Terrace Dr. Near, W 72nd St, New York, NY 10019
Organized by the Liszt Institute New York and the Museum of Enthnography in Hungary an informative exhibition called "Gypsy music from Ferenc Liszt to the Hungarikums” will be shown in Central Park on April 9, 2024 celebrating the influence of Gypsy music in Hungary as well as International Roma Day.
The starting point of this exhibition is Franz Liszt's book A czigányokról és a czigány zenéről Magyarországon published in Hungarian in 1861, or more precisely the part of it beginning from section LXVII devoted specifically to Gypsy music. The subject is presented along two lines: music and dance, that is, through the history of music and dance and through portrayal in the fine arts.
The exhibition traces the history of Gypsy bands and famous musicians up to the present day: from village bands to ensembles that have toured abroad, and from the formation of large orchestras to the declaration of the 100 Member Gypsy Orchestra as a Hungarian "bridge". It also describes how musicians form a closed occupational group, endogamous for a long time, and how they develop a specific, unique set of customs.
"Having for a long time been drawn into relation with Gypsies by more than one kind of personal sympathy, we have been naturally led to take a warm interest in matters related to them and to everything that can provide enlightenment and an explanatory text on their art, to which we have devoted much attention, care and study. The memory of Gypsies is closely intertwined with memories of our childhood, and with a few of its most vivid impressions. Later we became an itinerant artist, just as they are in our homeland. They pitched their tents in every country of Europe and it took centuries for them to travel the length and breadth of those countries, while we, as though condensing into a nutshell their fate over many centuries, have travelled through those countries in the space of a few years and have often remained foreign to the peoples we visited, because like them, we too in constant exhaustion have sought the ideal in art, if not in nature." - Ferenc Liszt