Márta Sebestyén
Encyclopedia
Márta Sebestyén is a Hungarian
folk
vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.
Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály
. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S. as a visiting professor (under a grant from the Ford Foundation
), brought home a large collection of ethnic music recordings from the Smithsonian Institution
.
Sebestyén was educated at Miklós Radnóti Grammar School, Budapest
. She has sung regularly and recorded with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás
. She is known for adaptations of Somogy
and Erdély folk songs, some of which appear in Deep Forest
's Boheme
album, which received the Grammy Award
for Best World Music Album in 1996. She has also adapted Hindi
, Yiddish, Serbian
, Bulgaria
n, Slovak
etc. folk songs to traditional Hungarian style.
Sebestyén sang in the movie The English Patient (Szerelem, szerelem). Three songs recorded together with Muzsikás appeared in the Japanese animated movie Only Yesterday. She also sang in and contributed material to the album Kaddish by Towering Inferno (Richard Wolfson
and Andy Saunders, 1993).
On 1 June 2010 she was awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace
title.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.
Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is best known internationally as the creator of the Kodály Method.-Life:Born in Kecskemét, Kodály learned to play the violin as a child....
. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S. as a visiting professor (under a grant from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
), brought home a large collection of ethnic music recordings from the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
.
Sebestyén was educated at Miklós Radnóti Grammar School, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. She has sung regularly and recorded with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás
Muzsikás
Muzsikás is a Hungarian musical group playing mainly folk music of Hungary and other countries and peoples of the region. Established in 1973, it has also played works by classical composers, especially Béla Bartók, who himself collected folk tunes...
. She is known for adaptations of Somogy
Somogy
Somogy is the name of an administrative county in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary.-Somogy county:...
and Erdély folk songs, some of which appear in Deep Forest
Deep Forest
Deep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance beats or chillout beats...
's Boheme
Boheme (album)
Boheme is the Grammy Award Winning second album of the French duo Deep Forest, released in 35 countries. It mainly sampled Eastern European gypsy songs with electronic music. Hit singles included "Marta's Song" and "Freedom Cry"...
album, which received the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best World Music Album in 1996. She has also adapted Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Yiddish, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n, Slovak
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
etc. folk songs to traditional Hungarian style.
Sebestyén sang in the movie The English Patient (Szerelem, szerelem). Three songs recorded together with Muzsikás appeared in the Japanese animated movie Only Yesterday. She also sang in and contributed material to the album Kaddish by Towering Inferno (Richard Wolfson
Richard Wolfson (musician)
Richard Wolfson was a British musician, performance artist, cameraman and journalist. He is probably best remembered for the concept album Kaddish which he created with Andy Saunders using the band name Towering Inferno.-Life:Wolfson was born to an orthodox Jewish family...
and Andy Saunders, 1993).
On 1 June 2010 she was awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace
UNESCO Artist for Peace
UNESCO Artists for Peace are international celebrity advocates for the United Nations agency UNESCO. This category of advocate is intended to heighten public awareness in addition to the categories UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, UNESCO Special Envoy and UNESCO Champion for Sport...
title.