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Folklore heritage
LADO - Folk dance ensemble of Croatia
LADO is an archaic Slavic word, frequently used as a refrain in old ritual songs of the North-West Croatia, and a synonym for the expression meaning "good", "lovable, "dear".
LADO Ensemble of Croatian folk song and dance was founded in Zagreb, in 1949 as a profesional national ensemble.
36 brilliant dancers of the Ensemble, who are also excellent singers, can easily transform the folk dance ensemble into a representative folk choir, while its 15 superb musicians play some forty different instruments.
In its imposing choreographic and musical repertoire, the LADO Ensemble primarily pays homage to original folk art, making it recognizable and well known throughout the world.
With its unique collection of highly valuable authentic national costumes (more than 1000 costumes), each concert of the LADO Ensemble is a kind of fashion show of the original Croatian traditional attire.
When in the review of a LADO's concert one reads that its perfomance tastes of the spring- water, it is perhaps the best description of its character: clear, refreshing and indispensable to life, reflecting on its surface the man and the whole nation and its culture.
Web: www.lado.hr
Anima Croatica
Our folk songs, our circle-come-wheel dances (kolo), row dances (tanac) and pair dances (ples), endure in the sound and movement of the people, mostly as a need, as an awareness of the past, as an elucidation of identity. That is why these folk, even in the harshest times of their history, reached for song and dance in all their forms, for their gusle (one-string fiddle), their lijerica (a three-string instrument), their tambouras and mandolins, their diple (twin-reed shepherd's flute) and their double flutes (dvojnice), their flutes and sopile (Istrian long flute). And this not to alleviate and eliminate their pain but rather to turn it into song, to perpetuate the centuries-old record of trials, tribulations and suffering so as to add to the collective consciousness the unclouded sources of pain, the paths of those sufferings and cures for such sufferers. The people of those times, practically illiterate, perceived Nature in its original form, without a mediator, which is why it obtained a personal transfer its fullness without losing the smallest modicum of it to a mediator.
(...) The people do not take into consideration that somebody could be listening to them. We are, therefore, faced with the fact whereby a poet and a singer are the creator, performer and listener. In a circle dance we also have three elements: poetry, singing and mimicry, again combined in a single person. (A. Dobronić).
Popular melodies, creations by anonymous poets and inventors of chants, of dancers and intuitive conceivers - issuing directly from the life of people, out of living practice, the daily way of life -become the property of a string of generations, of their historical and folklore epoch; and from it there issued the very Being of chants handed down through the voices and steps of one generation to the new inheritors of those chanted facts of spiritual quality. He, who did not pay true attention to the graves of his forefathers, paid no attention to the cradles of his descendants either. The works of the folk of any people, and therefore of the Croatian people too, are the measure of its identity, the measure of harmony with its very self. Peoples win their freedom through rebellions and revolutions; they defend their integrity by watch-towers on their borders, but that which has been liberated and defended is retained only through the preserved heritage of the folkloric creative power of generation after generation, in works both written and unwritten by people - individuals and groups alike. A country can be ruled, but one can only avail oneself of the works produced by its people, and be in turn rewarded by that use. That which has ever been beautiful - the endlessly patient deeds of countless generations, inventions beyond description left by those generations, a spiritual craving stronger than mere hunger for wheat, the greed for gold, which ensured that this inheritance is not turned into wheat or transformed into gold, has ever been beautiful, to remain an untarnished treasure in the primeval spiritual chest of this people.
Songs extol justice and love, indeed a love for justice and fairness in whatever kind of love, even when brutal pogroms were sweeping over the roofs and cradles of this people, even then did not the urge for revenge grow, but rather a yearning for justice.
