Robert Mandel’s Hungarian Folk Instruments surveys the historical instruments of Hungary, a country with diverse and vibrant traditions of making and playing folk instruments. Two things make this book stand out. First, the design of the book is stunning. The heavy paper, generous margins, and thoughtful organization and layout draw the reader into the very readable text. Second, the book contains dozens of fascinating archival images, as well as several striking photographs by András Hász of vintage folk instruments. These artful images are large and offer the reader a chance to study the instruments in more detail. Together these elements make the book both accessible and informative to a general audience. The work benefits greatly from the thoughtful English translations, though at times the oversimplification of the names of instruments seems too general. For example, using “hammer dulcimer” to mean cymbalom, which is a distinctive type of hammer dulcimer. Still, this translation has made a great contribution to a subject for which very few sources exist in English.
The large-format, coffee-table book features a number of prose excerpts and poems that aim to illuminate the moral and social feelings about some of these old folk instruments. These quotes, set off in italics, should perhaps have been set apart from the main text of the book, not in a separate section but as a page inset, so that they would not be lost in the main text. In addition, footnotes to these passages rather than endnotes would have been more useful.
The body of the book is structured around the various types of old folk instruments and noisemakers played and used in Hungary, and this helps reveal, not just the musical scene, but also a more complete soundscape. By dividing the instruments into idiophones, membranophones, chordophones, and aerophones, the author assures that readers learn about the history, evolution, and social contexts of the instruments. These categories allow readers to better understand the interrelationship between classes of instruments, though this approach abstracts the instruments from their performance contexts and relationships. The author provides some of this information but does not address performance settings and ensemble structure as a main topic, which prompts two criticisms.
First, the book needs an introductory essay to orient the reader to its scope and purpose. While the work includes a thoughtful explanation of the translation and a brief introduction to the author, it lacks a central essay to pull the entire text together. Perhaps this is because it is a translation, and this information might not be necessary for Hungarian readers, but I contend it should be included in any subsequent English editions. I also feel that a map orienting the reader to the geography of the region would be a great addition, especially since the book is written and designed for a general audience. These missing elements should have been caught by the editors and prepress readers. I find it difficult to fault the author and creative team for these practical shortcomings, because of the book’s wealth of information and artful presentation. As a whole its strengths far outweigh these minor omissions. While this work lacks some of the content that musicologists and ethnographers might want, still it is an essential text for anyone interested in organology or Hungarian music. Hungarian Folk Instruments’ simple organization, accessible text, and ample photographs are sure to make it a valuable resource for teachers, scholars, and folk-instrument enthusiasts.
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[Review length: 567 words • Review posted on February 16, 2010]