Folk / traditional music in Europe

Hi, I am Oznur Karadeniz, I hope you are all great. Today I am going to talk about the folk music in Europe and play some songs from Spain, Serbia and Poland.

European folk music has some of the most important and pioneer type of folk music in the world, these genres are famous and listened all around the world, so maybe they are not counted as folk music for many people anymore. But the truth is they are still part of traditional music in their origin country. Traditional music in Europe has also been under the influence of its neighbors during the history. Spanish music was under influence of Arabic world and North African music. Music of
Greece, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and other Balkan countries in Europe, received lots of elements from Middle Eastern music through Turkey. Many years of trades, movements of Gypsies and Muslims activity, some similarity appeared between the music of these areas and Asia.
- When you think about music in Spanish, flamenco might be the first thing to come to mind. Flamenco is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia. On the other hand, the folk music genres in Spain itself are really diverse and does not limited to flamenco. Spanish pop and rock tend to be infused with Latin rhythms or inspired by music in English. A prime example of the first case is the career of Enrique Iglesias, an international superstar; while bands like Amaral or Vetusta Morla are good examples of the latter. Vetusta Morla holds the current record among Spanish artists for the biggest concert, with 38,000 spectators. In recent years, genres like hip-hop and trap have also found their way to the Spanish music scene, with artists such as La Mala Rodríguez.
-Austria is a small country with hosting big tradition of music for the world, “Classical music”. It was the home of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Strauss and etc. During 18th and 19th centuries, Vienna was the European capital of classical music. Today all around the world these names are well-known with their amazing compositions. They changed the history of music in all the genres and these compositions are used in all part of the world by different genres of musicians. They can be heard in the streets, bars and big official concert halls.
-Serbia maybe has one of the most influential folk music on the world music. Serbian folk music has a deep root in the history and it comes back to long time before any classical music in Europe. Serbian people consider themselves as musical nation. “He who sings thinks no evil” is an old Serbian saying. The folk music of Serbia was under the influence of both east and west. The folk music most of time recognized as part of Turkish music and also part of Balkan music tradition. During the last two centuries western influence also can be seen. There is no event without music in Serbia.These music traditions include old folk songs which still exist today and can be seen in villages and country sides.
-Poland is a Slavic country with rich and diverse traditional music. Historically it has been under the influence of many European music. The oldest trace of music in Poland comes back to 13th century. Some hand written scripts have been found about polyphonic chants. The scripts were in the same style as other western and European script in Germany. Later the Polish musicians was focused on baroque religious music and also Opera started to grow in Poland music and some Polish composers started to compose Polish Opera. During these times some specific Polish folk music like polonaise and mazurka developed which are types of Polish folk dances.
-Denmark has been influenced by many political, architectural, theatrical, and musical trends from the European countries. As a result, Danish folk music is distinct form other Scandinavian folk traditions, and it is more influenced by the British and northern Europe than Sweden or Norway. Folk music of Denmark, is mostly based on fiddle and accordion. Danish fiddlers usually play in groups. It is more common to use guitar in folk bands in Denmark, other than other Scandinavians countries. Nordic folk dance music is also common in Denmark. Danish version of it accompanied by fiddle and accordion and generally it is a rhythmic dance music. The oldest
version of these dances called Pols which is a pair dance. It is in fact fast version of the Nordic Polska.

That’s all for today. Thank you for your attention. Have a nice time!