They do, however, bear a powerful influence on the soul of its listeners, who gradually learn them by heart; on occasions I saw a man weeping and pining for a girl. And the folk sing, particularly in the night, of deeds of old performed by Slavic noblemen and kings, or of some tragic events. Should it so happen that a traveller from the neighbouring hill comes along, he'll be repeating the verse that first one had sung, and this alternating singing continues until the distance between them does not separate those two voices. (A. Fortis). Small peoples are often small first in the fish pond of larger ones - but nature has endowed those small fish with tiny bones, and there can be no morsel supped by the bigger one without some tiny bone of the smaller being stuck in their throat, and that to this very day, hoarsening their voices even when they are not singing. The intelligentsia writes for intelligentsia, while ordinary folk write for the people and for the intelligentsia alike, even for an intelligentsia that is eventually going to write for the people. People write about things that have not been said, or sung or danced; they do not copy from wise books. When people create, they are motivated by one thing alone: the life and vitality of that same people, the historical current which at that particular point in time is turning the waterwheel in order to uphold the heritage trust of that sacred meal. That is why the home of song and movement lies in the heart of a People, and those folklore and artistic creations are the paths which criss-cross the land of the people, and it is along those paths that people walk, their differences and diversities are the crossroads of those paths, while morals and ethics are the signposts on those crossings. And so do customs become traditions, traditions become a culture, and culture becomes spirituality.
Ljubo Stipišić Delmata
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Folklor
In all its elements folk music has ever been a companion to life and its changes, and so it was that a folk singer therefore assumed the role of both an interpreter and commentator of his times and of people's experience. Diversities which developed in Croatian folk music are very telling, revealing as they do our past to all people with open hearts and minds, to the musical listener who hears a melody and who listens to the words being sung. The regional characteristics in melody, rhythm and ornamentics, and particularly in the text sung, which today represent the immeasurable spiritual wealth of the Croatian people, resulted from the greatly fragmented corpus of the Croatian national being, such fragmentation being caused by the wars that raged through these parts, and to the migrations to which the Croatian nation has been exposed in its past. Despite that, however, a deep Slavic root is readily identifiable in a large part of Croatian singing heritage, especially of upper Croatia, while the mutual permeation with traditions of neighbouring peoples led to the emergence of new folklore creations, to changes and adjustments, or indeed to a total disappearance of older forms. In some areas older texts have been preserved, texts to which a melody from the heritage of another people were linked in more recent centuries. In other cases it is the melody retained by folk practice. But with the passing of time it became tied with other, more contemporary lyrics adopted from another people. In the border areas, where traditional cultures meet, there frequently emerged material the beauty and catchiness of which surpassed the older models, but at the same time have, due to linguistic reasons, frequently lost the accentual ties between text and melody (Međimurje). These phenomena are most obvious in the older, ethnic communities of the Croatian Diaspora, which is quite understandable. The surroundings of other cultures in the process of adjustments bore a crucial influence on the spiritual development of Croats outside their homeland. The fundamental quality of Croatian folk singing of ancient times is collectivity. Here, an important role belonged to the person starting the song, thus defining the words, tonal pitch, the moment that the group joins in, tempo, and to a degree the mode of singing. There are examples of solo singing in special circumstances, or in the function of popular customs.
Collectivity in performing with musical instruments appeared relatively late, towards the end of the 18th century, when guci (fiddlers) appeared - a group comprising two violins and a double bass. With time, the group expanded and combined with the tamburitza, an instrument which assumed a dominant role in Slavonia and Baranja in the mid-19th century and somewhat later in all other parts of upper Croatia.
After bagpipes (gajde) and flutes (svirale) of older times, the music-making practice of eastern Croatia, to which Croatian villages in Bačka are closely linked, a tamboura tuned to equal temperament became the predominant instrument, and with it singing - in the 20th century also of equal temperament - to the accompaniment of a tamboura. Slavonia and Baranja still preserve the older style of duet singing with a strongly emphasised role of the leading singer, and the later date folklore groups are bringing back the bagpipes (tuned to equal temperament), dual flute (dvojnice) and the twin-reed shepherd's flute (diplice).
In northern Croatia, in the regions of Međimurje and Podravina, and particularly in the Pomurje -along the upper bank of the River Mura, where 7 to 8,000 Croats live in some ten villages, the older folk music is characterized by the pentatonic scale. In our times, however, this scale is rapidly being squeezed out by the wilderness of commercially oriented music. There is little left of traditional instruments also, only a few wind and string instruments (bagpipe, bellows-bagpipe (gajde, dude, trontule)), but more recent practice has resulted in an identifiable sound in bands comprising cimbalon and violins.
