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Mediterranean Sounds - Croatia's Mystic Voices
Klapa Sinj - US Tour 2005 Dec 1-8
This is a sound that is unafraid of its own silence
Mysterious beauty from beyond the boundaries of human knowledge
It is as if this sound emerged from the very bowels of the Earth, only to rise up and reveal the heavens. This sound sings of a timeless age when the beauty of the landscape and the trials of history combined to beget music, not unlike the symphony of human voices that celebrated the birth of harmony. But these mystical voices need neither instruments nor written music to summon the forgotten language, to commence reciting the songs to the souls of those yet unborn and to the speechless heads of stone that populate the facades of our churches. This is a sound that is unafraid of its own silences, courageous enough to test fate as its harmonies ascend the walls of the stone cities along the sea. It is a sound that embodies the promise of a new, undiscovered, mysterious beauty from beyond the boundaries of human knowledge, a beauty that hails from the cradle of creation. That is the song that is uncovering the threads of myth on the immemorial face of the earth in order to make an offering on the altar of history: the sound of verse and the beauty of Our Beautiful *
Jakov Dukic
'Our Beautiful' are the first two words of the Croatian national anthem, and Croatians throughout the world refer to their homeland as Our Beautiful.
Produced by Nenad Bachwww.nenadbach.com
Engineered by John Holbrookwww.johnholbrook.net
Cover Design byAndrej Uremwww.andrejurem.com
Klapa Sinj
For over twenty years now Klapa Sinj has been one of the most revered singing ensembles in Dalmatia. Founded in 1982 in order to carry on and promote Croatia's musical legacy, its success has continued due to the extraordinary musical talent of its members who developed a wholly distinct performance style and even contributed a number of new compositions to the existing canon of the Klapa music. Klapa Sinj's resume includes numerous albums and frequent concert appearances across the European continent. Their crowning achievement came during the recent festivals of a cappella music in Verona, Bolzano and Prague where Klapa Sinj won top prizes. Their repertory consists of a remarkable variety of traditional tunes and songs, and the joy with which they still approach each performance is audible in the beauty of the harmony created by so many disparate and singular voices. Klapa Sinj's accomplishments are a standing testament to the fact that the magic of music can still, even if for a moment, change the world for the better.
Klapa Sinj
Stipe Breko First tenor
Ivan Klapez Second Tenor
Mario Simic Second Tenor
Ivo Breko Second Tenor
Boris Zanko Baritone
Mario Đidara Baritone
Mojimir Cacija Baritone
Mladen Sirinic Bass
Ivica Mastelic Bass
Pjero Filipovic-Grcic Bass
Ante Milun Bass
Ensemble leader - Mojimir Cacija
The Draw of the Landscape
The singers from Sinj cannot avoid the canyon of Cetina when approaching the town of Omis. With the northern wind at their backs and a bit of wonder still about them from their most recent musical pilgrimage, it is precisely here at the estuary, where the Adriatic quiets the eddies of Cetina amidst the islands, the coastline and the backlands, that the Sinj singers made their long-lasting pact with the beautiful land and the music, a pact that has paid off many times over.
A memory of a particular moment and a specific space lingers on among the many reminiscences of those hot July evenings during their numerous pilgrimages to the festival in Omis. There in the small town square beneath the rock where the streets end and the mountain looms, the Klapa singers find a bit of shade away from the curious onlookers and they commence warming up before their performance. Neighbors offer them food and drink; they in turn soothe their souls with nourishment and song. And so the singers from Sinj continue their pilgrimages to Omis, enjoying the music and savoring the competition at this nearly four-decades-old celebration of Croatia's many musical traditions. It is an occasion where ensembles from Istria and Međimurje, from Zagorje and Slavonia gather to honor their native land.
Mediterranean Sounds - Croatia's Mystic Voices
Klapa Lindjo - Dubrovnik, Croatia
Their voices defend the city's freedom
Music lovers are immediately seduced with the harmony that unites the heights of the skies with the blue depths of the sea
The joyful voices of the women who make up Klapa Fa Linđo truly embrace a large swath of the Mediterranean: their harmony unites the heights of the skies with the blue depths of the sea. As their song bursts forth from the city walls, the entire world unfolds before them. Music lovers are immediately seduced, and with their initial surprise turning to enchantment, they inevitably inquire about the singers' place of origin. That place is Dubrovnik, Croatia, a city whose special character and unique surroundings have endowed the singers' voices with the softness of silk and the pungent aroma of the local flora. Their songs seem sometimes to trace the outlines of the facades that adorn the streets of Dubrovnik, and sometimes to follow the flight patterns of the birds that gather above the city at sunset. At another level, these songs guard Dubrovnik's freedom, the same freedom that was once defended with the cannons whose barrels still dot the city's ramparts and walls. In place of the cannons, these Dubrovnik singers now use their voices to defend the city's freedom, the very freedom that has in turn permeated their songs for centuries on end.
Klapa Fa Linđo
The Folklore Ensemble Linđo was founded in Dubrovnik in 1965 and since then it has persisted in the singularity of its mission: to preserve and celebrate the invaluable cultural heritage of the Dubrovnik region of Croatia. Its accomplishments over the last forty years have undoubtedly emerged as high points of Croatia's cultural life and have contributed to the Ensemble's international recognition.
After it was founded in 2000 as a part of The Folklore Ensemble Linđo, Klapa Fa Linđo quickly distinguished itself at a number of prestigious festivals at home and abroad. In 2002 it won the Golden Token Award in the category of female folklore groups at the Verona Festival of Choral Singing in Italy. In 2003 and 2004, the Linđo singers made the finals at the Festival of the Dalmatian Klapas in Omis where they won the esteemed Audience Choice Award.
The young women who make up Klapa Fa Linđo participate in its performances both as dancers and singers. Their vocal repertory consists of autochthonous Dalmatian folk tunes as well as of the more recently composed a cappella pieces.
Klapa Lindjo
1.Ana Bacic - First Soprano
2.Paula Kusalic - Second Soprano
3.Jelena Jozovic - Second Soprano
4.Luci Vierda - Second Soprano
5.Lidija Jerosimic - First Alto
6.Margarita Strazicic - First Alto
7.Fani Favro - Second Alto
8.Ivana Butigan - Second Alto
9.Ivela Raguz - Second Alto
Ensemble leader - Vedran Ivankovic
ENGLISH COMMENTARY INSIDE * MIT DEUTSCHER TEXTBEILAGE * NOTE IN ITALIANO ALL 'INTERNO * INCLUYE EL TEXTO EN ESPAĆOL *日本語解説書付き * notes en franƧais incluses *HRVATSKI TEKST U PRILOGU
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