Search - Various Artists :: Slovak Csardas: Dance Tunes From The Pennsylvania Coal Mines 1928-1930

You feel as if you are in a Slovak Club in Pennsylvania

tedperk@yahoo.com | West Palm Beach,Fl. | 11/10/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Very Good, contains alot of archival material that would be very hard to collect. Is based on the 78 rpm records. If Eastern European Music is your passion this CD is very good!! Would like to see more of this type of music!!"

Music of the Past: Honoring Traditions

Erika Borsos | Gulf Coast of FL, USA | 06/12/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This archival recording of "csardas" music from Slovakia, as played in the Pennsylvania coal-mining regions, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, is valuable and tremendously enjoyable. Authentic music that is 100 years old is difficult or impossible to find, yet this CD most likely meets *exactly* this criteria. The music was recorded 75 - 80 years ago, therefore it was learned from musicians who would have lived in the late 1890s to early 1900s. There are few instruments, but they blend beautifully to create the fast-slow contrasting rhythms that characterize the "csardas". It is the alternating rhythms which captured one's imagination about peasant life and made the dance a sensation, even among the aristocracy in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Twirling couples, with passion and intensity, released the cares of the work week, meeting in dance halls to forget the harsh circumstances and daily risks of the coal-miner's life. There is a first violinist, who plays the tune and melody with haromonies that we are accustomed to hearing ... the second violinist, however, deliberatly tunes his instrument to a different key, for a contrasting sound, which is a bit dissonant to modern ears, yet sounds very appealing the longer one listens. The only music similar to this is from the Mezoseg and Kalotaszeg regions of Transylvania (now called Romania). It too has the contrasting sounds which are a bit "off-key", having been handed down from generation to generation, with few changes in the past 100 - 150 years. [Refer to CDs by Sandor Fodor Neti & Okros, Meta, Tukros, Hegedos, and the Teka bands.] This is "Old Country" music: raw, intense, and earthy, just as life was lived then, compared to the orchestral smoothness and refinement of today's instrument, the violin. Besides the most important instrument, the violin, one hears the cimbalom, clarinet, and bowed bass. Some bands also included, the coronet, and used a piano accompaniment instead of the cimbalom. At times, even the accordion was included. Although, the CD is primarily 'csardas' music, there are six polka tunes from Poland and a kolomyjka from the Lemko-Ukrainian region. This CD is highly recommended for anyone searching for truly authentic traditional music, which their grandparents and great-grandparents might have listened to. Without a doubt, the music on this CD will connect you to the roots of your ancestors.
Erika B. (erikab93)"