Traditional Songs of Subcarpathia at JDK

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Songs associated with specific seasons as well as the liturgical calendar resounded at the Jasielsk House of Culture during Sunday’s concert summarizing the three-day “To the Sources” Traditional Singing Workshop. Participants in the workshop explored the traditions of Jasielshchina and also the technique of performing such singing involving the search for the natural, “white sound” of the voice.

  • These workshops were very well received, so I am very happy that Mr. Bartosz Galazka and Agnieszka Bernacka are preserving the traditional songs of southeastern Poland from oblivion,” welcomed Helena Golębiowska, director of the JDK, to those who came.
  • It was an exceptional three days. A meeting with traditional songs of the Jasiel region in a multi-generational cast of people who have become another link in the chain of living tradition. Living tradition has been the subject of our – and not only our – work and research for many years., this is the story of the search for people who remember the times when life ran very unhurriedly, when the rhythm of life was determined by annual rituals, when every life activity, every moment was accompanied, perhaps not literally, but metaphorically, by a song, a word, a melody. Songs of old, are unheard today, or heard only in some places. A living tradition is the transmission from grandmother to granddaughter, from grandfather to grandson. These are songs that were sung in the area. Few people know that southeastern Poland, including the Jasiel region with its neighboring areas, is also an extraordinary area full of unique songs, melodies, customs not found anywhere else,” stressed Bartosz Galazka – a researcher and expert in traditional singing of southeastern Poland.

The ethnographer led the workshop together with Agnieszka Bernacka, a singer, dancer practicing traditional singing and folk dance, who is also a documentary filmmaker, protecting the soundscape and cultural landscape of her micro-region from oblivion .The workshop lasted three days from Friday 9.12. to Sunday 11.12. 2022. Their theme was the traditions and rich musical heritage of our region, including traditional songs and instrumental melodies. Agnieszka Bernacka also told how the rhythm of life was associated with the four seasons .

Bartosz Galazka drew attention to four sources of traditional songs: Gregorian chant, court culture, military songs and ritual songs. Several examples of such songs could be heard by the audience during the Sunday concert crowning the event. The audience listened to a variety of songs. These included ritual songs, obereks, krakowiaks, as well as carols. Both the workshop and the concert proved that music unites generations. The performers were not only young people, but also people of advanced age, for whom traditional music has become the language of communication.

The workshop was held in the framework of the “City is me” project, which is implemented as part of the “Jaslo-my city, my home” project financed by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2020 and the state budget. Learning about the musical heritage of our region is intended to strengthen the sense of being part of the local self-government community (Jaslo-city-my-home) and increase the activity of residents.

JDK

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