Family E
Sárközi / Sárközy
Lajos Sárközi Jr. Orchestra
Hungarian Roma — Budapest
Style: Hungarian Romani music / Cigányzene
Seven generations of musicians. Lajos Sárközi Jr. (first violin), Lajos Sárközi Sr. (second violin), Rudolf Sárközi (bass). József Sárközi of the Rajkó Orchestra. Classic csárdás sets in Budapest rooms such as the Százéves Étterem. Cousin-name to Veres’s birth name, István Lajos Sárközi.
Sárközi (Sárközy in some Western spellings) is one of the working surnames of Hungarian Romani restaurant violin. Lajos Sárközi Jr. was taught by his father, also Lajos, also a violinist. He went through the Józsefváros music school and the special talents class at the Liszt Academy (Eszter Perényi), then back to the restaurant: auxiliary primás beside his father at the Kárpátia, later his own band, later the Százéves Étterem in Budapest, evenings.
The working chairs: Lajos Jr. first violin, Lajos Sr. second, Gyula Bóni viola, Rudolf Sárközi double bass, Gyula Csík cimbalom. In 2015 he was elected head and chief primás of the Hungarian Gypsy Philharmonic (100 Tagú Cigányzenekar).
Another Sárközi, József, was concertmaster material from the Rajkó Orchestra (Vonópárbaj 1984, special prize). His son József was born in Budapest on 22 July 1990. The 100 Tagú site files him as concertmaster there, youngest primás of that orchestra since 2015, and winner of the Balatonfüred primás contest in 2015. Rajkó itself was founded in 1952 (Szigeti Pál, Farkas Gyula) — a school orchestra, not a restaurant kapelle.
The Dutch primás Lajos Veres was born István Lajos Sárközi. The surname is the bridge this archive will not over-claim. It is enough to say: the name that led Rotterdam in 1935 is the name that still leads a Budapest restaurant set.
Lineage
Birth and death on a vertical line — generation by generation. Places are listed where we could find them.
Generation 6
Lajos Sárközi Sr.
Violin (second)
Violin, second chair. Father and teacher of Lajos Jr. Kárpátia Restaurant.
Generation 7
Lajos Sárközi Jr.
Violin, primás · late 20th c.–
First violin. Józsefváros school, Liszt Academy (Eszter Perényi). Százéves Étterem from 2011. Head of the 100 Tagú Cigányzenekar, 2015. Seven generations, in the family’s count.
Generation 6
Rudolf Sárközi
Double bass
Double bass in Lajos Jr.’s working band.
Generation 6
József Sárközi
Violin, Rajkó concertmaster
Violin. Rajkó concertmaster material. Prize, Vonópárbaj 1984.
Generation 7
József Sárközi (b. 1990)
Violin, concertmaster 100 Tagú · b. 22 July 1990
Born 1990 · Budapest, Hungary
Violin. Son of József. Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra.
Generation 6
Gyula Bóni
Viola
Viola in Lajos Jr.’s band.
Generation 7
Gyula Csík
Cimbalom
Cimbalom in Lajos Jr.’s band.
Generation 2
István Lajos Sárközi (Lajos Veres)
Violin, primás (Netherlands) · 1912–1981
Born 1912 · Zombor, Hungary — Died 1981 · The Hague, Netherlands (cremated)
Born István Lajos Sárközi. Primás. Rotterdam 1935, fourteen albums, the Dutch restaurant violin.
Orchestra years
When the band was founded, when it split, when a new generation took the stand.
20th c.
New orchestra
Father’s restaurant orchestra
Lajos Sárközi Sr. — Kárpátia
Lajos Sr. at the Kárpátia in Budapest. Seven-generation craft, one room.
c. 1980s
Split — new band
A Sárközi chair in the Rajkó
Rajkó — József Sárközi
József Sárközi, lead violin of the Rajkó Orchestra (Vonópárbaj prize 1984). Same surname, a youth/state orchestra, not the Kárpátia band.
c. 1990s
Generation joins
Lajos Jr. as auxiliary primás
Kárpátia — Sárközi
Son stands beside the father. Generation joins before it splits.
c. 2000s
Split — new band
The son founds his own orchestra
Lajos Sárközi Jr. and his Band
New generation band: Jr. first violin, Sr. second, Rudolf Sárközi bass, Gyula Bóni viola, Gyula Csík cimbalom.
2011
New orchestra
Evenings at the Hundred-Year Restaurant
Sárközi at the Százéves Étterem
Jr.’s orchestra takes the oldest restaurant in Budapest as its room. Classic sets, every night.
2015
New generation leads
Chief primás of the Gypsy Philharmonic
100 Tagú Cigányzenekar
The musicians elect Lajos Jr. artistic director and chief primás. A large orchestra chair on top of the family band.
2010s
Generation joins
József Sárközi (b. 1990)
Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra
Next generation of the Rajkó Sárközi line on a symphony stand.
Neighbours
Same country or city, but a different way of playing.
- Veres (Sárközi) — Hungarian Roma → Rotterdam / The Hague
- Lakatos — Hungarian Roma — Budapest (and Belgium, for a time)
- Czinka — Hungarian Roma — Kingdom of Hungary, eighteenth century
- Kalyi Jag — Hungarian Roma — Nagyecsed / Budapest, from 1978
- Járóka — Hungarian Roma — Kisvárda / Budapest
- Boross — Hungarian Roma — Budapest
- Danyi — Hungarian Roma — Budapest
- Lendvai Csócsi — Hungarian Roma — Ménfőcsanak / Budapest