Márta Sebestyén

Last night I attended a concert of Márta Sebestyén, a traditional Hungarian folk artist who is very well known in this country. Even the kids in my classes today knew who she is. Americans were exposed to her music when she sang the opening credits song in The English Patient.

Sebestyen provides the vocals (mp3), while two men on stage play intruments. One plays the zither and other strings,while the other plays woodwinds including traditional Hungarian bagpipes and oboes, and a 5 foot tall wooden recorder that produces a whispy vibrato, not unlike the sounds of Iniut music.

Hungary's ethnic roots are in the Magyar (MOHDG-yar) people, nomadic horsemen who migrated during the 9th and 10th centuries from the Ural Mountains in west Asia to modern day Hungary in the Carpathian Basin. Therefore, there is a lot of Mongolian influence in their traditional folk music. The woodwind player last night was able to perform traditional Tuvan Throat Singing, a style of singing that is rooted in Mongolian tradition. A throat singer is able to produce multiple "layers" of sound simultaniously, including a deep, throaty vibrato, and a mid to high range flute-like sound. Here's an example. Heard live, this music is simply amazing! I had to look closely at first thinking he must be playing a small instrument like a mouth or jaw harp, but no, it was all coming from one man's mouth!