In the north-west part of Croatia, in Hrvatsko Zagorje, along the border with Slovenia, vocal tradition has for centuries been influenced by the wider Alpine region. Those influences can be recognized in the part-singing tuned to pure temperament. Music-making instruments include, in addition to the fiddle (gosle, violine) and accordion, a range of flutes: puhaljke žvegalice, strančice, and others made of wood or clay. In more recent time brass instruments have become increasingly popular. The old, untempered type of singing accompanied by violin and šargija (a type of tamboura with 7-8 strings) is still practiced among Croats in Bosanska Posavina (an area along the River Sava, in Bosnia) although in Slavonian Posavina it has completely disappeared. With the appearance of the tamboura as a collective music making instrument, the ancient style of rustic singing (ojkanje, orcanje, rozganje - accompanying one's singing with a drawn-out o-o-y!) in Lika, and to a degree in Kordun, but here, singing is accompanied by a kuterevka (solo tamboura). The truly ancient heritage is borne witness to by the untempered type of singing still practiced throughout the hinterland of the Adriatic coast, the Istrian peninsula and the Croatian Littoral, together with the islands of the upper Adriatic, where singing - in pairs - is accompanied by the sopile (Istrian long flute), and it is important to pay attention to the specific timbre of voice imitating that instrument. This style is also found in the Dalmatian hinterland - in particular the town of Sinj, in the Cetina and Imotski regions, through Konavle and Western Herzegovina. These mountainous areas remain the home of the old style singing: men's and women's rere, gange, putničke, istresalice. Today, folk music is exposed to the pressures of commercialization which are threatening its regional characteristics. This is why each preserved song or piece of traditional music, snatched from oblivion and artistically interpreted with love and performed in the traditional spirit and style, is a precious contribution to the preservation of the centuries-old identity of its creators and guardians in all Croatian regions. And all of them together, just like a bouquet of colourful wild flowers, carry forth the sense and essence of the Croatian art of folk music.
In their selection of pieces of music the authors were guided by the need to present all the regions, but also by the times in which the pieces were created. Consequently, these CDs contain indigenous material of exceptional documentary value and which have been recorded in daily life. Recordings from the field and from the International Folklore Festival, that has been taking place in Zagreb since 1966, have for the most part been preserved in the archives of Croatian Radio and Television, are of exceptional value for Croatian national culture.
As the passage of time was changing living conditions of all layers of the nation, so too did folk music change - this inseparable companion of man in his fight for survival. This prompted us to make room in this selection for a more contemporary experience of Croatian folk music, with artistic interventions within the process of adjustments to the times - all the way to numbers composed on the basis of tradition.
Bozo Potočnik and Ivica Ivanković
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Sacra
There is a story among the Croatian people which goes as follows: God, having populated the earth, left a beautiful little corner of it for relaxation. In His goodness, however, He then decided not to reserve the enjoyment of it for Himself alone, but rather to populate and share the land with hospitable, music-loving Croatian people. Of course, this is but a fairy tale, but we like to tell it because we wish to experience its message through these CDs. Having heard the songs they contain, we hope you will come to share our opinion that the natural beauties of this land have left their indelible traces on the beauty of the soul. In turn, the beauty and richness of the soul gave rise to the richness of the sound.
For centuries the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean nourished the soul of the folk living in the Croatian south, just as the waves of the Mediterranean have shaped the numerous islands and reefs along the shores of the Adriatic for millennia, creating countless enchanting coves and beaches. As a result, numerous cultural creations have arisen, such as in this particular case - creations of music. A feeling just as full of elation as that which is born when one comes face to face with the Adriatic Sea, when one encounters the Croatian mainland - whether it be the awesomely beautiful and challenging mountain peaks of Biokovo and Velebit, untamed rivers and waterfalls, or the large rivers in the north of the country: the gold-bearing Drava, the lengthy and calm Sava river, and the Danube which, flowing through the middle of the Pannonian plains in the easternmost part of the country, brings with her truly unforgettable dawns and dusks. And just when we think we have captured and comprehended some of that beauty, and delved into the music that is its depth, we come to realize that this is all far deeper, richer, almost incomprehensible and unreachable. Having arrived to their new homeland in the seventh century AD Croats came to know Christianity, which had put down its roots in these areas as early as in the period of the Roman Empire. For centuries Croats were the only people in the world of Roman Catholicism who enjoyed the privilege of celebrating all the rituals and prayers in their own tongue and script: Glagolitic. This was one of the main reasons for the bountiful heritage of traditional liturgical and paraliturgical music that the Croats possess today, out of which we present to you but a tiny part. Emphasizing our national distinctiveness, we would like you to be able to experience not only the festive and joyous atmosphere of Croatian Christmas and Easter through this music, but also the sombre sound of the penitential songs of Holy Week performed by brotherhoods in numerous small towns along the coast, the family serenity of songs dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and pilgrim songs in the north of the land - from Zagorje to Slavonia, the melancholic plea for God's favour in the tunes of Medimurje, and the harsh and brittle tones of the mountainous regions - equally harsh and brittle as was the life of the folk living there. And at all times one must not forget that this beauty has its opposite side, taking into account that Croatian history has, to a great degree, been a struggle for freedom. And that is why Croatia accepts with pride the appellation CROATIA SACRA.
