Illustrated Album of the Hungarian Anthem

The Hungarian Anthem is an important spiritual heritage of all of us, our national prayer that represent the eternal unity of all Hungarians. Ferenc Kölcsey’s masterpiece, the Hymnus, this deeply moving poem, and the musical piece Hymnusz composed to it by Ferenc Erkel for the national competition, together make up the cultural-spiritual-religious unity that we call our Anthem, a cherished and unique treasure. Its ’artefacts’, that is the manuscript of the poem and the sheet music of the composition both belong to the collections of National Széchényi Library, and are guarded as relics. Each one of these original documents is an invaluable treasure of the history of literature and music.
The joint publication of National Széchényi Library and Argumentum Publishing House is an illustrated album with four extensive studies that summarize what can be known today about the poem and the music with authenticity according to scholarly research. The colorful album is accompanied by a CD-supplement.

About the contents: The article by Vilmos Voigt places the European national anthems in the context of historical past and present. The poem of one of the greatest Hungarian poet, its possible sources and its place within Kölcsey’s oeuvre and the 19th century ‘homeland and progress’ thought is explored by the study by Zoltán Szabó G. that not only analyses the most known poem of Hungarian literature and history but also takes a look at its reception and later role. The musical composition by Erkel is analyzed by the study of Ferenc Bónis (an earlier work now completed with new details). The fourth study, by Kata Riskó, presents the composition process, style elements and later tradition of  Erkel’s work, offering insight into the historical circumstances of the musical competition.

The musical supplement of our album is a selection by Kata Riskó.