#5007, Folk Songs From Northern and Eastern Europe
Listen to music with the striking vocal harmonies of Eastern and Northern Europe in arrangements that stray from the folk originals in Finnish, Czech, Danish, and Ukrainian, and veer towards metal territory. Plus, new versions of old folk songs from Bulgarian, Lithuania, and Serbia. And more.
New Orleans-based Trendafilka (named after the Balkan wild rose) is a vocal ensemble that draws its repertoire from traditional folk songs from areas of Eastern Europe - the Balkans, the Baltics, the Caucasus, and the Eurasian Steppe – and those rich cultural traditions of polyphonic singing. Hear “Chichovite Konye” in an arrangement based on a Bulgarian ritual song for St. Lazarus’ Day, (which occurs in the spring one week before Easter.) The ritual is for young women, who perform songs throughout the village, “blessing homes in exchange for small gifts and food. It is a rite of passage to participate, and was traditionally required before a girl was considered an adult and eligible for marriage”, (Trendafilka EPK).
There’s newly-released music also by Vancouver-based Julia Úlehla and Dálava, inspired by 100-year-old folk melodies from Moravia, compiled and transcribed by Úlehla’s great-grandfather. Hear a song, “bowed low”, in Czech, and set over a menacing soundscape of percussive strikes on and plucks of strings – guitar, cello, and violin, mixed with a growling electric guitar. Also, hear music from Finland’s Varttina which incorporates throat singing. Then, listen to a song in Ukrainian from Brooklyn’s Zelenaya, about doomed love. There’s also music from Myrkur, (the stage name of the Danish singer Amalie Bruun). Myrkur is also the Icelandic word for “darkness,” and over the years Bruun has combined the dark energy of black metal with classical choral singing, and Scandinavian folk music.
Listen to Lithuanian-rooted music from multi-instrumentalist and composer Eyibra, fka Abraham Brody which combines violin, electronic loop station, and voice. Plus, hear a Serbian song by the vocal quintet PJEV, in collaboration with BBC Jazz Award-winning and Mercury nominated artist Kit Downes on organ, and New Zealand saxophonist Hayden Chisholm from an album of songs from the Balkans: Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #5007, folk songs from Northern and Eastern Europe
ARTIST: PJEV - Kit Downes - Hayden Chisholm
WORK: Ova brda i puste doline (These hills and desolate valleys) [1:00]
RECORDING: Medna Roso
SOURCE: Red Hook Records
INFO: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/medna-roso
ARTIST: Dálava
WORK: bowed low [5:18]
RECORDING: Understories
SOURCE/INFO: https://dalavamusic.bandcamp.com/album/understories
ARTIST: Zelenaya
WORK: Letila Zozulia [5:26]
RECORDING: Folk Songs
SOURCE: Zelenaya
INFO: https://zelenaya.bandcamp.com/album/folk-songs
ARTIST: Värttinä
WORK: Uskottu ei uupuvani [5:05]
RECORDING: Vihma
SOURCE: Wicklow/BMG #63262
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, AppleMusic, and Spotify
ARTIST: Myrkur
WORK: Fager som en Ros [2:51]
RECORDING: Folkesange
SOURCE: Relapse Records
INFO: https://orcd.co/myrkurfolkesange
ARTIST: Abraham Brody
WORK: Ruta Zalioji (Green Rue) [6:19]
RECORDING: From the Rich Dark Earth
SOURCE: abrahambrody.bandcamp.com
INFO: https://www.instagram.com/eyibra/?hl=en
ARTIST: PJEV - Kit Downes - Hayden Chisholm
WORK: Ova brda i puste doline (These hills and desolate valleys) [5:16]
RECORDING: Medna Roso
SOURCE: Red Hook Records
INFO: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/medna-roso
ARTIST: Mariana Sadovska, Max Andrzejewski, Trio Kurbasy, et al.
WORK: Meine Rose [6:27]
RECORDING: Songs of Wounding
SOURCE: PANTOPIA
INFO: https://pantopia-music.org/album/outernational-songs-of-wounding/
ARTIST: Trendafilka
WORK: Chichovite Konye [4:39]
RECORDING: For the Olives
SOURCE: Trendafilka
INFO: https://trendafilka.bandcamp.com/album/for-the-olives
ARTIST: PJEV - Kit Downes - Hayden Chisholm
WORK: Listaj goro ne žali be’ara (Bloom you mountain...) [1:55]
RECORDING: Medna Roso
SOURCE: Red Hook Records
INFO: https://redhookrecords.bandcamp.com/album/medna-roso