This series of spiritual songs is an attempt to draw your attention to matters which so far have not been readily available in the tourist offer of our country. And should it help you to recognize the music-and song-loving, hospitable Croatian people, then our task has been accomplished.
Jozo Čikes
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Klape
And this Folk of Croatia be the foremother of its songs, and the Language and the ways in which it is spoken by the Folk be their forefather, and so it be that the soul of songs and their language have been living in centuries-old union. Here, history takes a pause to convey the facts, and folk-singers to proclaim the beauty, to bring forth a chant through dense veils of illusive facts, chant in which we shall be able to also discern the truth about things unattainable.
How, then, is one to liken that which is historical, mysterious, in endless and inventive motion - that magical popular creation begotten in the measures of historical suffering and joys of life, and then go still further and recount it, indeed sing this totality of events - to living examples, from the invisible and inaudible beginnings to the inflows of the present day? Needless to say, such an all encompassing undertaking would be ever be unfinished, in need of continual addition, abolition, evaluation. For here too have almost all levels of folk musical creation been in close relationship with social development and its phases (J. Andreis).
How then is one to understand Dalmatia, her songs, poets and singers, the humiliations to which she was subjected throughout her history, conquests, enslavements, trades with that which has been conquered and enslaved? Due to so continual a trade in ownership (...) such a Dalmatia possesses a cosmopolitan and polyglot character - it is a former Yugoslav Dalmatia, former Austrian, Napoleonic, Venetian, Hungarian, Byzantine, Roman and lllyrian, and today, Croatian (...) There can be no doubt that such a past has partly conditioned the nature of its inhabitants who, having to exist in such an historical environment, necessarily developed a sense for the humorous side of things which would surpass its tragedy (E. Betizza).
Fart of the songs presented here, men and women of the people sang while working in vineyards, guarding their livestock, picking olives, turning the grindstone in their cellars while grinding wheat and corn. We often recall the words of Ujevic during his stay on Brač: Yes, I saw the living folk of Dalmatia. The women of Brad in the silent nights, pressing olives in their 'machines'
The folk poets-come-singers were in permanent contact with life at different levels of time, and they sang their cultural and ideational experiences in a corresponding verse, and in what they sang they will see themselves. Those folk anonymities were both vociferous chroniclers and silent prophets of the future, where the echo of those, once upon a time chanted elations would be heard. And that is why it is in the songs you are listening to that the people of Dalmatia keep vigil and dream their dreams. The singing is usually commenced by the lead voice, a tenor, which sets the tone, the tonality of singing; it is then picked up by other voices, creating a two-part singing in parallel thirds, joined by other, deeper voices, thus spontaneously creating three-part singing and, occasionally, but as a rule in the final chord, four-part singing. The leading voice melody is wide open - up to a full octave, and either with its gentle rhythm it follows the nature of the verses, or its melismatic sequences, its Gregorian mood, where each syllable carries several note values, it achieves the auditive ambiance of images contained within the verses. (For example, in the numbers Zaspao je lipi Ive, Marijo, Marijo...)
Gregorian chanting (L. caritus gragorinus), Gregorian - tradition has it - after Pope Gregory the Great (590-604), who collected the practiced Cantilena Romana and codified how and when it should be sung in the course of the church year. To this day this form has remained known as Gregorian chant. A. Vidaković). It might be assumed, although erroneously, that in these folk chants an anonymous native singer joined his melody with a likewise anonymous indigenous poet, and that the chant represents the unity of the poetic and melodic. But there can be no doubt that both had emanated from the same singer, one who had conceived the verses and then enveloped them into a melody, into a chant. Inspired by his personal inclinations, and being surrounded by ritual religious chants, and more often than not by his singing in brotherhoods - he was, in living practice, instinctively creating tunes, or adapting or expanding existing ones, even while singing, creating the verses needed for that particular purpose.
