2008 was declared the Renaissance Year in the Magyar culture. 550 years ago, King of Hungary were elected Hunyadi Matyas, who had a huge contribution to the Renaissance culture in the Central and South-eastern Europe.
Renaissance Testimonies
The Renaissance Year started in Brasov on Juanuary 20 at the Cultural Centre Reduta and will last till the end of the year. Brasov had a flourishing culture in the Renaissance, but very few elements of the period have been conserved. Most of them were destroyed in the fire set by the Austrian army, which conquered the town in 1689. Hirscher House, Hunyads? armoury and the Black Church fresco depicting the Virgin Mary and the Child, accompanied by St. Barbara are testimonies of the Renaissance movement?s influence upon Brasov. Ecaterina Gate is the only Renaissance gate in Transylvania.
The Bakfark?s Music
The local most accomplished personality of the Renaissance period was the musician Valentin Greff Bakfark. Born in Brasov around 1526 he was the first and, for a long period, the only musician of Transylvania known in Europe. He used in his creations elements of the Transylvanian traditional song. He played at the royal courts of France and Poland, in Germany, Italy, Austria, at the palaces of Szapolyai János and János Zsigmond. He never denied his origins and mentioned his roots in Brasov even in his will.
He was a lute virtuoso. His fantasies and creations require an accomplished technique from the artist.
The Violin Maker
The works of Bakfark are popularized in Brasov by the violin maker from Debrecen, Béke Csaba. ?The art of Bakfark is as much alive and contemporary as the creations of Shakespeare? considers Béke, who wants since long ago to see the town were Valentin Bakfark and the scholar Johannes Honterus were born and lived. ?Brasov is a beautiful town, still conserving a Gothic and Renaissance air. It is a European town as much as Bakfark?s music?.
The Renaissance year will continue at Brasov with a dances and songs show performed by Moros Band of Targu Mures on March 15.
Attila AMBRUS
