I was especially pleased when our organizer in Transylvania, András Tötszegi told me that he had found an elderly violinist from Kolozs – who had agreed to come to our recording sessions at the Fonó in Budapest. That musician was Aladár Laka “Little ”.

The moment he stepped into the studio, the air filled with a kind of delicate vibration. He was a small Gypsy man, with big expressive eyes, wearing a time-worn, but spotlessly clean, dark suit. It was immediately clear that, out of respect, the other musicians deferred to him. When I explained our project and work schedule to him, he understood immediately that the recordings would be testaments of his music that would survive him. From the first moment, he played with complete mental and physical concentration – so much that by the third day he had blisters on the fingers of his left hand – as he had not been playing much at home anymore.
He practically supervised the collection process for me and asked for maximum enthusiasm and cooperation from the other musicians as well. He was constantly scolding the poor viola player who was hard of hearing and could not keep up with the faster tempos.

1. Lassú („Csütörtökön este”) (Slow dance tune) 2’05”
2. Cigány lassú csárdás (Gypsy slow dance tune) 4’54”
3. Román rend: rar româneste, lassú és sebes csárdás (Romanian dance cycle) 7’43”
4. Két keserves és cigány asztali nóta (Laments, Gypsy table tune,) 5’17”
5. Legényes (Men’s dance tune) 2’21”
6. Asztali nóta, csárdás és sebes csárdás (Table tune, couple dances) 7’47”
7. Asztali (virrasztó) nóta és szapora (Table tune, fast couple dance) 8’04”
8. De-a lungu, învârtită, târnăveana, ţigăneasca, hârţag (Sztojka Györgyé)
(Romanian dance cycle) 14’10”
9. Válaszúti asztali nóta (Table tune) 2’02”
10. Zsidó körtánc (Jewish circle dance) 2’15”
11. Învârtită és hârţag (Romanian couple dances) 4’59”
12. Úti nóta és legényes (Processional, men’s dance) 2’20”
13. Kicsi Aladár pakulárnótája (Aladár’s shepherd tune) 4’31”
Összidő (Total time) 68’58”

Válogatta / Selected by: KELEMEN László

ADATKÖZLŐK / PERFORMERS – INFORMANTS

LAKA „Kicsi” Aladár (1926, Kolozs) hegedű / violin
SZTOJKA György „Gyuszi” (1955, Kolozs) hegedű / violin
LÁKO Gyula „Gyenge” (1929, Kolozs) brácsa / viola
TITI Sándor „Láló” (1939, Kolozs) nagybőgő / double bassice