Editing Márta Sebestyén

{{Short description|Hungarian vocalist, composer and actress}}
{{Eastern name order|Sebestyén Márta}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
[[File:Márta_Sebestyén.JPG|thumb|Sebestyén in 2010]]
'''Márta Sebestyén''' ({{IPA|hu|ˈmaːrtɒ ˈʃɛbɛʃceːn|lang}}; born 19 August 1957) is a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[folk music|folk]] vocalist, composer and actress.<ref name="Larkin90">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=2000|edition=First|isbn=0-7535-0427-8|page=345}}</ref>

==Early life==
Sebestyén was born in [[Budapest]], Hungary.<ref name="Larkin90"/> Her 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 [[Radnóti Miklós|Miklós Radnóti]] Grammar School, [[Budapest]].

==Career==
Sebestyén is a founding member of Hungarian folk group [[Muzsikás]]. She is known for adaptations of [[Somogy County|Somogy]] and [[Erdély]] folk songs, some of which appear in [[Deep Forest]]'s ''[[Boheme (album)|Boheme]]'' album, which received the [[Grammy Award]] for [[Best World Music Album]] in 1995. She has also adapted [[Hindi]], [[Yiddish]], [[Serbian language|Serbian]], [[Bulgarian music|Bulgarian]], [[Slovakia|Slovak]] folk songs into traditional Hungarian style. She sang in and contributed material to the album ''[[Kaddish (Towering Inferno album)|Kaddish]]'' by [[Towering Inferno (band)|Towering Inferno]] ([[Richard Wolfson (musician)|Richard Wolfson]] and Andy Saunders, 1993). She also sang "Rivers" on the multiple artist album ''[[Big Blue Ball]]'' released in 2008.

Sebestyén's song "Szerelem, szerelem", performed with Muzsikás, featured in the movie ''[[The English Patient (film)|The English Patient]]'' (1996). Three more songs she recorded with Muzsikás appeared in the Japanese [[anime]] film ''[[Only Yesterday (1991 film)|Only Yesterday]]'' (1991) by [[Studio Ghibli]]: "Teremtés" ("Creation"), "Hajnali nóta" ("Morning Song"), and "Fuvom az énekem" ("I Sing My Song").<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/soundtracks/opp/|title=CD // Only Yesterday t|website=Nausicaa.net}}</ref> Costa-Gavras' 1989 film ''[[Music Box (film)|Music Box]]'' featured the opening half of Sebestyén's song "Mária altatója".

On 1 June 2010, Sebestyén was awarded the [[UNESCO Artist for Peace]] title.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://culture.hu/main.php?folderID=1085&articleID=301810&ctag=articlelist&iid=1 |title=Hungarian folk singer Sebestyen UNESCO Artist for Peace |date=2 June 2010 |work=culture.hu |publisher=Hungarian Ministry of National Resources |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721104422/http://culture.hu/main.php?folderID=1085&articleID=301810&ctag=articlelist&iid=1 |archivedate=21 July 2011}}</ref>

==Influence==
[[Ivor Cutler]] was a fan of Sebestyén, citing her influence on several occasions, most notably in an article for ''The Guardian'' newspaper in January 2004.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hodgkinson |first=Will |date=2004-01-16 |title=Cutler's drawers |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/jan/16/1 |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Cutler selected two of her songs for a CD (''Cute, eh?'') released in 1999 containing his favourite musical tracks.<ref>{{Citation |title=Ivor Cutler - Cute, (H)ey? |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/2125655-Ivor-Cutler-Cute-Hey |language=en |access-date=2023-02-15}}</ref> Cutler also chose songs by Sebestyén for his 1991 BBC Radio series, ''Cutler the Lax''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ivor Cutler - Cutler the Lax - Episode 1 - BBC Sounds |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b03vczgx |access-date=2023-02-15 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Selected discography==
===As primary artist===
* ''Márta Sebestyén and Muzsikás'' ([[Hannibal Records|Hannibal]], 1987)
* ''Apocrypha'' (Hannibal, 1992)
* ''[[Kismet (Márta Sebestyén album)|Kismet]]'' (Hannibal, 1996)

===With Andy Irvine and Davy Spillane===
* ''[[EastWind]]'' ([[Tara Music|Tara]], 1992)

===With various artists===
* ''[[The Rough Guide to the Music of Eastern Europe]]'' ([[World Music Network]], 1999)
* ''[[Big Blue Ball]]'' ([[Real World Records|Real World]], [[Rykodisc]], 2008)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.martasebestyen.com/ Márta Sebestyén official website (Hungarian)]
* [http://www.martasebestyen.com/?lang=en Márta Sebestyén official website (English)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522011458/http://www.deepforest.co/ ''Deep Forest'' official website (archived)]
* [http://www.muzsikas.hu/ ''Muzsikás'' official website]
*{{imdb name|0781054|Márta Sebestyén}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebestyen, Marta}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Hungarian women singers]]
[[Category:Musicians from Budapest]]
[[Category:Hungarian folk musicians]]
[[Category:Hungarian world music musicians]]
[[Category:Hungarian folk rock musicians]]