As a starting point, I use the Zoltán Kallós dictionary entry in the Hungarian Ethnographic Dictionary: “(Válaszút [Răscruci], Romania), 1926–): ethnographer. He studied at the Music Academy in Kolozsvár (Cluj, Romania) (1954) and taught in Kalotaszeg (Țara Călatei, Romania), Moldva (Moldova, Romania) (1955–) and Gyimes (Ghimeș, Romania) (1956–). He is interested in music folklore, folk poetry and decorative arts. His articles and studies have appeared in Romanian and Hungarian journals and magazines – his main work: Balladák könyve (The Book of Ballads) (with Attila T. Szabó, Bucharest, 1970, 1971, Bp., 1973, 1977); Új guzsalyam mellett (By My New Distaff) (Bucharest, 1973)." [1]
Looking at the successful career of Zoltán Kallós, listening to his numerous albums, one may not even suspect what life situations, trials and tribulations have crossed his long path. Despite all these, he has saved a large part of the life of the Hungarian people from the past to the present and the future. Only his unbreakable faith and his drive to act could carry him through the sometimes-unbearable difficulties.
His initial enthusiasm and interest found fertile ground during his student years in Cluj. He was motivated by his upbringing at home, helped and supported by the inspiring words of qualified teachers, giving direction to his existing interest.
There were three major turning points in his professional career that not only helped his career but also made him famous. This inspired him to do more, to take on more responsibility. He realised early on that the values that forge or keep communities together were disappearing due to the rapid change of traditional culture. He came to understand that these values needed to be collected, preserved, passed on and that as many young people as possible needed to be "infected with folk culture". “He opened a door [...] to which only he had the key”, but he also admitted and still admits that “collecting cannot be self-serving”. Thanks to his selfless help, researchers from Hungary came to Transylvania through this open gate, young people interested in folk culture, who were exploring Transylvanian folk music and folk dance, and he helped them to understand and experience the folk life of the Mezőség (Câmpia Transilvaniei, Romania), Ghimeș, Țara Călatei and Moldova.
He knew well that the only way to help the people around him was to present them: their knowledge, their talents, their often-hopeless situations. Valuing and respecting those who have knowledge is the only way to manage the assets entrusted to him. Thanks to this approach, he could make the "sealed mouths" sing. He devoted his whole life to this mission.
Besides Bartók and Kodály, he is one of the greatest Hungarian folklore collectors of the 20th century. His friendship with György Martin (dance historian, 1932-1983) and Bertalan Andrásfalvy (ethnographer, professor, politician, 1931- ) was fundamental to his life and views.
Through his contacts with Hungarian professionals, he was exposed to the spirit of the times and the research trends of the day, in which he participated as actively as possible. His correspondence also shows that he received continuous professional, human and moral support and encouragement from Zoltán Kodály, János Jagamas (musicologist, 1913-1997), Bertalan Andrásfalvy, György Martin, Tamás Hofer (ethnographer, 1929-2016), as well as from many other prominent Hungarian artists and intellectuals. [2] His persistent and humble work earned him the respect of the professional elite in Transylvania. With Kallós' help, systematic folk-dance research in the Câmpia Transilvaniei region began in the 1960s. "In addition to the large amount of data, dance films and other documentation collected, the first comprehensive publications were also written at this time. Among these, we should mention some of Kallós' studies, [...] his essay on the dances and dance life of Răscruci, his collection of the folk-dance exclamations, and a brief description of the ethnography of the villages of the northern part of Câmpia Transilvaniei." [3]
During the collections, he made use of his contacts with relatives, friends and even his circle of acquaintances beyond them, which always led him to the most thorough and in-depth knowledge. Perhaps most importantly, he is not only a good connoisseur of these goods, but also, given his origins, family background and habits, a perfect user. Dancing, singing, having fun, telling anecdotes the way he does can only be done if one identifies with this approach and this set of values: this is what makes one an authentic person, the kind of person Zoltán Kallós is.
"I have collected more ballads than all those who have gone before me", admits Zoltán Kallós. In 1970, The Book of Ballads was published, the second milestone of his life. In his introductory essay, Attila Szabó T. writes about the collector: “Kallós made a fortunate choice, starting his work in one of the least known regions, the Northern Câmpia Transilvaniei. [...] his attention, however, soon spread beyond the borders of his immediate childhood environment and he continued his work in three other little-known ballad areas, Moldavia, Ghimeș, and Țara Călatei [...] he truly connected new, or at least hitherto almost unknown, areas to the field of interest of ballad research in Hungary. [...] No other Hungarian ballad publication, not only in Hungary, but elsewhere, has enriched our knowledge of the Hungarian ballad world with so many and such extensive selection of unknown ballads and ballad song versions”.
