Szászcsávás/ Ceuaș is a small village in Transylvania’s Maros/Mureș County [in Romania] inhabited by Hungarians and Gypsies. The Hungarian residents have preserved an interesting polyphonic singing culture that has origins in religious singing, but it is also used in the village whenever people sing at secular festivities, weddings and so on. As a result the local people have an unusually good ear for music. At the beginning of the 20th century the village invited Gypsy musicians to settle there to serve the traditional musical needs of the village at the time.
Descendants of those musicians are to this day well-known in the area. However with changing tastes and trends there is no longer a need for the traditional dance music played on string instruments - that one or two generations ago was still in demand in Transylvania. The Szászcsávás Band is an ensemble made up of the best musicians in the village. It was formed expressly for performing outside of Transylvania. In its prime the ensemble played concerts in Hungary and all over the world – in Europe, America, Japan. This CD contains recordings of the band made during that period.
The disk presents traditional music played for local customs and dance events in Hungarian, Gypsy and Romanian communities in the area around Szászcsávás - played on bowed stringed instruments. Lunka Erzsi, a Gypsy singer from Szászcsávás, sings on one of the tracks. The recordings were made with high quality equipment in the village preschool which has excellent acoustics. Over many years of playing together, the musicians have become perfectly attuned to one another playing the improvised style of music. The unbelievable power, dynamic and virtuosity of their playing is a joy to listen to.