Bonchida, Háromszor / Bonchida, Times Three

Artists

Album Info

Release Date: 1998

Label: ABT Budapest

"There is a Hungarian saying from tales that means roughly "they partied heavy all the way from Hencida to Bonchida". The meaning of this could be a bit hazy for the children of today. For one thing, Hencida is a village in Hungary's Bihar County, but Bonchida?? Bonchida is in Transylvania, about 30 km form Kolozsvár (Cluj), along the Szamos river....

... The instrumental music of Bonchida is remarkable. Upon hearing the unique sound of this Transylvanian music, many of us have wondered, how much effect did the noble family's tastes on it? It is common knowledge that in Transylvania the good bands not only served the peasants' musical needs, but from time to time also the local landowners'. For us it seems obvious that in Bonchida in particular, the influence of the nobles remained, and that the performance style also spread to the neighboring villages in the area, with a lot of melodies mainly surviving within the local Romanian repertoire." - Portions from the album booklet, written by Kelemen László

More Pictures