The Origins of The Gypsies
Nobody knows for sure the origins of European gypsies. Based on the resemblance of Romany (the language of European gypsies excluding those found in Spain) and Punjabi, some linguists infer that those gypsies came from Northwest India. However, along with the deeper research, the linguists found that there are many Persian words and grammar that is closer related to the Dom of Eastern Bengal than the Punjabi of Northwest India. In his article "Original Research on Gypsies", Paul Polansky even mentioned an old gypsy story of which "In the beginning the Jews were Gypsies, and the Gypsies were Jews until God made us change places". (Polansky)
Out of all the current theories, one has recently emerged to be considered "the standard"; the gypsies have originated in Northern India. Their language, Romany, which is derived from the gypsy word "rom" (which means "man") very closely resembles Sanskrit. The English word "Gypsy" stems from the early belief that they came from Egypt, which is disproved of nowadays. The gypsies began their migration westward around 1000 A.D. The loanwords of Persian, Armenian, and Greek in their language indicate the course of their journey. By the 15th century many inhabited European countries. Now, the gypsies are distributed throughout Eastern and Western Europe, as well as in the United States. The estimated population is around five to six million.
At the Fifth World Congress in Prague, July 2000, the International Romani Union claimed national status for the Romani people - a people without a country - a claim which highlighted their social exclusion in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe at a time when these same countries were seeking to join an enlarged European Union. (see http://www.herts.ac.uk/UHPress/Gypsies.html)
The life of the Gypsies
Due to their unique physical features, the lack of solid religion, and nomadic lifestyle, for a long period of time, the gypsies were looked down by mainstream society. Numerous western literatures in the 18th century directly / indirectly reflected the social role of the gypsies of the time, such as <La Gitanilla> (by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra), <Wihelm Meisters> (by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), <Notre Dame de Paris> (by Victor Hugo), and <Carmen> (by Prosper Merimee).
"Deep Melancholy, heart-piercing grief, and wild despair" (qtd. in Bellman 1998 75) is the appropriate description for the life of the gypsy people. The history of the gypsies can be considered as one of misery. It is true that due to their physical appearance, foreign tongue, behaviors and exotic customs, the gypsies were subjected to disapproval by others. However, what was considered even more outrageous was their rootless lifestyle combined with, not only the lack of a Christian faith, but a complete absence of fixed religious beliefs altogether. It is obvious that such a lifestyle was deemed abnormal to a Europe that "associated personhood, for most of society, with the locality of ones birth". (Bellman 1998 75) Moreover, in 16th century Europe, people believed that from nobility to peasantry, each caste of the societal hierarchy had its own particular place and mission. It can be clearly seen the difficulties to fit the gypsies into such a political-religious system. The gypsies therefore were regarded as rude, wild, and dangerous strangers. They were the target of suspect and satire. The occupations they typically took were various low-pay, low-level social positions, such as blacksmiths, magicians, musicians, and dancers. Some even had the ill fortune to work as slaves.
The gypsies had started to appear in western literature during the emerging period of the Style Hongrois (around the 18th century). In many works, the gypsies were characterized with wandering, irresistible attraction, and betrayal. At times, they even were symbolized as baby-snatchers, thieves, and witches. In Bellman's "Gypsies in literature & culture" chapter, there are interesting descriptions of the exaggerated gypsy stereotype in western literature at that time.
"If the author needs loneliness and gloom, this is what the Gypsies represent; if a threatening criminal class is called for, particularly where theft is concerned, the Gypsies can always serve; if one simply needs a group of wonderers, the Gypsies come immediately to mind. They also do yeoman's duty as the personification of sexual infidelity, particularly in cases where circumstances have led one's characters into temptation". (Bellman 1993 76)
Apparently, these mysterious and fairy-like social roles reflected the Europeans' fear and distrust on the wandering alien. The Gypsies (1824) by Alexander Pushkin, (Upon which, Rachmaninov composed an opera called Aleko) well illustrated an aspect of the gypsy stereotype. This play tells the story of the protagonist, Aleko, who falls in love with a charming gypsy girl during his travels with a band of gypsies. A year later, the gypsy girl betrays him. The whole story, to a certain extent, sounds similar to Carmen (1847) by Merimee and shares similar results: the male protagonist kills the gypsy girl and her lover to express his hatred.
