Irén Lovász sings old Hungarian folksongs, which still belong to the oral tradition. Both the texts and the melodies have survived and changed in the vernacular for centuries, without being recorded. All we know is that the oldest diatonic and psalmodic lamenting styles date back to the ancient times, when the Hungarians still lived together with their Finno-Ugric relatives in Asia around 2,000 B.C., and in the region of the Volga river before 1,000 B.C.
The songs come from different places of historical Hungary, representing the five main ethnographical dialects of the Hungarians.: The mystical charisma of this music can be felt, even without any exact knowledge about the historical background. It guides us into an archaic world that would otherwise remain closed to the greater part of our rational mind, and our ability to experience things rationally.
Irén Lovász grew up in the middle of Hungary, where folksongs are still being sung on a daily basis. She began to collect these songs as a student of Linguistics and Literature. She had to take adventurous and often dangerous trips in order to collect these archaic songs, for example, to Transylvania inside today‘s Rumania. the twenty-three songs on the present CD were discovered by her in this manner. Irén Lovász sang in folk-music groups and Middle-Age music ensembles and was a member of the Gáyan Uttejak Orchestra directed by László Hortobágyi. She lives in Budapest and works as an assistant professor of Anthropology and Ethnology.
The Hungarian composer, musician and producer, László Hortobágyi, creates unique compositions using his filigree accoustics and electronic instrumentation in which our listening awareness becomes able to experience this archaic world.
Press reviews:
"This dreamlike music is beautiful in its archaic, sublimely artistic simplicity". (Stereoplay) "A work of art in feeling and mysticism". - Folksblatt
"The singer with her crystal-clear voice tells strange stories from the dark ages about screaming trees in Transylvania. That's how this record of an unbelievably imaginative power originated". - Frankfurter Rundschau
"Archaic and not of this world" describes the Hungarian songs from the middle ages. The messages from these old ages are enchanting like the sound of her voice". - Dt.Allgem.Sonntagsblatt
"Thrilling without end! The sparse instrumentation drives me into an unbearable state of suspense". - Duesselwelle
"With a radiantly beautiful voice ... This nature poetry is an insider-tip for all those who would be willingly bewitched by Enya and Dead Can Dance". - Hamb. Morgenpost
...Wistfully her voice is carried over sitar, tabla and gamelan silhouettes. An almond-like asiatic perfume". - Dt. Rolling Stone
"The CD leaves the listener with a contemplative feeling of joy, almost gratefulness in having had the opportunity to take part in this moment of the past". Folksblatt
"An important finding for mythical researchers and poets. But above all it's Iren Lovasz's voice and the ecstatic, removed world of sounds that enchant me like an indefinable fragrance". - KGS
"She dived into a submerged world of mystical closeness which also defines the music. The whole work is in fact a highly interesting undertaking in the field of "World Music". - WAZ