Members of brotherhoods had to take part in the funerals of their deceased brethren, in processions, in the celebrations of church festivities and of the brotherhood festivities, in their feasts and similar events. All that created situations where brotherhood members prayed or sung specially written or translated texts. In those texts a prominent place belonged to the poems about the Mother of Jesus. (For instance, in 17th-century Vrbnik, on the island of Krk, there were 27 brotherhoods in a total of 900 inhabitants. And this is not an isolated case.) It is therefore not difficult to accept the claim by V. Štefanić, who tells us that our brotherhoods - in cooperation with the pastoral clergy - were those who carried forth the development of popular religious poetry. (N. Kolumbić) People living in remote settlements and hamlets, without road links, in difficult social circumstances, were isolated from the general community, beyond the reach of other cultural trends, inaccessible for mutual visits with other settlements, such a population inevitably had a lesser choice of songs and chants, and with it a less intricate structure of melody (B. Širola) than those living closer to townlets and towns, or in places located dotted along the coastline where life was more dynamic. Most often those singers were both church cantors and secular singers, and understandably, through the long periods of not only the Glagolitic but also the older times of chorals they transposed a good deal of liturgical verse and chant into the secular and vice versa - from everyday life into the life of the Church. Consequently, in the songs dating from those periods we can still discern a soft reflection of liturgical texts, the melodic atmosphere of entrance and first communion chants, psalms, hymns, exclamations, antiphons...
On the island of Cres, in a place called Valun, there stands one of the oldest Glagolitic monuments, dating back to the XI century. And if the Glagolitic monks on the island of Cres worshipped the Lord in their own tongue (or rather, in the old Church-Slavic) as early as the beginning of the XI century, then neither the priests - Glagolitic priests - nor the people used the Latin language in church singing (...) And when, in the year 1177, Pope Alexander III while on his way to Venice was driven by storm to Zadar, he was greeted by singing in the Croatian language. (J. Bezić). And so, in keeping with Roman custom, a white horse was prepared for him, and he was led in procession through the city to the accompaniment of countless lauds and canticles which reverberated powerfully in the Croatian tongue, to the church of St. Anastasia (I. Strgačić).
This is an important document which proves beyond any shadow of doubt the presence of Croatian Church singing in Zadar, which in turn also points towards the possibility that people sang in their native tongue in other towns as early as the 12th century.
Researchers and collectors of live popular chants, of the wealth of diversity of songs in which centuries of past are reflected, of views and ideas, of resistance to and acceptance of novelties seeping into folklore tradition, swept in by the tides of time, of arrogances on the part of bad neighbours, of distressing, lamentable migrations and decades upon decades of hostile foreigners. All those social, economic and historical upheavals can be felt, indeed followed, in those verses, in this monumental folk treasure. Especially prominent is the continual silent resistance offered by labourers and fishermen, i.e. by the rural folk to the ever more boisterous town folk, i.e. the urban mentality. Songs recorded in the field in Dalmatia (by F. Kuhač, L. Kuba, V. Bersa, B. Širola, I. Furčić, D. Fio, and others) are usually without titles, and the people knew them, and the melographs recorded them either by their first verse or by a part of the first verse. The lads would say: Let's have that one: Flowers of mine... and they would be referring to the first line, Flowers of mine, I'd be picking you too..., which is why the recorder of the song wrote it as: Flowers of mine.... Represented on these CDs are but a few chants, and their contexts indicate the type to which they belong: love songs, toasting songs, carols, patriotic songs, church songs, romances, lullabies... (0. Delorko).
