Ferenc Sebő
Ferenc Sebő’s Career Overview
Artist of the Nation awarded Ferenc Sebő is a Kossuth Prize-winning singer, guitarist, renowned hurdy-gurdy player, songwriter, folk music researcher, one of the founders of the Hungarian instrumental folk music and Táncház (dance house) movement, and leader of the Sebő Ensemble. He started his musical studies at the music school in Székesfehérvár. In 1970 he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Budapest University of Technology (BME). He worked as an architect only for a short time as he soon fell in love with music. In 1989 he graduated from the Musicology Department of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music.
He first appeared as a singer and composer on the University Stage [a studio theatre in Budapest] in 1969. He met Béla Halmos in the orchestra of the University of Technology. The first poems set to music were performed with him. Later Kati Berek joined them, and they performed together on 8 March 1970, with their piece Elérhetetlen Föld (lit. Unreachable Earth). Between 1971 and 1973 he was composer and performer at the 25th Theatre. He met the writer and later politician László Gyurkó and the choreographer Károly Szigeti at this alternative workshop. It was also here, that he composed his first real musical piece for the play Tou O’s igaztalan halála (lit. Tou O's Unjust Death). The play was co-directed by Kati Bereki, Éva Mezei and Károly Szigeti, and featured Ferenc Sebő as the one-man orchestra: he played a zither from Jászárokszállás. The medieval Chinese piece premiered on 27 February 1971, but Sebő composed fictional music for the piece, not Chinese. At this time, he also became acquainted with the hurdy-gurdy. On the advice of a Belgian musician, Claude Flagel, he came to the instrument maker Mihály Bársony, who made him his first hurdy-gurdy, which is still beautifully played today.
Tou O's Unjust Death reached Debrecen, Eger and then Belgrade. By this time, requests poured in. On 25 November 1971, Sebő wrote the music for the play Fényes szelek (The Confrontation), directed by Gyula Hernádi and Miklós Jancsó.
Then came László Gyurkó’s play: A búsképű lovag Don Quijote de la Mancha szörnyűséges kalandjai és gyönyörűszép halála (lit. The Misadventures of Don Quixote de la Mancha, the Melancholy Knight, and His Beautiful Death). This was Kati Berek's first independent production on 18 January 1973. Béla Halmos was already involved in the performance of the theatrical accompaniment.
He also had success in the field of sung poetry. On 6 April 1972, he launched a theatrical-literary series entitled Játszani is engedd… (lit. Let Them Play...), which was kept on the program until the summer of 1973. This was followed by a literary compilation entitled Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel (lit. With Flute, Drum and Reed Fiddle), featuring poems by Sándor Weöres, László Nagy, Margit Szécsi and others. Sebő and Halmos were joined by Péter Éri and Gergely Koltay. According to the magazine Színház, "the performance was revolutionary in both content and form."
Although Sebő and Halmos competed in the national folk song contest, their duo did not make it to the final. However, they were at the gala performances with their own programme, as well as at the Margitszigeti Szabadtéri Színpad [now Margaret Island Theatre] and in several other rural towns. The duo became known nationwide for their folk songs with guitar.
It was a defining moment, when György Martin showed them original folk music. János Zerkula's music from Gyimes (Ghimeș, Romania) or the instrumental and vocal collections of László Lajtha's from Szék (Sic, Romania) and Zoltán Kallós’ from Mezőség (Câmpia Transilvaniei, Romania). Sebő then realised that the folk song was indeed a historical genre, the survivor of the sung poem. Because the melodic poetry – invented by Balassi and his contemporaries – is not extinct: it is still alive in folk songs as part of the oral tradition and can be studied. The attempt to observe and learn the music in its original form, without altering it, also made it possible for the Táncház (dance house movement) to develop.
He was greatly influenced by Sándor Timár, who was introduced to him by György Martin. Timár sought the same in dance as Sebő sought in music. It was at Timár's suggestion that the dance companies first practised to live music in the rehearsal room. The music was provided by Sebő and Halmos. They brought life to the classes.
On May 6, 1972, they played at the first Budapest dance house, together with Péter Éri. The venue was the Book Club on Liszt Ferenc Square. The notable event was organised by the dancers of the Bihari Ensemble, Jolán Foltin, Lajos Lelkes and others, for the private entertainment of the dancers of the Bartók, Bihari, Vadrózsák (Wild Roses) and Vasas ensembles. However, Sebő and his fellow musicians and the dancers of the Bartók ensemble turned it into an open event and allowed the laypeople in their new venue (the FMH), ensuring that they received proper instructions. In February 1973, the first dance hall in Budapest, now open to everyone, was opened in the round hall of the Fővárosi Művelődési Ház (Metropolitan Cultural Centre). The event was also the recorded as a documentary, Hajnalban indultunk (We Set Off at Dawn). This was the beginning of the so-called Táncház, or dance-hall movement, a kind of grassroots genre that continues to exert a decisive influence to this day and whose fame has spread throughout the world.
The event was such a success that it encouraged musicians and dancers to continue learning and collecting at the original venue. In 1971, Sebő and Péter Éri went to Alsótök (Tiocu de Jos, Romania) in Câmpia Transilvaniei with the help of Kallós, and in the winter of 1972 they visited Sic with Béla Halmos.
