Verbunkos (Hungarian 's' is pronounced as English 'sh') (other spellings are Verbounko, Verbunko, Verbunkas, Werbunkos, Werbunkosch, Verbunkoche) is an 18th-centuryHungariandance and music genre. Erroneously, this genre was sometimes attributed to Gypsies, because usually they were the musicians.
The name is derived from the Germanic word werben that means, in particular, "to enroll in the army"; verbunkos -- recruiter. The corresponding music and dance was played during military recruiting, which was a pretty frequent event at these times, hence the character of the music.
The Gypsy composer János Bihari remains the most well-known composer and interpreter of verbunkos. 84 compositions of his remain. Bihari was an accomplished violinist during his lifetime, and he played in the court in Vienna during the entire Congress of Vienna in 1814.
External link
Hungarian music (http://www.geocities.com/buike_2001/UngarnMusEngl.html)
The verbunkos (derived from the German word Werbung) was a recruiting dance used by the Habsburg army between the years of 1715 and 1849.
Verbunkosmusic was considered to have originated from folk music sources that were adapted to suit the gypsy temperament.
Verbunkos was also transplanted into the nineteenth century art-music in the works of Hungarian Romantics such as the opera composer Ferenc Erkel and instrumental composer Milhály Mosonyi.
The language of the “verbunkos” was full of national characteristics, that is of melodic turns accepted all over the country, and the “verbunkos” stood as a symbol for all this.
The secret of success may be explained by the fact that “verbunkos”music, having in the meantime gained popularity all over the country, made its appearance on the stage as well in these compositions, and the time came – around 1860 – when it prevailed in the entire language of the opera.
The period of the “early verbunkos” (1788–1810) led to the period of the “culminating verbunkos” (1810–1840), which subsequently gave way to the period of the “late verbunkos” (1840–1880).
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