Stary Olsa (BY) Sutaras (LT)

 

 Stary Olsa a band of mediaeval Belorussian music. It was founded in 1999 by its present leader Zmicier Sasnouski and now consists of 5 musicians. It takes its name from a brook in the western part of Mahilou Region (Belarus).
The band’s repertoire includes Belorussian folk balladry and martial songs, Belorussian national dances, works of Belorussian Renaissance composers, compositions from Belorussian aulic music collections (e.g. Polacak Notebook, Vilnian Notebook), Belorussian canticles of the 16th - early 17th centuries, as well as European popular melodies of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

STARY OLSA cooperates with many knightly clubs in Belarus and throughout Europe, museums and research centres, masters of early instruments, bands of folk, aulic, sacred and city avital music, as well as with solo performers using old instruments.

The band’s music restores the sound of many forgotten instruments. For its performances STARY OLSA uses maximally exact (in appearance, technology and materials) copies of the age-old Belorussian duda (bagpipe), lira (lyre), husli (psaltery), svirel (pipe), rymba (jew’s-harp), akaryna (ocarina), surma (trumpet), bierascianaja truba (birch bark trumpet), hudok (rebec) and baraban (drums).

The main objective of the group is to reconstruct completely (whenever possible) the musical traditions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where Belarus was the basic cultural and geopolitical part in the 13th-18th centuries, and where there was a unique synthesis of Belorussian folk and aulic music with the European musical achievements of that time. In order to revive this cultural feature the members mix the sound of early Belorussian instruments with the all-European mediaeval instruments such as lutnia (lute), flejta (flute), mandalina (mandolin), arabski baraban (Arabian drum).

Apart from giving its own dramatized concerts, the band performs at mediaeval culture festivals, spear-runnings and folklore festivals.
STARY OLSA has recorded 5 albums and 1 musical project. The band’s music was included into 7 collections of old melodies performers.
Since 2003 STARY OLSA has been working in cooperation with a dance ensemble JAVARYNA. During performances JAVARYNA familiarizes the spectators with avital dance traditions.

Zmicier Sasnouski - bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, psaltery, jew's-harp, percussion, vocal
Kacia Radzivilava - flute, recorder
Illa Kublicki - lutes, jew's-harp
Ales Chumakou - hurdy-gurdy, mandolin, psaltery, kantele, tambour, percussion, vocal
Andrej Apanovic - drum, bass drum, percussion, jew's-harp

Contact:
E-mail: zsasnouski@tut.by

www.staryolsa.com MP3 CLIP

 

 Sutaras The Lithuanian Folk Music Band Sutaras is an independent, professional folk music group. You will find the whole range of Lithuanian instrumental folk music in its repertoire: from old rituals, through authentic shepherds' instruments dating back to the end of the 19th century, to international and classical instruments that became increasingly more common in the villages of Lithuania by the beginning if the 20th century. During a concert of Sutaras you may hear a unique polyphonic sutartine (round) performed on daudytes (wooden horns), rageliai (horns), or skudu�ai (pan pipes). Or you might hear instrumental versions of songs or maybe even shepherd singing called raliavimas, which is performed on lumzdeliai (recorders) or rageliai (horns). Lively Lithuanian folk dances are played on violins, accordions, clarinets, cymbals, and a number of other instruments. The band's musicians do not avoid experimentation and constantly search for ways to catch the interest of their audience while showing the unique nature of Lithuanian folklore. You will experience traditional village music coupled with precision of professional musicians when you listen to the music of Sutaras. The artists do not only play instruments - they also sing, dance and often draw their audience into the whirlwind of their performances. Every musician is adept at playing several different instruments, which allows the band to be very diverse and to express the characteristic instrumental composition of Lithuania's different regions. During their twelve years of existence, the Folk Music Band Sutaras has participated in over 2,500 performances, which ranged from concerts, dances, and television and radio programs to performances at festivals, exhibitions, and other festivities. The music of Sutaras could be heard in many Lithuanian cities and villages. Sutaras has often performed in Vilnius' Stikliai pub, as well as in the restaurant Bo�iai. Thousands applauded Sutaras at the 1991 PORTA festival in the Czech Republic, at the well-known Skagen festival of Denmark in 1992 and again in 1995, at Rudolstat, Germany in 1994, and at Mistelbach, Austria in 1995. The citizens of Washington, DC swirled in the waves of dancers while Sutaras played at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 1998, as did the audience in Queensland, Australia during the 1998 Woodford Folk Festival. The kings of Malaysia and Spain have listened to the sounds of Lithuanian instruments. Scores of people attended the performances of Sutaras at Expo 1998 in Lisbon and at the 2000 Expo in Hanover. Lithuanian melodies were heard live over the radio (during two-hour performances) by citizens of the Netherlands, Australia, and by listeners of Euroradio, among others. There are fans of Sutaras in numerous countries of the world and you will find Sutaras recordings in many prominent radio stations. The creative laboratory of Sutaras started on December 30, 1988, during its first performance for the staff of the Vilnius Central Department Store, and it has extended to far-off Australia, where on the precise date of the group's 10 year anniversary Sutaras performed at Australia's largest Woodford Folk Festival's folklore stage. This long road has continued through the various events of the reinstatement of Lithuanian independence, where Sutaras represented Lithuania during the most important national celebrations and patriotic gatherings. Many musicians have played in the group over these years. For some this was an apprenticeship - a chance to work on their art and gain experience. Others were our teachers. This road has not been easy, but full of searching, losses, and triumphs. However, this has been OUR journey and we are proud of having travelled this distance to receive the highest honor: the attention and applause of our audience. It is symbolic that Sutaras' 10th anniversary performance happened half-way around the globe in Australia. This shows how Sutaras has succeeded in making the sound of Lithuanian traditional musical culture famous.

Contact:
E-mail: sutaras.a.fokas@post.omnitel.net
Telephone: +370 698 17340
Fax: +370 5 2798793

www.sutaras.lt MP3