Reading the reviews, written by our eminent writers and scholars, such as László Nagy, Attila Szabó T. Szabó, Júlia Szilágyi, István Almási, Lajos Vargyas, Éva Cs. Gyimesi, Gyula Ortutay, Sándor Csoóri, we will understand how the ‘living folk ballads’ inspired Hungarian artists, artists, cultural organizers and young people, and how they have since become the basic work of Hungarian folklore and the dance-hall [Táncház] movement.
Published in 2014 by the Zoltán Kallós Foundation, Balladás könyv (lit. Ballad Book), edited by Zoltán Kallós and István Németh, is the most complete version of the ballads collected by Zoltán Kallós. The publication contains the texts and versions of 550 ballads and ballad songs, 528 of which are variant melodies. At the same time, the melodies of 348 ballad variants are also available on the accompanying disc, which contains a total of 20 hours of original recordings. This rich collection has inspired generations as a treasure trove for professionals, teachers, and cultural professionals.
We respect Zoltán Kallós as one of the great masters of the dance-hall [Táncház] movement, as his collections formed the basis of dance-hall music. The names of Kallós, Martin, Könczei, Andrásfalvy, Novák, Tímár, Sebő, Halmos, and countless other researchers, dancers and musicians who carried on the spirit of a social stratum that seemed worthless in the eyes of the regime of the time, and which had been preserved and cherished for centuries. They assisted the birth of the movement and often went beyond their means to save as much as possible for posterity. Today, the movement is not only a representation of a set of values, but on the international stage, the dance-hall method is an opportunity for any people to learn about and use their own and other nations' cultural assets.
The third culmination of his work occurred in the years following the change of regime. With the operation and development of the Zoltán Kallós Foundation, established in 1992, a centre for education, folk art and culture in the region of Câmpia Transilvaniei has been created, which is exemplary in the whole Hungarian speech community.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, folk music and folk dance camps, a heritage camp for children from the diaspora region in grades I-IV, a talent camp for children from the diaspora region in grades III-IV, a folk music, folk dance and crafts camp for children in grades I-IV, a youth folk music and folk dance camp, a creative camp for families, and an International Folk Music and Folk Dance Camp for adults have been offering the experience of tradition to a wide range of people. People of all ages, from toddlers to old age, will find something of value to learn.
The Centre for Diaspora Education has saved several generations, hundreds of students, from the dead end of the Romanian assimilation policy, creating a chance to survive. The Foundation's educational activities provide children, young people and adults with opportunities for further training in the fields of dance, music, crafts, pedagogical education and farming, to awaken and satisfy their thirst for knowledge, and to pass on our values.
The Zoltán Kallós Museum and Folk Art Centre is a repository of the most beautiful, most celebrated and most masterfully crafted pieces of Transylvanian folk culture. In his research, Zoltán Kallós has consciously preserved the heritage not only of the Hungarians in Romania, but also that of the Saxons and Romanians who lived alongside them. His attention also extended to the costumes, textiles, furniture, wooden utensils and ceramics, through which we can today learn about the objects of use, the way of life, the system of values and norms of our ancestors.
Nearly ten thousand priceless ethnographic objects are part of the collection. The ethnographic collection, which was established to preserve and scientifically process the artefacts, was opened to the public in May 2010 and has since been visited by thousands of people every year.
But it is not only at Răscruci that we can admire the rare pieces collected by Zoltán Kallós. From the 1950s onwards, he donated numerous valuable ethnographic objects to Transylvanian museums or, with the help of intermediaries, Bertalan Andrásfalvy, Tamás Hofer, György Martin, Jolán Borbély and many others, to public collections in Hungary, such as the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest, the Janus Pannonius Museum in Pécs, the Hungarian Open-air Museum at Szentendre.
His valuable collection of photographs, which includes more than six thousand archive images, is stored in the Hungarian Heritage House and the archives of the Zoltán Kallós Museum and Folk Art Centre.
To quote the lines of Júlia Szilágyi (literary critic, 1936-2025), what Zoltán Kallós collects can be summarised as follows:"[he] does not collect folk handicrafts or folk ballads, but the material and intellectual products of a community culture, cultural goods of which the word is neither more nor less than the stitch. And in this culture, colour and word, traditional motif, the law that determines melody, rhythm and morality, are both a form of conservation: morality and aesthetics. We are his debtors, as many of us who live here and understand each other, indebted to him to the end [...]"
Zoltán Kallós continues to walk his path today with a sense of mission and tenacious diligence. His life's work spreads out like a tree of life, whose roots are nourished by the deep layers of Hungarian culture. Its huge trunk and crown extend as far as the roots can reach. His dedication, his willingness to help and his firm commitment to saving, preserving and passing on the values of Hungarian culture are a model and a source of strength today.
[2015]
[1] Magyar Néprajzi Lexikon (Encyclopedia of Hungarian Ethnography) (later: MNL) 1979. 730
[2] Bratislava 2014
[3] Varga 2011