Even though literary stories in the 18th and 19th century which colored the gypsies with biases were abound, some works in which the authors expressed their sympathy for the mistreatment of the gypsies can be found. Such works include Ludwig Achim von Arnim's Isabella von Agypten (1812) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Gotz von Berlichingen (1773).
The Music of The Gypsies
The gypsies have undergone a tough history along with their migrations westward. However, their gifted music talent undoubtedly highlights the music world and is regarded highly in music history. The journey of their migration is the journey of their absorbing and developing local music. Their music lives on as the nutrition and inspiriting sources of the 18th and 19th century's western classical music.
Unlike the common gypsy language, gypsy music has great variety, varying from country to country, with strong local characteristics which, to a certain extent, is decided by their nomadic lifestyle. The gypsies picked up the music from their surroundings and the native people present, and adopted it with their own understanding. As a result, gypsy music has highly-flavored traits of region, which in turn has a significant impact on the development of the local music. For instance, a gypsy who migrated from Russia will add accordion or guitar into their music. The alternation of solo and chorus, and parallel thirds can frequently be heard in their songs. In Bulgaria, the aksak rhythm elements can be found in both Bulgarian folk music and Bulgarian gypsy music. In Spain, the gypsies of AndalucÌa have cultivated a new art form, flamenco, which is a localized music style based upon gypsy culture.
There are many different types or classifications of gypsy music and to analyze each of them in detail is outside the scope of this paper. Therefore, the material to follow will be focused on Hungarian gypsy music, literarily referred to as "Style Hongrois". It is hoped that based upon the analysis of this one region of gypsy music, the reader will gain a sense of the general process by which gypsies, as a larger whole, adapt and develop local music.
1. Gypsy Music vs. Style Hongrois
Gypsy Music literarily refers to gypsies own folk music. However, due to the gypsys eluding nationality, it has become a general term for music that is performed and composed by gypsies (New Grove). In Hungary, because of the gypsies important participation in music activities, the Hungarian music is intimately associated and mixed with gypsy music. Style Hongrois hence is the pronoun of gypsy music. In fact, the concept of Style Hongrois, widely accepted by the western world, is gypsy urban music. This music is deeply influenced by the European romantic musical tradition and is the product of the gypsies virtuoso techniques and talented improvisational capability.
In this sense, gypsy rural music is excluded by Style Hongrois. The limitation of the definition of Style Hongrois is, to a certain extent, ascribed to Franz Liszts book Des Bohemiens et Leurs musique en Hongrois (The Gypsy in Music). His contempt for Hungarian folk music by defining gypsy urban music as gypsy music "continues to exert a strong influence both in Hungary and abroad, often obscuring the results of a century of research in Hungarian music generally and that of the gypsies in particular" (Sarosi 8). The book, <Gypsy Music? Hungarian Music?>, written by Bartok can be considered as the witness of their divergent opinions on gypsy music.
Thus, it can be concluded that gypsy music has two dimensions, gypsy rural music and gypsy urban music. Both of them have made a great contribution to the treasury of music.
2. Gypsy Rural Music
"There is no evidence anywhere of peasants expecting gypsy musicians to give a sentimental performance, to apply portamento or arbitrary rubato." (Sarosi 22) Sarosis statement seems to give further proof that the romantically sentimental music style (Style Hongrois) was not prevailing and welcomed in Hungarian villages in the 18th and 19th century. In order to satisfy the local peasants tastes whilst trying to make a living, the gypsy musicians in those villages attempted to preserve and absorb the Hungarian folk music tradition to a great extent, rather than inheriting it from the adapted version assembled through the western classical tradition.
