GIPSIES ON STRIKE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21781, 21 April 1934, Page 3 (Supplement)

GIPSIES ON STRIKE

BOYCOTT OF THE RADIO DISPUTE IN HUNGARY The gipsy fiddlers of Hungary, whose age-old tunes, with their sombre melancholy, are known to many British wireless listeners, started a boycott of the radio last month. Ths fiddlers stated that they felt both insulted and exploited, and refused to appear before the microphone until their grievances were remedied. These were:—That the fees received from . the Hungarian Broadcasting Company are "inadequate. That Dr. Andreas Spur has been appointed to the newlv-created post of Commissioner for Gipsy Music. Twenty-two out of the 24 leading gipsy conductors and their orchestras joined the strike. The two remaining orchestras hardly sufficed to carry on the gipsy programmes. But the aid ul less-tnlented gipsy musicians was being invoked. Dr. Spur is an expert on Hungarian folk music. His main_task in his new post is to superintend the arrangement of wireless programmes so that duplication of items may be avoided. It hits frequently occurred that different orchestras playing on the same evening have given the same melodies through lack of organisation. The doctor has also been authorised to regulate, for broadcasting purposes, the Musicians' technique. The artistic susceptibilities of the temperamental gipsios are thus deeply-wounded, and they are expressing their resentment of the new " gipsy dictator " by the only method open to them. A prominent gipsy violinist said: — My father and my grandfather fiddled the tunes that I am playing today. I can bring tears to the eyes of my patrons, for my art is inborn. It is a thing of the soul, not something that may bo regulated by academic principles."