Pentatony as a vehicle of identity in Hungarian music

Paksa, Katalin (2010) Pentatony as a vehicle of identity in Hungarian music. Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 55 (1). pp. 1-10. ISSN 1216-9803

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Abstract

Owing to its strong emotional effect, music plays a great role in experiencing and expressing self-identity. In Hungary, 19th century compilers of folksong collections consciously professed the national value of their work, while they were embarrassed by the tonality of genuine folksongs, having an aversion to pentatonic tunes. In the early 20th century, it was exactly this tonal world that attracted Bartók and Kodály and helped them to develop their own compositional style and create sovereign Hungarian music in opposition to German romanticism. Pentatony recognized in folk music aroused their interest in researching eastern, prehistoric connections and also inspired them to carry on the stylistic interpretation of the Hungarian folk music stock. Kodály based his music pedagogical conception on the acquisition of the musical mother tongue, first of all pentatonic folksongs, which he meant as a remedy against the identity crisis of the society. The role of pentatony as a vehicle of identity has been verified by new achievements of ethnomusicology which has explored the importance of the five-tone scale in the history of Hungarian folk music more thoroughly.

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