Part of the Brain Benders For Adults series, Kaláka put to music such well known Kosztolányi poems such as The Complaint of the Poor Little Child (1908) and Ink (1912) - all in front of huge archive photographs of the poet and his inspirations.
Kaláka - the name comes from an old Transylvanian word which means to work together to build a house - was established in Budapest in 1969. Its members are Gábor Becze (bass, guitar), Dániel Gryllus (flutes, zither, panpipe, clarinet, bagpipes), Vilmos Gryllus (cello, guitar, mouth harp) and Balázs Radványi (mandolin, twelve-string guitar, ukulele, viola).
The group sings old and contemporary Hungarian songs and songs from other countries. Kaláka boasts a repertoire of some thousand songs and a discography of 19 titles. Some of the Hungarian poets whose work Kaláka puts to music are János Arany, Endre Ady, Sándor Weöres, Dezső Kosztolányi, Sándor Kányádi, Lőrinc Szabó and Attila József. Some of the band's favourite foreign poets are Robert Burns and Françoise Villon.
Much of Kaláka's work has been aimed at children, and their concerts are well known for involving the audience. Many of their performances have been televised, increasing their exposure to the point that it is difficult to find a Hungarian under 40 who does not know at least one Kaláka song.
In addition to their performances in Hungary, Kaláka has toured in countries all over Europe as well as in Japan, Taiwan and Brazil. Even though they perform in Hungarian, these tours have been very successful with children who do not understand a word of the text - the music, and the musicians, make up for any misunderstandings.
Author: Tamás Halász