In the summer of 1973, Ferenc Sebő and Béla Halmos spent six months in Japan playing music in a Hungarian restaurant in Tokyo. They both fell in love with Japanese culture. When they returned home, Gergely Koltay joined them as the third member, and the Sebő Ensemble was formed. They found a home at the Kassák Club, where they played music every two weeks under the name Sebő Club. Not only people interested in folk culture came here, but also intellectuals. In addition to singing poems, dance choreography became established here, with Sándor Timár leading the classes. Sándor Csoóri, influenced by what he saw here, said the following: “The professionals or the blissfully ignorant can judge it and say otherwise, but I can only say what my conviction and good humour tell me. There have been two important moments in the history of folk dance: first when folk dance was put on the stage, and the second when it was put back on the ground. Not as art, but so that dance could retain its essence, like wind is wind, rain is rain."
Between 1973 and 1977, With Flute, Drum and Reed Fiddle the publication of the Sebő Ensemble's club, was published eleven times, it included conversations, sheet music and descriptions. One could read – among other things – about the history of the dance house in Elek (Aletea, Romania), or about the three-stringed viola (or kontra) of Sic.
In the 1970s, Sebő created music for several dance productions. The most memorable which was the very first one, Tánc-szók (lit. Dance-words) to a poem by László Nagy. After 1974, Sebő, with the involvement of the Népművelési Intézet (Institute of Folk Culture), reorganised the Kassák Club's summer camps into national courses for dance-hall leaders under the leadership of Sándor Timár.
From 1972 onwards, he also took part in an increasing number of radio productions. His stand-alone evening: With Flute, Drum and Reed Fiddle was recorded by Magyar Rádió (MR, The Hungarian Radio Corporation) and broadcast a few months later. He was also hired as a composer for the first time for the sound play A pénz hatalma (lit. The Power of Money). He collaborated with László Bozó, Frigyes Marton, Olga Siklós and János Csajághy. He also made his debut as a performer. At the same time, he also started working for Magyar Televízió (MTV, Hungarian Television). The Dunamenti költők szerelme (lit. The Love of Poets from The Danube Region) was aired on 10 April 1971, directed by Pál Zolnay. Later came the literary series Hallhatatlanul… (lit. Inaudibly...), and the highlight was the 1979 programme Folkszimfónia: Énekelt versek (lit. Folk Symphony: Sung Poems).
He also worked with feature filmmakers in the seventies. Among others, he was composer for Miklós Jancsó's Még kér a nép (Red Psalm), György Szomjas' Talpunk alatt fütyül a szél (lit. The Wind Flutes Beneath Their Feet) and Gábor Bódy's Amerikai anzix (lit. American Torso)
At the age of 36, he enrolled at the Academy of Music and graduated with a degree in musicology. László Dobszay was his favourite teacher and master. After graduating from the Academy of Music, he joined the MTA Zenetudományi Intézet (Institute of Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) at Dobszay's suggestion, where he first participated in the computer processing of the large folk music collection, and then in the preparation of the traditional book-format critical edition of the Comprehensive Collection of Hungarian Folk Songs. In the meantime, he withdrew from the movement. His decision was influenced by the fact that in the eighties dance hall movement was treated as one of the amateur arts, and it was not organised into the higher education system.
In 2000, commissioned by Fonó Records, he edited and released the previously inaccessible secular folk music and religious folk songs of the legendary Patria series of the 1940s on CD-Rom. During this work, Sebő realised the original concept of Bartók’s: the recordings could be released together with the complete existing documentation.
Since the 1990s, he has also worked for Duna Television (a Hungarian public television channel). He was the editor of Táncház – Népzenei Magazine (lit. Dance-hall – Folk Music Magazine) and of MTV’s (Hungarian Television) Nyitott studio (lit. Open Studio) and Zenelánc (lit. Chain of Music)
In 1996 he became artistic director of the Magyar Állami Népi Együttes (Hungarian State Folk Ensemble). It was here that he developed the concept which led to the creation of Hagyományok Háza (Hungarian Heritage House) in 2001. The result is an institution where the state provides appropriate funds for all forms of traditionalism. The musician, who was been appointed professional director, has published a number of scholarly works that have filled long-standing gaps, such as the second volume of László Lajtha's collection of Transdanubian music and György Marin’s book on the traditional stick-dance. He is also responsible for the Népzenei olvasókönyv (lit. Folk Music Compilation) published in 2007 and the Vikár Compendium published in 2009. He retired from here in 2011. However, he never stopped working. He has been a lecturer at the Liszt Academy of Music since 1997 and was awarded the title of honorary university lecturer in 2010.
In 2012, Duna Television and Hungarian Heritage House launched their joint production of Fölszállott a páva (The Peacock Took Flight) folk music and folk-dance competition. Sebő participated as jury president. His career, which is still going strong today, can best be illustrated in the words of Márta Sebestyén. “Feri is one of those rare individuals who perfectly combines the roles of professor, musician, and friend. Through regular singing sessions, he strengthened people's self-confidence and helped them develop a kind of routine... The way he talks is like attending an academic workshop: few people can explain music history in such an accessible way.”
[2021]