Dalmatian Klapa in Zagreb
Posted on May 23, 2006
I can hear a cock crowing down the street though the soft glow of dawn that illuminates Sljeme…
There exists no sound on Earth such as that of unaccompanied voices coming together in harmony. It is the sound of the unclad human spirit, pure and powerful, rising above the dust and filth of the material condition to manifest light in sonic form. With that in mind, I count myself fortunate to have been given tickets to last night’s concert of Dalmatian klapa at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb. This was a benefit for people with special needs put on by Na Klapski Način, a Croatian klapa organization comprising ensembles from all over the country.
I have fallen in love with Dalmatian klapa. Perhaps you can hear why in the recording I made of “Vilo Moja,” a very old klapa song about a fairy.
Vilo Moja.mp3
If you would like to sing along, I’ve included the text:
Vilo moja
Skoro saki put
kad se mi pogjedamo
ti i ne odzdraviš
ko da se ne poznamo
A da mi te k sebi zvat
kad ćeš zaspat
prvo sna da ti rečen
da volin te još.Vilo moja
ti si moj san, ti si moj san,
al lagje bilo bi
da si tuja mi
da te ne poznan
da te ne znan.
Suggested listening:
I think you have found your People.
http://paulhiatt.blogspot.com
[...] Croatia is a land with a rich and variegated music tradition, the fabric of which becomes no less intricate when the vocal corner is inspected. As I wrap my head around the Croatian language and its various dialects, I am simultaneously absorbing the sounds of voices in song and acquiring text for the melodies that move me the most. You may have read my previous post about the Dalmatian klapa style of singing, but there’s much more to it than that. This week I have begun to visit the memories of my younger days as a choir boy while investigating ye olde Glagolitic chants of the Croatian Catholic church. These haunting melodies were sung not in Latin, but in Old Slavonic (another dead language), and I’ve convinced myself that I must learn a few of them. There is a nice recording of Glagolitic chant from the isle of Hvar that I’m perusing, and William Hedley has an informative review of it here. [...]