The River of Many Names Part 6:The Danube in Croatian Folk Songs

You're probably asking "Why does this post begin with a picture of a vintage Croatian songbook, and will there be videos of any of the songs in it?"

A friend of mine, who knows of my interest in Balkan music, sent the book to me last year. He has mailed me all kinds of cool stuff including a CD of gadulka music played by Nikolai Kolev. I can always count on him for surprises in the mail.  He keeps the United States Postal Service busy, and that is also a good thing.

The book itself was published by the Duquense University Tamburitzans Institute of Folk Arts in the year 1975. It has about 30 pages of songs with sheet music, with the lyrics in Croatian and in English translation.

The Duquense University Tamburitzans, one of the longest running traveling folklore shows in the United States and Canada began as a tamburitza ensemble.

For more on tamburitza music, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_Tamburitza

When Croatian people emigrated to the New World they became homesick, so they found solace in their folk music. They formed tamburitza ensembles all over the United States and Canada and performed at weddings and church festivals.. Tamburitza music found an audience even among non-Croatians like myself. International folk dance groups loved it and included it in their repertoire.

Today's songs have several things in common: they are all from Croatia.  They are either about or mention the Danube (River of Many Names a.k.a. Dunav), and the singers are accompanied by tamburitza orchestras.  None of the songs came from the book in the picture above, but go ahead and listen  anyway, you will enjoy them (although I know a few people who think this is music from Hell).

The first group, Dunavski Tamburaši (the ensemble is named after the river) performs the song Na salašu pokraj Dunava (On a Farm Near the Danube.)  I could not find the lyrics for this anywhere either in the original language or in translation. 



This catchy tune, U selu pokraj Dunava,  (In a village near the Danube), describes a man in love with the dark-eyed girl who lives in the village. The eyes seem to have it in the Balkans. Listen to it once and it's guaranteed to take up residence inside your head for hours. There is a term for songs like these; they are called earworms, although I happen to like this one.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148460545/why-that-song-gets-stuck-in-your-head



You can sing along with the original Croatian lyrics here. 

http://cuspajz.com/tekstovi-pjesama/pjesma/dike/u-selu-pokraj-dunava.html

Croatia used to be a part of the multi-ethnic multi-cultural nation of Yugoslavia, which, surprisingly, stayed together for nearly fifty years. Yugoslavia broke up after the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989 and became like Humpty Dumpty. Once it fell apart, it never got back together. Croatia declared independence in 1991; it has been its own entity ever since.

The Danube town of Vukovar has had a violent history. It was bombed by Allied forces during World War II  and by the Yugoslav army during the Croatian War for Independence in 1991. Vukovar was almost completely destroyed both times. Land mines still exist in the area, and there are numerous reminders that a war took place here not so long ago.  This picture from an old German postcard depicts a more peaceful time.

(photo from Wikipedia Commons)

In the video you can see present day Vukovar accompanied by a song about the city. Although most of it has been rebuilt, evidence of the war is still visible.  At 0:54, there is a building pockmarked with bullet holes; and at 2:02 you can see the the bombed out water tower, which has become a symbol of the city's suffering. The Danube scenes start at 1:37, and at 2:05 you can see a cross which was built as a memorial to those who died during the Croatian War of Independence.

This is a rough translation of the refrain. Google Translate does not do well with Croatian.

Vukovar, Vukovar, stands proudly by the Danube, burning in defense of Croatia .



And finally, here is my two cents' worth on the subject of war. War is something difficult to justify, especially the ethnic and religious kind which has been the scourge of Balkans.  This quote by Albert Pike sums it all:

War is a series of catastrophes which result in victory.

If you enjoyed this you may also enjoy The River of Many Names Part 5 (the links for the previous posts 1,2,3 and 4 are embedded in part 5). The series includes music from Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/05/river-of-many-names-part-5-danube-in.html

The Tambura in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Croatian Folk Music (some great Tamburitza music here)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/05/tambura-in-macedonian-bulgarian-and.html

Last year I saw a performance of the Duquense University Tamburitzans. If they come to your neighborhood, go check out the show, it will be the best two hours you've ever spent.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2012/02/duquense-university-tamburitzans-come.html


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

The Duquense University Tamburitzans come to West Hartford, Connecticut

Yes, that's me in the photo with the young man in a Bulgarian folk costume. No, I wasn't flirting with him but I wanted a picture as a souvenir of an unforgettable afternoon. He was part of a performing group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Duquense University Tamburitizans.

On Saturday, February 18, I went with a friend to a Tamburitzans performance in West Hartford, Connecticut. Since the management forbade taking videos of the show, and no flash photography was allowed (the hall was quite dark), my friend took this photo of me with one of the dancers.

The Duquense University Tamburitzans are a student group from a school in Pennsylvania who perform music and dance from Eastern Europe. And they give a great show.

The Tamburitzans began as a small musical ensemble playing Croatian folk music back in 1937. More people joined as the years passed, as the ethnic community in Pittsburgh grew. This year they mark their 75th anniversary performing on stage delighting us with the folk music and dance of Eastern Europe. This is one of the longest-running folklore shows around. The Tamburitzans are full time students and amateur dancers and musicians who perform on weekends, traveling around the United States. Not familiar with Croatian folk music? Check out this video. This is a Croatian tamburitza ensemble, which is how the group started out.



For more on tamburitza orchestras and their instruments read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamburica

On the Universe of YouTube, I found a commercial about the Duequense University Tamburitzans. It gives a bit of the history of the ensemble with some excerpts from last year's show. I heard Macedonian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Serbian and Bavarian music in there. (by the way the best numbers in this year's show were from Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia).



For more information, you can go to the Tamburitzans website, where you can read a short history of the group, and find out if they'll be in your neighborhood anytime soon. It is a performance not to be missed.

If you enjoyed this you may also like: Folklore, Food and Fun at Festivals (with some Greek and Bulgarian live performances)

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/08/folklore-food-and-fun-at-festivals.html

A Romanian Festival with an Albanian Accent: A writeup of a local festival that I went to last summer.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/07/romanian-festival-with-albanian-accent.html


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.