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The Tatra Foothills, known as Podhale in Polish (which translates as "below mountain pastures"), is a mountainous region in southern Poland. It encompasses Orawa in the west, the Pieniny Mountains in the north, Spisz in the east and the High Tatras (the so-called Rocky Podhale) in the south. Musically, it is distinct from all other Polish regions. It is also highly diversified it terms of musical style and such elements of folk tradition as dance, architecture, costume and dialect. What is common to all Podhale's subregions is the shepherd's tradition, whose antecedents may be traced to the migrations of the Vlachs (Wallachians) in the 16th century, and to that tradition's folk legacy with characteristic shepherds' instruments and part singing. These features in Podhale music are common to the entire Carpathian area. The influence of the Krakow region, further north, is evident in wedding tunes in which krakowiak rhythms are strongly represented. A typical mountaineer's band in the Podhale region consists solely of string instruments: first and second violin, and a small-size fiddle bass. The Podhale region is characterized by a marked preponderance of double-time melodies, the Pieniny Mountains, where triple meters are also to be found, being an exception. The recordings featured on this CD are part of the Polish Radio archive recordings spanning the 1970's to the present time. Some of them were made by violinists of advanced age, since deceased, such as Lukasz Mastela from Zubrzyca Gorna, Jan Knutelski from Kroscienko, Wladyslaw Zarycki from Koscielisko and Wladyslaw Obrochta from Zakopane, who formed one of the most noteworthy strands in the local musical tradition. Small wonder that their recorded legacy constitutes an invaluable source of knowledge about Podhale's music-making style of the past. Equally invaluable are the recordings of mountaineers' part-singing as well as shepherds' calls (wyskanie). English-Polish booklet enclosed with details about the region and the musicians.
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Features
- Compact Disc
- 34 selections
- Total Time: 73:03
- English-Polish language booklet enclosed
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