Self-commentary for the Modern Hungarian Oriental Music series
2025.02.04.My first album specifically based on the principles and sounds of Eastern music was the album Modern Hungarian Maqam from 2010. This music was inspired by the chapters of the book Arvisura. I imagined the music of our ancestors 1000-1500 years ago, based on the assumption that our Eastern ancestors must have had a developed court (classical) music culture. The album reached Central Asian music experts, and by attracting their attention, I was regularly invited to Eastern music conferences, where most of the time the focus was on the most widespread Eastern classical genre in Asia, the maqam. They acknowledged my artistic concept, envisioned by Eastern inspirations, but subtly indicated that the name maqam should be changed, since they consider this ancient classical genre so much their own that they could not imagine it in a different context. Therefore, they suggested that I find a name that would fit everything that corresponds to the music as well. That’s how I arrived at the name Modern Hungarian Oriental Music. “Modern” refers to the fact that in the present time it manifests itself as a kind of contemporary musical phenomenon, which also includes innovative solutions not used in the traditions. “Hungarian” refers to the fact that it comes from an artist living on Hungarian soil who is integrated into Western culture in a special way and feeds on Eastern tradition. The designation “Oriental Music” refers to the extensive use of the modal principles of Eastern music, in which the sounds and instruments of not only the Asian maqam, but also the Indian raga and other Far Eastern musics can appear. All of this has a specific presentation method, which I will discuss later. My Modern Hungarian Maqam, the first in the series, is closest to the ancient musicality dictated by my assumptions and research, and recalled by my intuitions from our collective musical consciousness. All of this appears in the minimalism and simplicity of music in the third and fourth centuries.
The second album, Átoküző zene (Curse Ousting Music), was completed in 2016, and was the last album in the series to be released in CD format. The root of this music on this album dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries. It crystallized in the 19th century, drew from the Eastern musicality, and is now known in its present form. I embarked on bolder experiments, and in the euphoria of this, the idea arose that the creation should not only go beyond a simple musical thought experiment in its concept and implementation, but instead show the mapping of a development process and a constant conscious presence. From the beginning, my immersion in Eastern music was not guided by a conscious intention, but rather by an instinctive urge, which is not controlled by me, but compelled by the power of some kind of ancient spiritual force field. Of course, this does not mean an exclusive commitment in my art, since as a guitarist/composer, Western contemporary music and modern electric guitar music are both included in my palette of artistic expression. The pandemic of 2020 took away all the opportunities and motivations that kept modern contemporary guitar music in me. Then I realized that the sudden and unexpected situation offered new opportunities for me to develop further on my Oriental instruments and penetrate even deeper into the secrets of Oriental music. This situation has now made it certain that music and playing music are a spiritual path for me, for which instruments are only tools. In other words, music is not for me to play an instrument, but the instrument is for the music, so that I can experience the music through the instrument. To put it another way: the instrument does not exist for the music; the music is paramount, and the instrument is merely a tool in service of realizing the music.
In the summer of 2022, a long-desired stringed instrument, the esraj, finally arrived for me from India. I’ve been learning this instrument since 2012, but the new, larger version started a development that I didn’t expect. I soon started recording the next album, The Dream of the Sky-high Tree, the third album in a row. So many recordings were made in a few months that a subsequent edition was possible, so Dream Diary was also released that same year as a continuation of the series.
Parallel Journey was completed in the first half of 2023, and In a Gently Flowing Presence by the end of the year, and an album entitled The Wedding of the Shaman Girl was completed in early 2024. This is an ongoing series, and will continue.
My Eastern music albums completed so far and of course my entire oeuvre to date are available, downloadable, and streaming at https://sandorszabo.bandcamp.com
The music in this album series is built along the musical principles rooted in the modality and crystallized in it, most often in a threefold structure (introduction, explanation, conclusion). Usually only the structure of the pieces is composed, but their unfolding and development is improvisational, in the same sense as improvisation in Indian, Persian, or Arabic music, i.e., the development of the melody takes place according to principles defined by rules. Although the music is nourished by Eastern traditions, it also incorporates certain Western elements, notably chords are played on the zithers, but all the while remaining in the modality. However, the chords are not built according to the rules of tertiary harmonic construction, but exhaust all possible permutations of the sound set. This gives it a more ethereal sound, also known from jazz. In this fresh harmonic background, the esraj sounds, which in this context may sound novel.
A few thoughts on the instrument assembly. The main melodic instrument of the album is the esraj. It is a relatively young northern Indian stringed classical instrument developed from the sitar. Its 21 strings have three registers: three strings are used to play the melodies, three strings are used as tanpura to support constant tonality, and 15 strings function as resonating strings. Due to a lack of other options, I started to learn this instrument in a self-taught way, with a special gift, and an extremely expressive one. Being a guitarist, I tried to make use of the finger technique developed over the decades in this way and in contrast to the Indians, and I play not with two, but with four fingers, so I have the opportunity to use all the articulations and ornaments that can be heard in Western, Persian, and Arabic music. I also treat the strings a little differently, so the sound reminds me of the Persian kamancheh and the Indian sarangi. This is perhaps fortunate, because my music is neither Indian nor Persian. It’s simply Eastern, so a distinctive sound can be paired with it.
From the beginning, I used some sort of fretless guitar, which has now been replaced by a fretless lute with 18-strings, including seven resonant strings. A year ago, a Turkish baglama-saz was added to my instruments, enriching the palette of possible Oriental sounds.
I have been playing the 21-string Chinese zither (guzheng) for two decades, and it has proven to be a good pairing with the latest Indian instrument, the Swarmandal-tanpura. It is a 15-string zither combined with a 4-string tanpura. I play both zithers with a slightly different technique than usual. Taking advantage of the finger strumming developed on the guitar, I sometimes play them like a harp. In addition to strumming, I also play them with mallets, often on both types of zither at the same time.
In the Modern Hungarian Eastern Music series, Major Balázs, a percussionist, is my permanent partner. We have played together for 45 years and have developed the sound we hear today. As a jazz drummer, Balázs learned to play the tabla in the early 1980s. Then, after a few years, he switched to the udu (clay-drum of African origin), and combined it with cymbals and gongs. In doing so, he created a very individual sound combining the rhythm and sound of jazz and oriental music.
It is also necessary to say a word about the interpretation. To understand this, you must realize that in Western classical music, the piece of music is composed and finalized, leaving the performer has virtually no room to influence the process of the music. The Western classical musician therefore tries to express himself during the performance of the piece. The exception is jazz, which is perhaps most comparable to the performance of Eastern music. The piece of Oriental music is usually not transcribed, it exists only as a theoretical possibility contained in rules in the mind of the performer, which he personalizes and brings to life in his performance. In shaping the piece, he enjoys great freedom of movement, because he can improvise within specific frameworks, which is why a raga or a makam never sounds the same; each performance is unique and unrepeatable. In this musical attitude, the performer transcends himself and experiences himself in the music.
A similar process takes place in my performances, with the addition that it is combined with the spontaneity inherited from my jazz past. This means that I do not think while playing, but rather let the sounds flow through me, as if through a channel, to build the atmosphere inherent in the potential of the given set of sounds and emotional charge. Therefore, the principles and instructions defining the piece of music and its performance are simple, leaving room for intuitive ideas and solutions that spontaneously manifest. Consequently, it doesn’t require attention from the listener as much as it requires empathy; i.e., letting the music take you to some unknown, previously unexperienced mood and emotional space. By its very nature, this kind of music is not suitable for ordinary background music consumption, but rather invites you to experience a special listening adventure.