Re: Hongas

[Bob Cohen <zaelic...>]

Hi Helen

It's interesting that Hongas as a "Jewish Conga Line" seem to have gone out
of fashion. I have seen Michael ALpert lead one and they are great crowd
pleasers - you can always switch a crowd dancing a freylachs to the
shoulder-hold and just sort of march them a round a bit. Perhaps the
Hasidic shoulder-hold-march-in-a-circle may have its origins in the Honga.
It never had a couple dance version and that may be why it survived in its
more "kosher" form.

The "Hangu" Di Naye K recorded came from a tape of Bughici family (Fiddler
may be Gheorge Bughici, or maybe a Rom fiddler, we ain't sure, and Izu Gott
on accordion) repetoire recorded by Itsik Svarts in Iasi around 1970 (he's
still kicking at 96 - got a letter from him two weeks ago!). Essentially it
is a variation of the Reb Dovidl theme. On the tape you can clearly hear
Izu announcing "Hangu". It is also the only Hangu/Honga I have a recording
of which doesn't derive from a 78. Christina Crowder has been running
around Romanian Bukovina a lot this spring making recordings of the older
peasant fiddlers, and no new Hongas have yet come to light. She's showing
up today - we have a gig in Tubingen, Germany tommorow - so I will ask her.

On old recordings you can see variations such as "Honga" "Onga". I think
"Hangu" was just the local Moldavian pronounciation. It supposedly derives
from turkish "Londra". I don't have any idea what the Turkish londra is
like, although a lot of recordings of contemporary Istanbul fasil type
bands feature londras somewhere (Kudsi Erguner Ensemble, Burcan Ogal's
Orchestra) and often the londra played by the turks includes a musical
phrase we all know from Moscowitz's cimbalom "Buhusher Hasid" which is
still a current melody unit in Moldavian village and urban repetoires. 

All the best from Budapest
Bob (errr... not Robert, exactly) Cohen

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