Hunyadi Indul - Ferenc Erkel

The first performance of the opera "Hunyadi Lszl" by Ferenc Erkel (1810-1893) at the National Theater in Pest took place in times that foreboded the revolt of 1848. The rise of this stage work to Hungary's national opera and its ensuing immediate great success probably is due to the plot itself and the atmosphere prevailing in the country at that time. The great flute virtuoso and composer Franz Doppler (1821-1883) asked "Erkel to grant permission to write a march on the basis of motifs from this opera for my citizen's guards band, which he explicitly consented to ..." From the days of the revolution against Habsburg until today the "Hunyadi indul" ("March on Motifs of theOpera 'Hunyadi'") has remained to be popular throughout and therefore may rightly be addressed as a Hungarian national march.