Together/Apart: In Memory of Potta Géza and Dzsuga Géza
In collaboration with Zoë Aqua and Fenyvesi Attila
2-channel sound and video projections
2020
Jaj, de szépen harangoznak / Oh, how nice the bells are ringing
Talán az én galambomnak / Ringing, maybe for my darling
Most viszik a temetőbe / He's being taken to the graveyard
El sem búcsúzhattam tőle / Couldn't even tell him good-bye
-Hungarian folk song from the repertoire of Potta Géza and Dzsuga Géza
Potta Géza “Gatyó” (1933-2007) was a Roma violinist and composer who dedicated his life to playing for Hungarian, Roma, and Slovakian audiences. Alongside his musical companion Dzsuga Géza “Pimasz” (1930-2002), a brácsa player born in Kenyhec, Potta Géza performed a unique blend of genres, of folk and pop music, in villages like Abaújszina and Magyarbőd close to Kosice (Kassa), Slovakia.
While sometimes accompanied by a bassist and a cimbalom (Hungarian dulcimer) player, Potta Géza’s violin and Dzsuga Géza’s brácsa (a modified viola with a flatter bridge, best used for playing 2-3 strings at a time) were often the most affordable option for villagers celebrating joyful occasions or commemorating loved ones.
After Dzsuga and Potta’s deaths, Hungarian musician Fenyvesi Attila along with his mentor, Horváth Attila, began to transcribe the recordings of Potta Géza's life and work. In 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Fenyvesi Attila began a virtual experiment from his home in Budapest with American musician, and native Denverite, Zoë Aqua -- refining and perfecting the transcriptions in tribute to these two great artists who were inspired by and influenced many forms of Eastern European music.
This installation further honors the memory of Potta Géza and Dzsuga Géza through their "lassú csárdás" melodies -- played exactly as they would have -- for our neighbors and essential workers in a time of social distancing and also immense uncertainty.
Zoë Aqua and Fenyvesi Attila, after recording themselves from two different parts of the world, will be projected from two separate bay windows -- performing the music of Potta Géza and Dzsuga Géza together for the first time, but apart.
Text by Talya Feldman, 2020
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Zoë Aqua is a klezmer violinist and music educator from Denver, Colorado. She is currently based in Brooklyn, NY and can be seen performing in many klezmer groups there, including Tsibele and Farnakht. In addition to klezmer, she is passionate about learning other Eastern European genres, particularly Hungarian and Transylvanian music.
Fenyvesi Attila is an enthusiastic player of folk music from Hungary and neighboring countries. He works in Budapest, Hungary as a software engineer and spends his free time playing the brácsa. He is a member of the band Vígzenészek, who play at regular dancing occasions at a Budapest pub.