Ladislav Leng

Doc. PhDr. Ladislav Leng, CSc. was a Slovak musicologist, ethnomusicologist, promoter of folk music and cultural education, and educator. He is considered one of the founders of modern Slovak musical folkloristics and a key figure in Slovak ethnomusicology.

In his research, he focused on ethno-organology, particularly in the regions of Liptov, Podpoľanie, Hont, Novohrad, and Gemer, as well as on instrumental folk music and traditional Slovak musical instruments. He was an active member of advisory boards and dramaturgical and program committees in Strážnica, at the Folklórny festival Východná (Východná Folklore Festival), and at the Podpolianske folklórne slávnosti v Detve (Podpoľanie Folklore Festival in Detva). He was also one of the founders of the ethno-organology department at the Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. His extensive field research culminated in his candidate dissertation Tradičné ľudové hudobné nástroje (Traditional Folk Musical Instruments, 1962) and in the book Slovenské ľudové hudobné nástroje (Slovak Folk Musical Instruments, 1967).

Ladislav Leng also worked as editor of several vinyl record series featuring authentic recordings of folk songs and music, published by Supraphon and OPUS. He collaborated with the Department of Folk Music of Czechoslovak Radio in Bratislava—particularly on the program Klenotnica ľudovej hudby (The Treasury of Folk Music) and the competition Prix de musique folklorique de Radio Bratislava—as well as with Czechoslovak Television in Bratislava on the TV series Zem spieva (The Earth Sings, 1965–1966).

In the field of music education, Ladislav Leng focused on issues of elementary music instruction. He co-authored music education textbooks for primary schools and wrote music-folklore teaching texts for future educators, such as Slovenský ľudový spev a ľudová hudba (Slovak Folk Singing and Folk Music, 1957) and Slovenský hudobný folklór (Slovak Musical Folklore, 1961). He also served as the leader of the folk music ensembles Pedagóg and Trenčan in Trenčín.

He supported amateur folklore groups and wrote several methodological handbooks for folk music practitioners, including Škola hry na fujaru (Fujara Playing School, 1960), Slovenské hudobné nárečia (Slovak Musical Dialects, 1967), and others.

Friends (instrument makers and performers) and colleagues of Dr. Ladislav Leng (such as Ing. Viliam Gruska) initiated the creation of the Súťaž výrobcov ľudových hudobných nástrojov o Cenu Dr. Ladislava Lenga (Folk Instrument Makers' Competition for the Dr. Ladislav Leng Prize – Instrumentum Excellens), held from 1975 to 1985 (revived in 2001–) as part of the Folklórne slávnosti pod Poľanou v Detve (Folklore Festival under Poľana in Detva), which featured awards in the form of medals created by sculptor Ján Kulich. This event served as a showcase for the best folk instruments, their makers, and performers from across Slovakia. Another event, the Interpretačná súťaž o Cenu Dr. Ladislava Lenga (Interpretation Competition for the Dr. Ladislav Leng Prize), was held from 1986 to 1992, with each year dedicated to a different theme—such as fujara players, bagpipers, pipe players, diatonic accordionists, or traditional singers from the Podpoľanie region.