1a) Podhale Region - Folk music and Gorals
Podhale is the southernmost region of Poland which is sometimes referred to as the “Highlands” and its people as “Highlanders” or “Gorals”. The Podhale is located beneath Tatra mountains. (example1)1 The name comes from the location in which the region is situated. In their dialect hala is a mountain pasture and in Polish pod means under, then we have literally under the mountain pasture.2
Musicologist Bohdan Muchenberg (1927) in his articles describes the Podhale region as follows:
The culture of Podhale is unique and different from other Polish regions.
This was influenced by the different lifestyle of the Podhale people and the centuries-long seclusion of this region from the rest of the country, and at the same time a strong link between Podhale and the culture of Walachian shepherds. They came to the Podhale region several hundred years ago from Transylvania (Romania). Therefore, some of the melodies from these areas, especially from the southern Żywiec region, suggest features not found in other regions, such as the frequent beginning of songs with a shout and basing the melody on scales not known in other regions of Poland.3
In general the influences came not only from Romanian folk traditions, but also Slovak, Moravian and Hungarian ones.4 Therefore, we can clearly see the cultural distinctiveness of Podhale. The inhabitants of the region have a strong sense of separateness and belonging to the highland community, and what is more, even nowadays they proudly flaunt their tradition and culture, are not ashamed to speak the dialect and wear highland clothes even outside Podhale.5 (example 2)
“In traditional music, Gorals use a polyphonic way of singing in some of their songs. These songs are sung for two or even three voices. Usually one singer begins and only then the others join in. They sing with a loud, high voice, while the highland women sing with a low voice (example 3). Podhale songs are often subject to tempo changes, which is why it is often difficult to notate them in a specific kind of bar.”6 Typical for highlanders music is to start a song with a shout, which is not very common in other Polish folk traditions (example 4). What happens occasionally is that the beginnings or closings of the piece involve unisons or octaves between the instruments or singers.
The lyrics of the songs are very succinct, with a modest use of means of expression, almost always ending with a point, a moral or a joke, sometimes of an ironic nature. Love songs are sometimes given in alternating duets - pairs of singers or groups of men and women. The change of pace, the transition from song to dance is accented with a sharp whistle through the teeth or on the fingers (example 5).7
One more characteristic feature of Goral songs which is worth emphasising: love of the mountains, sensitivity to the beauty of the landscape runs through most of the lyrics.8
A traditional Goral band mostly consists of four musicians. The first violin, who is also a leader, constantly improvises on the theme of the melody, which is generally known by Highlanders. Then, there are mostly two second violins which complete the melody played by the first violin, and a bass that plays bass notes. Highlanders’ basses are either homemade instruments or modified cellos with three strings instead. They also have a strap for hanging the instrument over the shoulder which helps for playing while walking. Formerly, such bands included a bagpiper. However, nowadays this is rare in the culture of Podhale.9
Musical skills are treated by highlanders with great respect. Obviously, the highest esteem in the band is given to the leader, because their musical personality forms the character of the entire band.10
An interesting fact is that traditionally the fiddle player holds the violin against the shoulder or chest and not under the chin as classical musicians do. Nowadays it is more and more common to hold the violin in a "professional" way. Mostly while playing, highlanders use only three strings (A,D,E), they also mainly play in the first position, rarely the second, and without vibrato.11
