The Fifth International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony ...

<strong>The</strong> Notion of so Called Gypsy music and the Tradition of Improvisation
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111). Perhaps one of the most renowned Gypsy violinist and the leader of his own orchestra was Janos Bihari
(1764-1825 or 1827). Gypsy bands were part and parcel of Hungarian gentry lifestyle. <strong>The</strong>y provided music for
a number of social occasions, especially gatherings, meetings and balls. In 1846 Hector Berlioz (upon his visit
in Hungary) wrote to his sister Nanci about „those great Hungarian balls to which only noble Hungarians were
admitted, and where they only performed national dances on national themes played by the Zingari” (Berlioz,
1978). When in 1839 Hungarian – born Liszt visited his native country as a famous and well established piano
virtuoso he believed that music played by Hungarian Gypsies was authentically Gypsy. For Liszt, Gypsies were
true creators of their own music, he especially admired Gypsy musicians and was deeply affected by the virtuosity
of their performances, technical possibilities, as well as improvisation skills.
Liszt was most probably aware that Gypsies (as well as Jews) were perceived as cultural Others in the
19 th century Europe. Understandably, their musical cultures fell in the orbit of this kind of discourse. Liszt
was deeply influenced by Rousseau’s concept of a noble savage whose personification he found in Gypsies.
For Rousseau a wild man was the creation of Nature, as the result of dwelling in the natural environment,
considered individual and free. According to this overall characteristics Liszt also interpreted Gypsies, writing
that they were “exquisite as they are intense, produced by Nature’s marvels” (Murphy, 2001: 20).
Liszt’s writing on Gypsy music in Hungary reflected also the colonial tendency of finding a place for
other, less advanced people’s cultures within a framework of European culture. Although the object of his
studies was the Gypsy music, both the author and the audience of this investigation were non-Gypsies. Upon
its publication, Liszt’s book stirred a lot of ambiguous feelings and rose high emotions. Gypsy people were
already stigmatised by a heavy burden of associated with them romanticised visions of free, independent
people, but also marked by very strong stereotypes concerning their apparently evil nature. <strong>The</strong>y were
credited with kidnapping children, stealing, dishonest trading (mainly horses). Despite that, in 19 th century
the supposedly immoral Gypsies were also hailed as very skilful musicians, especially gifted at improvisation.
As believed, their improvisation – suspended between poles of melancholy and joy – reflected their tormented
soul.
Coincidently, soon after Liszt’s first visit in his native Hungary (1839), and after his – re-discovery of
Gypsy music there (he had encountered Gypsy musicians already as a small boy), the social understanding
of the role of a musician – performer in the European culture started to change. So far (usually) the pianists
or violinists who could boast uncommon, almost prestidigital skills were regarded as virtuosi who, among
others, by means of their improvisations responded to the demands of public that would – in return – take
delight in feats of their agility. Marc Pincherle observed that “improvisation implied the development of
manual dexterity, the constant drive towards new deeds of prowess” (Pincherle, 1949: 237). Virtuosi as adroit
performers striving to please the audience by showing off their knowledge of the instrument were influential
in the formation and growth of their own audience mainly due to their specific ability to move the public.
<strong>The</strong> battle against such virtuosity began in 1840s (Gooley, 2006: 76). However, “the battle against
virtuosity was neither a centralized movement nor a particularly self-conscious one” (Gooley, 2006: 77). <strong>The</strong>
complex nature of the process of fading away the virtuoso practices was obviously connected with a number of
factors, but it also coincided with the decline of improvisation in Western art music. Additionally, in the 1860s
the romantic notion of creativity as a gift began to be scientifically investigated. <strong>The</strong> mystery of creativity,
as a spontaneous and escaping rational explanation phenomenon was – among others – defined by sir Francis
Galton in terms of “hereditary genius” (Kutschke, 1999: 151).
As turning away from virtuosic practices coincided with the decline of improvisatory expression, it can