As music transmitters, the gypsy musicians carried their musical talent from village to village. They haunted resorts, wedding banquets, and sites where the aristocracy appeared frequently. To fulfill the requirements of different tastes, the gypsies added bagpipes, recorders, zithers, and hurdy-gurdies to their repertoire from Hungarian peasants at a rapid rate. Besides the instruments afore mentioned, the other two important instruments for gypsy musicians are violin and cimbalom (hammered dulcimer).
Among all the instruments, the bagpipes were considered to be the most significant addition. According to Sarosi, it was through the bagpipe that Europe got to know Hungarian dance music. In the 16th and 17th century, bagpipers were welcomed not only by the Hungarian peasantry, but also by the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie in Hungary and elsewhere. Bagpipes were widely used for weddings, recruiting, and as the main instrument to accompany the dances. Historical information attests that both the Hungarian peasantry as well as the upper class preferred gypsies to play music on instruments, especially for dance music.
It is because of the significance of bagpipe, that the music style played in Hungarian rural areas is directly imitative of bagpipe characteristics. In rural music, one can seldom hear the scalular interval of an augmented second, or so-called "gypsy scale" which consists of two augmented seconds and favored by the urban professional gypsy musicians. The harmonic element was unimportant, even in a larger gypsy rural band with cimbalon, gardon (similar to cello in structure), or bass. While the violin played the melody, the other instruments normally either to increase in volume, doubled the melody, or imitated the bagpipe sound to enhance the rhythmic patterns of the dance. The gypsies, rather than adding ornamentations as seen in urban settings, played the music in the rural areas as a peasant would. All these indicate that Hungarian rural music is distinct from the harmonic role instruments play in urban music. The typical folk style is described as "a moderately colored, distinctive tune, with perhaps a parallel octave (on occasion a fifth), and a clearly discernible, steady rhythm" by Sarosi (Sarosi 22).
With the active participation of the gypsy musicians, the dance music form, verbunkos, was cultivated in the late 18th century. Verbunkos is the recruiting dance music, used to con villagers to join the Hungarian army. The gypsy musicians were asked to accompany the music (some are simple folk tunes) with an impressive manner and employing improvisation and virtuosity to accompanying the dancing. In verbundos, the western-influenced performance and improvisation can be heard. This music form is the predecessor of the czardas, which was prevailing in the bars of cities in the 19th century.
3. Gypsy Urban Music
Style Hongrois is essentially a type of western-influenced urban music in Hungary. Along with their migrations to the cities, the gypsy musicians started to make their appearance in public occasions, such as bars or cafeterias, with the patronage of the aristocracy since the 16th century. To fulfill the taste of the upper class, the gypsies abandoned folk tradition and mainly performed popular songs and art songs that were composed, mostly, by Hungarian amateur or professional composers. Their virtuosity on instruments and extremely expressive sound was hailed by the inhabitants in the cities. Moving to the 19th century, the historical documents show that big cities were glutted with music bands consisting of gypsies. In 1968 Budapest had ninety-three gypsy bands (Sarosi 16). The gypsies performed their music using their favored techniques and music elements, which later were developed into specified forms of musical scale, musical instrumentation, musical ornamentation, and musical structure. This was the so-called "Style Hongrois" in history.
A. Musical Scale
In verbunkos and czardas music, there is a distinctive "accent" that can be heard frequently: a musical scale (or mode) with C-D-Eb-F#-G-Ab-B-C. The use of the interval of the augmented second is considered as the main characteristic of the "gypsy scale". It is still unknown to this day from where the gypsies developed it. It might derive from North India, or from the Persians or Arabs, or from the Turks who brought it to Southeastern Europe, or even from the local Hungarian. The gypsy scale therefore is strongly colored with harmonic minor keys and functional harmonies because of the augmented second.
