„100 CIGÁNY HEGEDÛJÉN BEETHOVEN GYÁSZINDULÓJA".

Since the mid-nineteenth century, numerous Hungarian press articles have referred to 'Beethoven's funeral march' as a popular funeral piece. According to accounts of representative funerals abroad, this piece was used by military bands to accompany funeral marches, and was in the repertoire of school orchestras, who performed it at funeral ceremonies. It was even featured in literary works as a wellknown funeral piece. In the twentieth century, there were several reports of 'Beethoven's funeral march' being played by Gypsy bands as well. Granted, alongside their most characteristic Hungarian repertoire - csárdás, folk-style songs - Gypsy bands in Hungary have followed the entertaining musical fashions of the time, but the inclusion of this funeral march in their repertoire can be considered peculiar. It is not clear which specific piece is behind the general designation. Customarily, in the case of other popular funeral march-like movements by Beethoven (mainly the slow movement of the Third Symphony and the Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, op. 29 no. 12), the title of the work of origin is stated, however, these pieces were not played by Gypsy bands. Some information points to the designation 'Beethoven's funeral march' denoting an independent Trauermarsch which musicologists ascribe to Johann Heinrich Walch (1776-1855), conductor in Gotha, but which, for a long time, was considered to be a work by Beethoven. In some funeral marches which were recorded on twentieth-century ethnomusicological fieldwork among Gypsy musicians or other local musicians of small towns, or which were found in the music collections of similar musicians, we can recognise that in some Hungarian settlements this piece of music was an integral part of local music tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]