Verbunkos

Verbunkos (Hungarian 's' is pronounced as English 'sh') (other spellings are Verbounko, Verbunko, Verbunkas, Werbunkos, Werbunkosch, Verbunkoche) is an 18th-century Hungarian dance and music genre. Erroneously, this genre was sometimes attributed to Gypsies, because usually they were the musicians.

The name is derived from the Germanic word werben that means, in particular, "to enroll in the army"; verbunkos -- recruiter. The corresponding music and dance was played during military recruiting, which was a pretty frequent event at these times, hence the character of the music.

The Gypsy composer János Bihari remains the most well-known composer and interpreter of verbunkos. 84 compositions of his remain. Bihari was an accomplished violinist during his lifetime, and he played in the court in Vienna during the entire Congress of Vienna in 1814.

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Hungarian music