B. Musical Ornamentation
As mentioned above, the gypsy musicians were famous for their virtuosity on their instruments. The noteworthy representation of this is their superb ornamentational skill. Traditionally, the gypsy musicians did not read music, which probably gave them more freedom to express the emotion of their music. They widely used grace notes, arpeggiation, and passing tones as stylistic features to show off their techniques and improvisational skill on simple tunes. This kind of ornamentation might be traced back to the Indian or Middle Eastern tradition, or, possibly, it had commercial motivation with which the gypsy musicians could gain more acclaim. The history shows that the gypsy musicians technique-garish style had been hailed by the aristocracy and the professional musicians for a long time.
C. Musical Instrumentation
In Hungarian urban music, the violin undisputedly is the most decisive instrument, as well as in other European music traditions. The cimbalon can be regarded another fundamental instrument in Hungary. The appearance of the sustain pedal and the rapid improvement of performance techniques, the cimbalon was developed into a sophisticated musical instrument. It was frequently used in the friss section of the czardas as a display of glaring technique. The classical composers also drew attention to it and began their attempts to use this instrument or imitations thereof, in their musical works. The good examples of the use of cimbalon can be found in Liszts Hungarian Rhapsodies No. 11 and No. 12, and the Hungarian Fantasia.
The typical gypsy band was shaped around the mid-18th century, consisting of two violins, one bass, and one cimbalon. The violin played the melody as the leading role of the band. The second violin (later changed to viola) normally played harmony accompanying the melodic part. The bass played the root of the harmony, and the cimbalon would play either melody or harmony. Later on, the clarinet was added into the band, and became the only non-string instrument in the gypsy band.
D. Czardas
Based on the recruiting dance music, the czardas is regarded as a latter version of verbunkos. The czardas consists of two sections, lassu (slow) and friss (fast). In general, the czardas is a gradual progress from a slow tempo to very a fast tempo. The opening section (lassu) normally is rhythmically free, and rhapsodic-like with expressive ornamentations. After short transition part, it is followed by a passionate duple-meter dance section. At the end, the tempo flies forward and pushes to its conclusions, ending abruptly. One or both sections of the czardas may include one or more tunes of popular art songs. Since the public was not interested in the composers, the performers (the gypsy musicians) were considered as the originators of the czardas music. The impression was enhanced since the gypsies applied formulated musical elements of verbunkos on these popular art songs. Since the 19th century, the czardas has been regarded as the typical gypsy repertory.
Conclusion
The influence of gypsy music can be found not only in Hungary, but throughout the world as well. The classical composers, such as Haydn, Liszt, Schubert, Brahms and Ravel, attained the inspiration from the Style Hongrois and composed a great variety of musical works belonging to this part of classical music treasury. The way that the gypsies play music obviously opens up a new world to express mans emotion more directly and deeply via musical instruments. Even though the gypsies have undergone a legacy of suffering, fortunately, their music talent has been recognized by the world, and more research on the gypsy music resources is in the progress around the world.
To end my article, I would like to quote a statement made by a Bosnian gypsy refugee: "If the whole world were like the Romanies there would be no war. Our kalashnikov is the violin, our grenades the accordion, our bayonets our dances." (Bellman 1998 102) -- Music is the life of the gypsies.
References
Bellman, Jonathan. "Stereotypes: The Gypsies in Literature and Popular Culture". The Style Hongrois in
the Music of Western Europe. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993
Bellman, Jonathan. "The Hungarian Gypsies and the Poetics of Exclusion". The Exotic in Western Music.
Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1998
Bellman, Jonathan. "Toward a Lexicon for the Style hongrois".
Journal of Musicology, vol. 9, no. 2 (Spring 1991): 214-237
"Gypsy music". New Grove, Vol. 7: 864-870
Polansky, Paul. "Original Research on Gypsies". Online. Internet. Available:
<http://www.paulpolansky.nstemp.com/gypsies.htm>
Sarosi, Balint. "Gypsy Musicians and Hungarian Peasant Music".
Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council. Vol. 2 (1970): 8-27
"The Roma A Nation Without A Country?" Online. Internet. Available:
<http://www.herts.ac.uk/UHPress/Gypsies.html>
