The Music of the World

As part of the project The Music of the World are organized concerts of folk music groups from different regions of the world. We attach particular importance to the musical themes rarely shown in Poland.

Program supervisor: Marcin Mrowca

Concert of Georgian Folk Song TSISKARI – ABJARI

Concert of Georgian Folk Song and Traditional Dance Ensemble TSISKARI – ABJARI (28 October, 2007 in the Congress Hall of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin) Tsiskari Group was founded in 1980 in Tbilisi. 70 dancers, aged 16 to 25, are involved in the artistic work of the group. The repertoire of the group consists of melodies, costumes and dances from different regions of Georgia. The group took part in various local and international folk festivals in countries such as France, Italy, Macedonia, Russia, Greece and Hungary.
Visit of the Georgian dancers was connected with the workshops, which were held at the premises of the Centre for Theatre Practices GARDZIENICE.
Project supervisor: Marcin J. Mrowca

Concert of ARGJIRO – Albania
Men’s Polyphonic Group ARGJIRO was founded in Gjirokaster , a city in southern Albania. The founders – brothers Kastriot and Landi Çenko – became known in the early 1980s , when they formed the core of the Grupi i të Rinjve (the Group of the Young). The group was awarded the first prize at the National Folk Festival in 1983 and toured in many European countries. In addition to the recordings made in their home country, a compilation of their songs was released in France as part of the World Heritage Music. ARGJIRO continues the best traditions of the earlier band. While retaining the core of the old group, they are considered by experts as one of the best in Albania. The repertoire of the singers is created mainly of the traditional songs from Gjirokaster, which are characterized by long mono themes and smooth melody. Their repertoire includes also songs derived from traditional iso-poliphonic singing of Albania.

Albanian iso-polyphonic singing can be incorporated into the whole tradition of singing in the Mediterranean (Greece, Sardinia, Corsica). However, in this case polyphony appears on several voice levels, and the singers themselves estimate the value of singing both by the quality of every individual one, as well as their ability to perform together. The tone base is created by co-called iso, which is the primary voice (burdon) created together by most singers. The song, however, consists of three voices: the first (marrësi), second (pritësi) and third (hedhësi). If the primary voice is like a canvas of the song, it is the combination of the latter that determines the melody and emotional intensity. This way of singing is widespread in southern Albania, mainly in the region of Labëria (hence the name in Albanian : labçe), Gjirokaster, but also in the region of Korçy. It often happens that the first voice is female, especially in the lyrical songs, love or lamentations. In contrast, epic songs are generally sung by men.

The Irish nights

7-8 December 1995 at the premises of the Centre for Theatre Practices GARDZIENICE

Introduction to the culture, theatre and music of Ireland.
In a series of Gatherings, concerts and workshops participated many artists from Ireland, including Tracey Camel Mc Rory, William George Hetherington, Michael Joseph Nangle, Oliver O’Donnell and Polish musicians: Tomasz Daleziak, Waldemar and Maciej Rychły.

The Balkan nights

7-13 August 2000, at the premises of the Centre for Theatre Practices GARDZIENICE

The indigenous music of the Balkan countries. Workshops: direct transmission of dances and songs. Lectures and discussions. Concerts. Gatherings. Rhodope dissonances; ritual songs; shepherd cries – female High Singing Group from the village of Satovcza in the Rhodopes (Bulgaria), ancient ballads, epics, love songs; virtuoso violin concertos; frenetic pageants – Wallachia (Aromanian) Slobodan Markovic Group from the village of Slatina on the border between Serbia and Romania (Yugoslavia).

The invited groups presented a globally unique art of singing, dancing and playing instruments. Slobodan Markovic Group performs old Wallachian ballads, epics and love songs sung to the accompaniment of violins, transmitted orally by teachers specialized in the genre. Members of the Markovic Group are instrumentalists, dancers and singers at the same time. They all belong to the Wallachian (Aromanian) minority in Serbia, cultivating their archaic traditions with great care.

High Singing Group is a group of singers performing traditional polyphonic ritual songs of melodies based on the characteristic dissonances and callings. They will be accompanied by Naum Strandżev – multi-instrumentalist and singer, a representative of the Muslim tradition of music using original melismas.

Both groups, apart from performing concerts and participating in the Cosmos of GARDZIENICE, led the singing and dancing workshops for students of the International Academy for Theatre Practices.
Workshops and performances were supplemented by lectures on aural traditions and ordinances of the Vlachs, literature and music of traditional Bulgarian culture, analogies between ancient and contemporary traditional culture in the Balkans.

The project Balkan Nights was completed with the support of the Stefan Batory Foundation, (as a part of the programme the Art Without Borders), Foundation of the Culture, the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia.