We invite you to the last concert of this academic year in the ‘Sound Policies’ series, organized by the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, and the Faculty of Culture and Arts, University of Warsaw.
We are concluding this year’s series by returning to our musical roots. A dance party with the Tęgie Chłopy band is a unique opportunity to encounter traditional Polish music, during which the university auditorium will transform into a dance hall. Tęgie Chłopy draw upon the traditions of dance music from the Kielce region. They evoke the music of bands that once played at weddings and village festivities in the areas around Łagów and Opatów. In their effort to uncover the oldest repertoire of the Kielce region, the band members traveled hundreds of kilometers in search of musicians and singers from this area. They found custodians of tradition from whom they learn local melodies passed down from generation to generation.
The ‘Chłopy’ in the band’s name refers to the three-beat, melodic tunes typical of eastern Kielce region, sometimes also called ‘światówki’ or ‘śpiwy’. Tęgie Chłopy play in a way that makes the ‘roof lift’, as it reportedly happened at parties played by the Witkowski brothers’ band. The band’s charisma is built by excellent musicians and a rich instrumentation with a strong brass section:
Szczepan Pospieszalski (trumpet)
Dorota Murzynowska (baraban)
Mateusz Kowalski (accordion, vocals)
Maciej Filipczuk (violin)
Piotr Wróbel (helikon)
Ewa Grochowska (vocals, violin)
Michał Maziarz (trombone, tenor saxhorn)
Michał Żak (clarinet, soprano saxophone)
Marcin Żytomirski (violin)
Regardless of whether you prefer to throw yourself into the dance or listen to traditional music in an authentic and unstylized form, the performance by Tęgie Chłopy promises an unforgettable experience.
The band Tęgie Chłopy has played dance music at dance parties and festivals of traditional and contemporary music throughout Poland, as well as in Sweden, France, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and South Korea. In 2014, they took part in the performance *Orszak weselny/Żałobny rapsod* by Jacek Hałas and Darek Błaszczyk, produced by Polish Radio.
Tęgie Chłopy have released three albums to date: *Dansing* (Muzyka Odnaleziona, October 2015), *Wesele!* (December 2017, Wodzirej), and *Rakieta!* (November 2021, Echo Production). In 2019, in a poll conducted by the Radio Center for Folk Culture among its listeners, *Dansing* was named the best Polish folk album of the past 25 years. *Rakieta!*—an album with songs not just for children—won Polish Radio’s phonographic competition for the Folk Phonogram of the Year 2021.
More information about the band: https://tegiechlopy.pl/
Admission to the event is free, but due to limited seating, registration is required via this form: https://forms.gle/6MjXgJyM1LD9AzWy7
