Hungarian Romani Influence on German Lieder: A Historical Analysis of Johannes Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder for the Solo Performer

Abstract

When a professional vocalist prepares to execute a piece of music, there are many different aspects of that music that he or she must consider in order to present a detailed, expressive performance. Among these aspects are who wrote the piece and why, in what language the text is written, the proper pronunciation of the text if it is not in the performer’s native tongue, and the historical context in which the piece was composed (and if that influences the meaning of the composition). All of this knowledge must be combined with accurate musicality to produce a skillful execution of the work. This is true for Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder- a song cycle comprised of Hungarian love poems and written in the style hongrois. The style hongrois is a musical discipline developed during the Romantic era of Western classical music and is aimed at mimicking the musical and expressing the cultural attributes of the Hungarian Roma. This thesis gives a background on the Hungarian Romani people and the music that inspired Brahms’ use of the style hongrois in his Zigeunerlieder in the hopes that the solo vocalist who reads it will have a detailed knowledge of the piece to influence their own performance, and that non-musicians who read it will have a better understanding of the Hungarian Roma in the 19th century and aspects of performance preparation.