Folkloric music and dance
While Slovene folkloric music and dance is generally assumed to fall within the wider Alpine and Austro-Bavarian cultural tradition, its origins are in fact deeply rooted in local antiquity.
The origins of Slovene folkloric music may be traced back to primordial times, as evidenced by the recent significant archaeological finding of a c 50,000 year-old flute near Cerkno. The existence of song in the Slovene vernacular is documented in the Brižinski spomeniki (Freisinger Denkmaeler) manuscript, which dates from the end of the 10th century and is the oldest Slovene and Slavonic text.
Drawing on a varied instrumentarium which includes
okarina (clay flute),
trstenka (pan pipe),
drumlja (jew's harp) and
škaf-bass (a pig's bladder stretched over an earthen pot with a wooden rod extending up through the membrane which is rubbed to produce a bass sound), early Slovene folk music was performed for both ritual and entertainment purposes at the plethora of traditional events which marked the cycle of local life. The accordion, the violin, the guitar and other instruments were added more recently.
Today old folk songs from Eastern Slovenia are interpreted by the tamboura orchestra Tamburaši iz Cirkulan, Vlado Kreslin, the Beltinška banda and its offshoot the Marko banda from Prekmurje, while songs from Western Slovenia are interpreted amongst others by Istra Nova, Musicanti Istriani and the Brkini group. However, Slovenia is perhaps best known today for its polka and waltz music, thanks largely to Slavko and Vilko Avsenik, who achieved international success from the 1950s by developing and popularising a hybrid style known as Oberkrainer music, named after the alpine region of Oberkrain in Northern Slovenia. Today this music and the
Avsenik Ensemble which created it remain popular throughout the world, especially amongst the Slovene expatriate groups of North America.
Contemporary folk music revivalists include
Katice, Kurja koža, Tolovaj Mataj, Volk Folk and Vruja, while modern interpretation with rock and jazz elements is offered in the world music played by Brina, Caminoigra and
Terrafolk, the group that won BBC World Music Audience Award and toured the UK in 2005.
Several Romany music groups are quite popular, including Amala, Halgato, Langa, Roma Ramadan and Šukar.
As elsewhere in the region, folkloric music is invariably accompanied by dancing. Slovene folkloric dance varies greatly from region to region and employs a wide variation of dance rhythms
The oldest surviving folkloric dances may be found in the southern Slovene region of Bela krajina, which preserves the ancient
metlika ritual dance tradition as well as the
kolobk dance, a circular group dance which developed during the 16th century under the influence of the Uskoks, a band of renegades from Serbia and Croatia who fled the Turks and settled in the region. Both are performed to both vocal and instrumental accompaniment.
Other regional dance traditions include the skipping dance known as the tkalecka, in which young males quickly draw handkerchiefs under their knees; the potrkan ples of Gorenjska with its quick revolutions and rhythmical knocks; and the dances of the Slovene coast and Istria which are characterised by elegance and refinement, having been developed mostly in bourgeois circles.
In general the body is held proudly upright with little movement above the waist, the knees slightly flexed and the footwork usually small and kept close to the floor. While men's steps are often flashy and vigorous, women's steps are usually more restrained.
Research into traditional folk music from various Slovene regions has been conducted by many individuals, including Bogdana Herman, Ljoba Jenče, Vlado Batista, Tomaž Podobnikar and Uršula Ramoveš.
Make direct contact with organisations and individuals working in this sector through our KEY CONTACTS database.
