Hooker said.
Although, since 1989, Hooker said it has become clear that their music has rapidly declined. Hooker said while in 1912 an ensemble comprised 14 members, in 2012 the average number fell to six.
“I don’t think there’s any restaurant in Budapest at this point fielding a band that large,” Hooker said. “Four is considered a good size, and there’s only a few bands that have that every night.”
Hooker said though the decay has been steep, it is not a surprise to her. Advocates of real folk music have argued for the Hungarian and international music publics to leave behind the fake composed folk songs played by gypsy bands for a more genuine Hungarian expression of the rural peasantry. This new style of music thrived and gained popularity in Budapest.
Today, Hooker said these musicians claim their gypsy music is “hungarikun,” one of those special items from Hungary that characterize the Hungarians by their uniqueness and high quality.
“We have goulash soup, embroidery, special kinds of sausage and wine and gypsy music,” Hooker said.
As Hooker finished, Matthew Leone, doctoral student in the Musicology Department, sat in the audience and clapped alongside his colleagues. This is Hooker’s last lecture from the Musicology Department before pursuing a job at the Music Department at Purdue University.
“Professor Hooker has been a staple of this department for so long,” Leone said. “Just hearing her one last time is a really nice treat. It will be with a heavy heart when I attend the reception after this.”
