Tamburitza

Tamburitza, which is the native music of the Croatians, is a gay, colorful, and sometimes beautifully melancholic reflection of these people. It has the soul of the Croatian. A tamburitza orchestra has stringed instruments unlike those from any other part of the world. They are refined versions of those made and played by the Carpathian shepherds 1,500 years ago. In size, they resemble everything from a small ukulele to a bass fiddle, and they have a comparable span of pitch and tone quality. When a tamburitza orchestra goes all out on a gay folk dance, it has the color and effervescence of sparkling burgundy. People clap their hands and stomp their feet in rhythm, and an audience of Croatian-Americans may sing along or take to the dance floor in the lively steps of a kolo or polka.

The instruments of the tamburitza orchestra are quite unusual. The bisernica (pronounced bitzernitza) is high in pitch and usually carries the melody. It looks like a small ukulele. Sometimes it carries harmonies and is called a kontrasica. A brac (pronounced "brach," with a broad a) may be pear-shaped, like a mandolin, or flat, like a guitar. Some carry the melody, and others harmonies. They are lower pitched than the bisernica. The bugarija (pronounced "bugaria") is shaped like a guitar; it carries harmonies and is used largely for rhythm. The largest instrument is the berde (pronounced "ber-de") which looks and sounds much like a bass fiddle.

The best known tamburitza group in the United States is at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania, where credits are given in the music department and scholarships are awarded to talented players. This famous company tours parts of the United States and Canada every year with a program of singing, dancing, and instrumental numbers. They have made several recordings and a number of national television appearances.

In 1971, the Seattle junior Tamburitza was formed. It was composed of a group of Seattle youngsters of Croatian heritage between the ages of eight to seventeen. The group dressed in colorful costumes of their Croatian ancestors. The instructors were two Seattle brothers, Tom and Lou Krmpotich. The music played is unlike any of the rock music typical of teen-agers today. It is a cross between a Russian balalika dance ensemble and a lively Italian tarantella.

Personally, we think it's wonderful when the third and fourth generation youngsters of any of the city's most colorful ethnic groups take an interest in their ancestral heritage. Too often, as youngsters, we heard our boyhood friends tell their foreign-born parents: "Speak English, Ma, you're in America now." They were embarrassed by the parents' old country accent and many even refused to learn their native language, even though it often was spoken at home. Today, I know for certain that most of them lived to regret it. These third and fourth generation youngsters of foreign extraction deserve all the encouragement they can get.

These were the personal reflections of John Reddin as he reviewed Seattle's tamburitza group.

When Anton Susanj came to Washington as an immigrant over fifty years ago, he brought with him a pair of strong hands and a love for the tamburitza folk music of his native land. When Susanj was nineteen, he left his home in Rijeka, Croatia and came to work in the Cle Elum coal mines. There, he met other Croatian immigrants, and together they soon organized a tamburitza group. There was little entertainment in those days, so we practiced almost every night. Soon, we played for dances, weddings, and gatherings of all kinds. Some of these old-time Croatian wedding celebrations lasted two days. Nobody gives parties like that anymore," Susanj recalled to Ruth Jurich.

Although tamburitza music had always been his hobby, seldom a full-time job, Susanj had directed groups in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Aberdeen, Cle Elum, and Enumclaw. He entertained servicemen in two world wars, and had taken tamburitza groups on concert tours of the western states. "One tamburitza performance Susanj remembered fondly was the time his group entertained President Woodrow Wilson in Tacoma in 1914. 1 was still new to this country. You can imagine what a thrill it was. Other players were Matt Mladenich of Seattle, Frank Furlong, and Joe Marcelja.

When Susanj's sons were old enough to read music, they joined their fatherand mother, and the "Four Susanj" became popular entertainers. In 1945, they added Tony and Andrew Vitalich, John Cvitkovich, and Lubi Cheskov, all of Seattle, to their group. They called themselves the "Serenaders", and toured the

West. They were chosen to represent Yugoslavia at the United Nations Festival at the University of Washington in 1947.

Anton and Sophie Susanj operated the Wishbone, a popular nightclub near Enumclaw. They often entertained their customers. At home, they played for their own enjoyment. To Anton Susanj, the music of the tamburitza was a sheer joy in his life. He didn't think of it as a cultural contribution. Anton Susanj and his family have added many bright threads to the vari-colored fabric of our American culture. Petrich, M.