It is unwise to discuss too much the context of these songs, since we shall never be able to delve into the hidden intuitive spiritual figures, into their utterly individual symbolism of the sensibilities of the time. A wise man once said: Talking about the context of a song is like talking about stars in water. Truth be told, however, that no song was remembered, handed down from generation to generation, if it did not possess depth, and depth comes with truth, and truth is what is easiest to remember and pass on. In addition to the spontaneous folk singing in the current practice of klapa singing - from the first organized klapas in Zagreb in the 1950s (Ensembles Dalmatia, The Petar Tralić Group of Dalmatians, Lebić...) - there emerged people who harmonized and arranged songs and chants, who arranged the chording of a chant in line with the ability of a singing group for which a given chant was most often specifically intended. Composers and their works are but a natural continuation of this abundance of folk, secular and sacral musical heritage. Music inventions of individuals, minstrels, rovers, fishermen and peasants have been building individual auctorial works precisely on that clean basic chording, and on clear melodic boundaries. And so the poets, who laid the foundations in the specific features of dialects of their home regions, carried on toiling in the vineyard of the chakavians they happened upon, and in the process making the verse, that was carried on their lips down through the ages and brought to our own time, still deeper and wiser. And it is here again, in that which is individual and auctorial, that the themes universal to all come forth like the inexhaustible boundaries of living - be they of love, or patriotism, romances and lullabies, religious or rebellious. Also represented are women's klapas. These burst into popularity particularly in the 1970s throughout Dalmatia, and then wider. This rests on the musical tradition of folklore female singing, simpler in its origins: in two-part and three-part singing, while klapa-style female singing is more demanding, more complex. This means that harmonization and arrangements of songs demand greater vocal challenges, and that demand remains when they are interpreting the compositions of contemporary composers.
Today, all across not just Dalmatia but across the whole of this beautiful land, and even through the Diaspora (Australia, Canada...) there are over 300 traditional singing groups popularly known as klapas, both male and female. And then there is the ethno-musicological festival of Dalmatian klapas in Omiš (which has been in existence since 1967), dozens of similar events up and down the coast and throughout the hinterland, as well as numerous radio and TV programmes of the same character. A quite new folklore phenomenon are children's klapas, which are becoming increasingly popular and are seeking their own place within the klapa milieu.
Songs, chants and compositions remain in this world after the demise of their known and unknown parents, to seek beauty through chords (L. As cor - to the heart), and ultimately find both beauty and truth. It would appear that a song begins its full life, indeed that it is truly born only sometime in the future, after its factual birth and after the passing of its anonymous parents... And that is why living in these songs are not only their prime begetters but also the generations that disseminated them and handed them down with so much inspiration and fervour, and the generations that are yet to be born and take to their hearts the heritage of their predecessors. And so, here before you, are our folk pre-Parents unknown, our honourable Forefathers, singers from the soot-covered hearth of this folk of Dalmatia.
Ljubo Stipišić Delmata
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Etno
Although one of Europe's smaller states, Croatia is a country with an incredibly diverse folk tradition. In numerous regions of this land there occurs a dramatic meeting of the cultures of cautious Middle Europe, the exuberant Mediterranean and the harsh Balkans. It is therefore practically impossible to subsume Croatian music and dance culture under a common denominator and identity since it is concurrently living several identities. And as Croatia has not, as yet, reached its post-industrial phase in the technological sense, it can be described as a kind of ecological oasis. It also needs to be said that rural parts of Croatia still preserve some of the archaic folk customs in their ancient forms. In this country, folklore has not yet completely lost the power of daily ritual. The indigenous still retains its powerful rural sources in areas where civilization has not yet dismantled the immemorial links between nature and mankind.
This CD is a welcome combination of a traditional and contemporary approach to folklore heritage. Lado, the National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia, presents to its listeners the achievements of numerous local collectors and interpreters of the wealth of national folklore, performed in a traditional manner. At the same time, listeners can also hear contemporary approaches to folk tunes performed by numerous and established ethno-performers, drawing inspiration for their interpretations from rock, jazz, pop...
The compilation observes the professional, ethnographic divisions of Croatia into Istria and the Littoral, the regions of Lika and Dalmatinska zagora, Dalmatia, Slavonia and Baranja, Podravina and Međimurje, and Central Croatia, or roughly speaking, the surroundings of Zagreb. All the specific, rather archaic, medieval music luxury of Istria and the Littoral is superbly presented in the composition Bregbalon, by Dario Marušić, a versatile instrumentalist and a tenacious researcher, as well as in Tararajčica and Naranča, performed by the rhapsodic "Putokazi". The choral achievements in the fullness of the music spirit of Istria are demonstrated by Lado in the song Katarina Zlata hći, while Tamara Obrovac, the First Lady of Istrian music, performs two of her own compositions: Črni malin and Šenica. It is, perhaps, in the music of Tamara Obrovac and her "Transhistria" ensemble that the best, indeed world class blend of tradition and a highly schooled auctorial personality has been achieved.
