ABSTRACT
Bea Palya is a unique phenomenon in Hungarian popular music, and she does not fit into wellknown categories of pop music in general either (see Figure 9.1). She is neither mainstream nor underground, her music draws on niche genres with relatively small audiences: world music, jazz and to an extent children’s music. Yet she is popular, much more than one would deem to be possible. She certainly has a kind of a pop appeal, but she also occasionally yields to what we could call avant-garde tendencies, gently deconstructing established Hungarian traditions. In this chapter I will first outline the Hungarian context for the music of Bea Palya, and establish the meaning of her “popularity” on this particular market. Then I will analyze some instances of what I call gentle deconstruction:
• the role of “avant-garde” sections and strategies in the context of her songs; • the blurring of the boundaries of the song itself; • questioning the past through reimagined Hungarian evergreens; and • a hard-hitting surprise in the middle of her most “pop” album.
