Officially, Poland became a state in A.D 966 after converting to Catholicism under their first king- King Mieszko I. Polish culture flourished, and in the late Middle Ages, Poland and Lithuania joined to create a huge empire- making Poland one of the major European powers. In 1791, Poland wrote its constitution- the second one in the world- modeled after America's constitution. Internal conflicts among the Nobles weakened the monarchy, and led to the invasion and partitioning of Poland by Prussia, Austria and Russia in 1795. Polish culture was preserved through Polish exiles and the Catholic church.
In 1918, Poland became a country again, but only for a short time, because in 1939, Germany invaded Poland, closely followed by the Soviets. Poland was partitioned agian. During WWII, 6 million Poles died- 3 million of those were Jewish who had died in the Holocaust. The other half died in concentration camps and from random killings by the Nazis and Soviets. At the end of WWII, germany was defeated, and Poland was given in full to the Soviets, who proceeded to push thier own ideas on the Polish people and mess up thier economy completely. In 1981, the Solidarność (Solidarity)Party was formed, but the government declared martial law, and jailed many of the members. This attemt to supress the party failed miserably, and the leader, Lech Wałęsa (Walesa) recieved the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to liberate Poland and its people. In April 1989, The Solidarność (Solidarity) Party was legalized by the government, and many changes began to take place in the government. In order to get the economy back on its feet, the leaders attempted "shock Therapy" but this had the opposite effect, and unemployment rose sharply. In 1990, Lech Wałęsa (Walesa) was elected as President, but lost parlimentary support after being criticized for the unemployment. His successor was former Communist official Aleksander Kwaśniewski (Kwasniewski, who helped Poland get into the EU. The current president is Lech Kaczyński (Kaczynski) from the Prawo i Sprawiedliwość Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (The Right and Fair) Party.
The Gang
Aggie Marchel
Alyssa Ried
Musical Rubrics
Aleksander Kulisiewucz
Pije Kuba (Drinker’s Song)
Musical
· Contains a vocal line and a guitar
· Non-western because it has an irregular rhythm and meter
· Simple melody
· Simple rhythm
Structure
This song is in a non-western form, but it begins with a verse, goes to a chorus, returns to the verse, goes back to the chorus.
· 0:00-0:03 Introduction: This is a one measure introduction, and it is played by the guitar. The guitar melody is then repeated throughout the entire piece.
· 0:03-0:13 Verse 1: 0:03-0:07 there is an accelerando, but from 0:07-0: 13, the song slows down, but then accelerates again to moderato.
· 0:14-0:29 Chorus: the tempo is the same as in the first verse- moderato.
· 0:29-0:41 Verse 2: At the beginning of this verse, there is a ritardando, but then an accelerando back to moderato. Here, the melody is the same, but the last two lines of the verse are different.
· 0:41-0:58 Chorus: This chorus is the same as the previous one, except that the last two lines of the chorus change in dynamics and tempo.
Context
This drinking song has a similar sound to other Polish folk songs. The instrumentation, and the type of melody are common in the Polish culture. It can also be compared to other Slavic folk songs, because the music in other Slavic cultures is similar to that of Poland.
Tools of the Trade
Suka
Cimbalom
Polish Duda
When one usually thinks of non-western music, one thinks of sitars and shamisens, but not all non-western music has different instruments. Polish music, for example, uses generic western instruments and changes the sound that they make. Some common instruments used in Polish music are Sukas(Old Polish fiddles),the cimbalom,and the Polish Duda- an offshoot of the bagpipe family.
Unique New York.
Currently, the folk music of Poland is dying out with the older generations, but there is one band who is intent on keeping it alive- The Warsaw Village Band.
Nickson, Chris. "Warsaw Village Band People's Spring.(Brief Article)(Sound Recording Review)." Sing Out! 48.2 (Summer 2004): 144(1). Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL. 6 Dec. 2006
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