Kárpátia
(Carpathia) Ensemble has recently been founded by well-known folk
musicians. All members of the band are in their mid-twenties; they
belong to the third generation of the so-called "dancing house" movement,
an attempt to save folk culture from oblivion and urbanisation.
Year by year they take part at numerous festivals and other programs
of this genre (for example at "Kaláka" Nemzetközi Folkfesztivál, Országos
Táncháztalálkozó és Kirakodó-vásár, Szezonnyitó Táncház, etc.). In
addition to these the group is also published on the recordings of
the above events.
There are some more records with the participation
of these musicians, the following are the ones of year 1997:
Zurgó - Moldvai csángó népzene
Tatros - Élő zene
Szeretőm a táncba' – Moldvai csángó magyar népzene Klézséből.
Their first record of their own Zene Moldvából came out
in 1998.
The Ensemble's creative activity is wide-ranging; their aim is to
deliver their message to all people with no restriction to nationality,
religion, age or else. They believe that the grounds of folk culture
can still be found in towns nowadays and these can "co-operate" with
contemporary artistic schools and trends. These are the reasons for
the programs not being strictly constructed, but the band makes them
suitable for the different circumstances while keeping the original
contents.
The members all took Moldva as a subject, so it was obvious for them
to have it as the common base. They had different backgrounds of playing
other musical genres such as historical, alternative, etno and jazz.
The outcome was a kind of extension of the repertory and style, too.
New adaptations mixed into the original, authentic tunes.
Meanwhile, they began to search dialects of other regions. They try
to find evidences of the previously homogeneous cultural activity
in Europe. They use the methods of analogy of present day oriental
and western traditions and customs.
Kárpátia performs music at a high level, they are often accompanied
by dancers on the stage at the concerts. Although the base remains
traditional folk music, the audience can recognise not only the musicians'
own styles, but also the different dialects. They often sound other
nationalities' tunes, mainly those of the Romanian and Bulgarian peoples.
It results partly from their closeness. The band identified itself
with our great composer and folk music researcher, Béla Bartók's slogan
about peoples' brotherhood, which is very important to keep in mind.
They always try to involve the audience in as many features of this
folk art as possible: they teach various dances and songs, tell tales,
introduce their instruments and costumes, and show photos or even
films about everyday life and holidays. Their main purpose is to deal
with this culture together with friends and guests, to motivate people
for accepting others' ways of life. When the Ensemble organises this
programme for children, the varied activities are translated to the
youth's simpler language. They do not only play and have fun together,
but also try to create or encourage the participants' attitude towards
folk arts. The musicians sometimes accompany dance groups at presentations.
For further information about Kárpátia Ensemble please
do not hesitate to contact:
E-mail: etnofon@mail.datanet.hu
Mátyás BOLYA
H-1067 Bp., Csengery u. 62/b, fsz.1.
Telefon:+36-1-312-6877
