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 drum)
Mateusz Kowalski (accordion, vocals)
Maciej Filipczuk (violin)
Piotr Wróbel (helicon)
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 Tęgie Chłopy band has played for dancing at dance parties and traditional and contemporary music festivals throughout Poland, as well as in Sweden, France, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and South Korea. In 2014, they participated in Jacek Hałas and Darek Błaszczyk’s performance “Orszak weselny/Żałobny rapsod” (Wedding Procession/Mournful Rhapsody), produced by Polish Radio.
To date, Tęgie Chłopy have released three albums: “Dansing” (published by Muzyka Odnaleziona, October 2015), “Wesele!” (December 2017, published by Wodzirej), and “Rakieta!” (November 2021, Echo Production). In 2019, in a poll conducted by the Polish Radio Folk Culture Center among its listeners, “Dansing” was recognized as the best Polish folk album of the last 25 years. “Rakieta!” – an album with songs not only for children – won the Polish Radio’s phonographic competition for Folk Phonogram of the Year 2021.
More information about the band: https://tegiechlopy.pl/
Admission to the event is free, however, due to the limited number of places, registration is required via the form: https://forms.gle/6MjXgJyM1LD9AzWy7