The rhythmically and ritually powerful and authentic, but above all patriarchal music heritage of the regions of Lika and Dalmatinska zagora, is presented by "Legen", a group which possessed the power of movement with its superbly received Kolo (from Vrlika), and again by Lado, with a typically guttural interpretation by male voices of Kreni kreno da krenemo.
A different Dalmatia, without the soothing part-singing of klapas, is presented by Lado through the song Podiglo se malo četovanje, and by the industrious promoter of electronic ethno-music, Hrvoje Cmić Boxer, with the number Lokrum (named after a tiny isle near Dubrovnik), in which electronic music blends with klapa-style singing. Mojmir Novaković, with the group Kries, presents a multilayered, almost multi-media composition Iz oblaka rosa pada - a complex blend of several songs. The sumptuous hues of wheat-growing Slavonia and Baranja are presented, in a more than worthy fashion, by Lado through the unbridled joy of the instrumental performance of Grajino kolo and the wholesome choral sound of Tri jetrve žito žele. But even this Pannonian area, traditionally a land of likeable rogues and tambouritzas, found its modern reflection in the Legen composition Jos u one, parts of which are going the evoke in those knowledgeable in matters of the world music scene, women's Bulgarian-style singing. Elegiac, melodious and deep, riverine, somewhat old Slavic nostalgia of Podravina and Međimurje undoubtedly reaches its authentic peak in the singing of Elzabeta Toplek, the popular "Tante Liza", a school cook from Međimurje, who interprets the spring Hungarian czardas hymn Protuletje se otpira. And then, there is of course Lidija Bajuk, with her exceptionally warm rendition of the ballad Sprevajaj me mila, and Dunja Knebl in the dramatic, and so very beautiful lyrical song Dej mi Bože joči sokolove. The energetic "Cinkuši" give a truly ebullient, joyous performance of Pet je kumi, while on the other hand Miroslav Evačić's rendering of Zbira junak deklice from Podravina is typically bluesy.
Central Croatia, at the crossroads of Central Europe and the Balkans, as if still hearing the thunder of hooves of Turkish hordes, carefully conceals its folk treasures. Lidija Bajuk's wonderful interpretation of Zaspo Janko, a real jewel of a song from Moslavina; Dunja Knebl's impressive rendering of Mjaka čerku sprejevala, from Turopolje; the Lado ensemble's strong performance of Tri devojke žito žele and Dobri denek, and Lado electro with its electronic version of the striking and lampooning song, 1pura2pandura which Ante Babaja's film Breza made widely known through Ante Babaja's film Breza - a song which gives a very plastic depiction of the mentality of the ordinary man of this kaykavian speaking area. The compilation, which had the impossible task of condensing a vast heritage into a single CD, is rounded off - and rightly so - with the song Izvir voda izvirala, interpreted by Mojmir Novaković, and "Kries". The song contains a recording of the voice of Niko Lucić from Brotnica, Konavle (surroundings of Dubrovnik), making a toast, accompanied by the original singing by four women. Thus, this ambitious compilation, produced by the Croatian National Tourist Board, selected and edited by Ivan Ivančan Jr., and his collaborator Antonija Kavaš, itself ends - symbolically and not without a message - with a form of compilation. To wit, the toast in question explains in a very few words of wisdom all the philosophy of rural life which has created and preserved the Croatian folk treasure of which this country has every right to be proud.
Denis Derk
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Cultural tourism
Looking at it in a logical sense, Central Croatia is not really central since, due to the strange shape of the country, it actually occupies its north-eastern region. Nevertheless, it may be termed “central” as it is situated between two other large entities: the mountainous part in the south-west, through which routes continue towards the sea, and the Slavonian plain in the east. Perhaps an even more significant reason for its essentially central character lies in the fact that this is the most densely populated part of Croatia, holding as it does almost half the country’s entire population. Central Croatia is also by far the largest tourist region of the country, including as many as eight counties (Zagreb, Krapina- Zagorje, Varaždin, Međimurje, Koprivnica-Križevci, Bjelovar-Bilogora, Sisak-Moslavina and Karlovac) which girdle the capital like a ring. Relatively high population density and a wealth of cultural heritage result from the fact that in the past this part of Croatia was, for the most part, spared the depredations of war. Consequently, Central Croatia is an area containing many preserved urban entities dating from the Middle Ages, ancient hill forts and fortifications rising on the peaks of mountains, romantic castles, fortified burgs and fortresses, palaces and manor houses, splendid churches, and museums with precious holdings.
