Behind the Book: The Magical Music of the Merry Spirits

A magical zither played by invisible ghosts and surrounded by flames in the night forest

First came the sound, a haunting melody that seemed to weave through the trees—a tárogató's somber cry that echoed the ballad Sarolta sang earlier. It was the music of another time, a lament that tugged at the corners of my memory.

And then, the mist began to dance at the forest’s edge, and the vision of my two eyes waged war upon each other. Dizziness took hold, a swirling maelstrom that gripped my mind and twisted my stomach. I staggered, the forest spinning around me, and in a desperate bid for equilibrium, I closed my eyes.

The melody changed, as a zither joined the tárogató, transforming the somber tune into a lively jig that set the night alight with merriment.

I gingerly opened my left eye. The tárogató, its dark wooden body tapering like a clarinet and ending in a flared bell, floated into view, its keys pressed by invisible hands. The zither levitated nearby, its strings plucked with joyous speed by unseen forces. Then flames flickered into existence, bobbing merrily as a procession of flying candles. A chorus of voices rose, singing the Ballad of the Last Dance...

In A Ballad of the Last Dance, Episode 9 of The Stone Sea, Zalka encounters a merry band of spirits playing. I thought you might enjoy seeing and hearing some of their unique Hungarian instruments.

Listen to the citera, or zither, below accompanying a Hungarian folk song:

And listen to the tárogató in the next video. You can also see a bit of Hungarian countryside, see some outfits inspired by what Hungarians wore over a thousand years ago, and see what the tárogató looks like: