To keep the purity of the ancient songs and polyphonies we maintain the original styles of performance and in the case of religious music the appropriate setting for its content.
All information courtesy of Kapela Brodow. All Rights Reserved.
Tracks:
1. Dajcie, dajcie nie zalujcie (Be generous) 2:36
2. Oberek (Oberek dance) 3:38
3. Oberek W polu matulu (In the field, my mother) 2:06
4. Bzicam kunia, bzicam (Whip the horse - love song) 1:06
5. Ober zapustny (Ober-dance for the end of carnival) 3:12
6. Chodzony (Walking dance) 4:02
7. Polka Przez noge (Polka dance by foot) 2:32
8. Mazurek Kopatam studzienke (I was digging a well) 3:48
9. Za morzem Marysia (Our Mary is far behind the sea) 2:16
10. Na bujne bory (Into fertile woods) 1:19
11. Kujawiak Las (Forest Kujawiak dance) 1:45
12. Kontro (Counterdance) 2:34
13. Ober Ogonowskiego (Ober dance of Mr. Ogonowski) 2:25
14. Wiwat (Salute dance) 2:31
15. A gdziez moje konie wrone (Where are my black horses?) 2:06
16. Polski (Polski dance) 1:58
17. Owczarek (Sheep dance) 2:31
18. Kozak (Cossack dance) 1:35
19. Mazurek (Mazurka dance) 2:53
20. Posrataj Boze (Give wealth, o God!) 1:30
21. Krakowiak (Krakoviak dance) 2:43
22. Walc (Mountaineers' Walz) 3:30
23. Leciaty zurazie (Cranes flew over) 1:13
24. Mazurek Bez butow (Mazurka dance with no shoes) 1:48
25. Chodzony (Walking dance) 2:33
26. Chmiel (Hops wedding song) 3:20
27. Chorea polonica (Chorea polonica) 2:00
Line-up:
Anna Broda: vocal, Hammerdulcimer, drums
Witold Broda: fiddle, Bilgoraj fiddle, hurdy-gurdy
Maciek Kazinski: Kalisz bass, Bilgoraj fiddle
Jacek Mielcarek: clarinet, soprano saxophone
Adam Strug: vocal
Recorded:
in the Polish Radio stusios in Warsaw, Poland, 2008
*****
About:
the Band:
We are lovers of Polish traditional music, who have been playing together since 1992. Our repertoire includes both sacred and secular songs from the lands of the First Republic of Poland (including much of present-day western Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus). Our concerts are a guide through the calendar of Polish holidays and religious rites.
To keep the purity of the ancient songs and polyphonies we maintain the original styles of performance and in the case of religious music the appropriate setting for its content. However, we also remember that music thrives on the individuality of its performers; we are not quoting, but telling the same story as was told ages ago.
the Music:
Ancient polonaises, refined mazurkas, wild obers. The dominant elements are three-beat rhythms - highly regarded in the Middle Ages - and the rubatos characteristic of Polish music. Our emotion-filled improvisation reaches to the hearts of dancers and listeners, as we have seen at hundreds of concerts and parties. We play on original instruments or reconstructions, using technique we learn from village masters. Our repertoire also includes kolomiykas and arkans from the Hutzuls of the Carpathian mountains, Ukrainian Cossack songs and Jewish freylekses music of the nations of the First Republic of Poland.
This music seemed to rest, sleepy, within us, and there are moments in life when it awakens, and the one who in youth ran to operas and concerts, sheds a tear for a boisterous mazurka. (Przyjaciel Ludu, Leszno, 1837)
the Songs:
Sacred songs play a special role in our repertoire. The variety and mastery of ancient religious polyphonies is impressive. Here we find chivalric songs, Baroque pietas, troubadours' songs, songs for death-anniversary rituals and a vast number of un-codified folk songs. Polish music perfectly reflects the saying "For each village, a different song" the same piece appears in an infinite number of versions.
Among secular Polish songs we find pieces that are distinguished by their poetic artistry and refined melodies. Our repertoire includes ballads, love songs, ritual songs including a vast number of wedding songs, songs for Dziady (an old Polish ceremony of commemorating ancestors) and military cadences. We focus on songs from eastern and central Poland.
the Instruments:
Hammerdulcimer
The middle age name of the instrument means "sweet tune". Ancient Persia is the fatherland of the dulcimer. From there, the instrument began its journey first westwards and southwards. The Arabs brought dulcimers to North Africa and Spain , Byzantines and Crusaders made them popular all over the Europe. Much later dulcimer got to India, China and Korea, where it has been in common use until now. The first Polish writings on dulcimer date from the 16th century. Its polish name is "cymbaly". It has been played till nowadays in east regions of contemporary Poland - Suwalki region, Warmia , especially Rzeszow region and among eastern Poland's repatriates. Our dulcimer is of Wilno pattern. It is comparatively small and their scale consists of two octaves. We play on it with wooden hammers.
Hurdy-gurdy
The oldest, mediaeval hurdy-gurdy, called the organistrum, was a large, two-person instrument. It was used in churches, and eventually replaced by organs beginning in the 13th century. The construction was then changed, becoming much smaller and portable, which made the instrument very popular with wandering bards and musicians. In the First Republic the hurdy-gurdy reached the peak of its popularity in the 17th century. They continued to be used by in ancestral commemorations (Dziady) and by Ukrainian guild musicians right through the middle of the 20th century. The band uses a 19th-century Belarusian hurdy-gurdy reconstructed by Aleksander Los a hurdy-gurdy built by one of the masters of the Kyiv hurdy-gurdy guild.
Kalisz basses
Villages bands around Poland used various kinds of basses. The instrument plays a rhythmic role, not necessarily a harmonic one. The basses had one, two, three or four strings, and were played with bows. They were eventually replaced in village music by accordions and concertinas.
We play on reconstructed three-string basses from the Kalisz region (west-central Poland). A unique technical characteristic is that as with many mediaeval instruments the stand is also the soul of the instrument.
Fiddle
The fiddle is the basic instrument in village dance music. In folk playing the sound of the violin differs vastly from the sound found in classical music. This arises from the different way of holding the instrument (by the neck, rather than under the chin), the use of un-tempered modes, playing in tonations that allow accompaniment by open strings, using intervals such as octaves, fourths, fifths and thirds, and from occasional use of vibrato.
Hoop drum with rattles
This small drum, somewhat similar to a tambourine and played with a wooden stick, is still used today - mostly in central and eastern Poland.
Baraban
This is a large, two-sided drum whose deep, carrying sound is further enhanced by a metal plate or a triangle. It is played with both hands.