Unesco`s World Cultural Heritage in Croatia
- St. Euphrasius Basilica, Porec
- Cathedral, Sibenik
- Old City of Trogir
- Diocletian Palace, Split
- Old City of Dubrovnik
Unesco`s World Natural Heritage
- Plitvice Lakes National Park
 DAY 1: Zagreb - Arrival
Upon arrival at Zagreb airport, transfer to hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 2: Zagreb - Opatija
Morning city tour of Zagreb including the fortified Upper Town, St. Mark’s church, the Cathedral, the Croatian National Theatre and the University. Afternoon drive to Opatija, once the resort of choice for the Habsburgs and European Royalty as well as personalities from the world of culture such as Gustav Mahler, Isidora Duncan and A. P. Chekhov. Dinner and overnight in Opatija.
 DAY 3: Opatija - Pula - Brijuni Islands National Park - Poreč
Morning departure for Pula. Sightseeing tour of Pula including a visit to the Arena ( 1st century AD), one of the best preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. We continue to the National Park of Brijuni Islands abounding in luxuriant subtropical vegetation and wildlife, with numerous archaeological sites, consisting of 14 islands and islets of which we tour Veliki Brijun Island .
Afterwards, we proceed to Poreč for dinner and overnight.
 DAY 4: Poreč – Plitvice Lakes National Park
Visit to the basilica of St. Euphrasius (6th century) known for its splendid mosaics. Departure for the Plitvice Lakes, the largest national park in Croatia, with 16 lakes and waterfalls surrounded by dense woods. Arrival at Plitvice in the late afternoon. Touring of the Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Dinner and overnight.
 DAY 5: Plitvice Lakes – Paklenica National Park - Zadar
Morning departure for the Paklenica National Park, known for its unique Karst landscape consisting of the Great and Small Paklenica Canyon. Departure for Zadar, sighseeing tour of Zadar including the Roman Forum, churches of St. Elias and St. Donatus. Dinner and overnight in Zadar.
 DAY 6: Krka Waterfalls National Park - Šibenik - Trogir - Split
Morning departure for the Krka Waterfalls National Park. Touring of the waterfalls and a boat ride to the islet of Visovac for a visit to the Franciscan Monastery. Continuation of our drive to Šibenik, visit to the Cathedral of St. Jacob (15th century), a masterpiece of the Gothic-Renaissance art.
We proceed towards Trogir, a picturesque medieval town, including a visit to the Cathedral of St. Lawrence with its magnificent Romanesque portal.
Dinner and overnight in Split.
 DAY 7: Split - Dubrovnik
Morning city tour of the Diocletian`s Palace (3rd century A.D.) includes the Peristyle, the Cathedral of St. Doimus (Sv.Duje) and Jupiter`s Temple. Departure for Dubrovnik.
Dinner and overnight in Dubrovnik.
 DAY 8: Dubrovnik
Sightseeing tour of Dubrovnik including the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries, the Rector’s Palace and the Cathedral. In the afternoon, we will tour the city walls with their magnificent fortresses and towers. Dinner and overnight in Dubrovnik.
 DAY 9: Dubrovnik - Mljet Island National Park
Full day excursion to the island of Mljet, covered by dense pine woods. Its two salty lakes are connected by a narrow channel. In the middle of the Great Lake there is an islet with an old Benedictine Monastery.
Dinner and overnight in Dubrovnik.
DAY 10: Dubrovnik - Departure
After breakfast, transfer to Dubrovnik airport.
Contact:
ATLAS Travel Agency
Vukovarska 19,
20000 Dubrovnik
Tel: +385 (0)20 442 222
Fax: +385 (0)20 411 100
E-mail: call.centre@atlas.hr
Web: www.atlas-croatia.com
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