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Download a short videoclip of the Kállai Kettős.
With right click on it you can save it onto your computer (4 MB).
Here is some more information about two of the most famous songs we play:
Szól a kakas már
The rooster is crowing
According to legends told around the world, this song is connected to the name of Taub Eizik Izsák, the rabbi of Nagykálló. His role in the creation of the song is not quite clear, as different legends have different opinions about his activity. Some say that he had learned the song from the inhabitants of Nagykálló, others say that he wrote it, others say that this was his favorite song and he just help to spread it. Whatever the truth is, Szól a kakas már is a beloved favorite of Jewish and klezmer musicians.
Taub Eizik Izsák was the head rabbi of county, after he had returned from the capital of Moldavia, where he attended Rabbinical school. During his forty years as a rabbi, he introduced preaching in the native Hungarian language; from donations he established schools, a hospital and a synagogue. He was honored even in his life with much respect – many people believed he had a divine energy. He is known as the miraculous rabbi and also as the father of the Chasidism. He died in 1821 when he was 70 years old. On the anniversary of his death – Adar 7th – many Jewish people visit his tomb in the Jewish cemetery (Patrick is playing in the tomb).
The text of the song:
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The rooster is crowing, The dawn is coming, In the green field, in the flat field, A bird promenades. |
Wait, bird,
wait, |
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What a bird, |
The rooster is crowing,
Adoneynu r'ey
v'onyeynu, © JoAnne Growney |
Kállai Kettős
Couple dance of Kálló
According to legend, the couple dance of Kálló comes from the Hungary during the Turkish era, when there was a castle in Nagykálló.
The guard living in the castle used to have an mischievous amusement: they would bundle the Turkish prisoners in pairs and force them to dance a sometimes-fast, sometimes-slow dance together. This has led to the Hungarian saying: I will make you dance the Kállai Kettős. According to another explanation, the Kállai Kettős was invented in the prison of the old County House of Nagykálló. In the prison there was a small cell with its floor full of pieces of sharp iron so that there was no room for the prisoner even to stand. Because of the sharp pieces, a prisoner needed to change often and quickly the leg that he stood on.
The first recorded mention of the Kállai kettős is in 1674; later, in 1736 it was described as a student song; and it appeared in the ballad of János Arany about a Killing Angel. Zoltán Kodály recorded and wrote down the song in 1926. This then led to the writing of a world-renowned Kállai Kettős for a choir of male and female voices and for folk orchestra in 1951; these toured the globe with dance choreographed by Miklós Rábai. The words of the song tell of the flow of feeling—between yearning and mocking—between a jealous lad and an unfaithful girl.
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The fall wind blows from above, The leaves tremble on the trees, Where have you gone? The last two nights you failed to come. |
My wife’s mother and father still are alive and her mother-in-law and father-in-law, I have no care as long as my in-laws live.
I have no care as
long as my in-laws live.
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The last two nights you failed to come— Maybe you’ve fallen into a pitfall. I did not fall into a pitfall— I fell in love with you! |
You can order
a copy of our first CD with these two songs - Over the Ocean...
- sending a letter to bodoband@bigfoot.com.
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