Radio Play / Polish Radio Theatre / 2013 / Jacek Hałas & Dariusz Błaszczyk
Awards for best direction (Dariusz Błaszczyk) and for best music (Jacek Hałas) at the “Two Theatres” Festival of Polish Radio Theatre and Polish Television Theatre in Sopot (2014).
A moving Romanian folk legend about the master mason Manole, with music performed by excellent artists from the traditional music circle. The titular Master Manole is one of the most famous Romanian folk ballads, taking up the theme of the foundation sacrifice; the death of the Master’s innocent wife is a condition for the success of building a magnificent temple, but the same death will later reach Manole and the other builders.
Author of the translation of Master Manole from Romanian: Jerzy Ficowski
Adaptation: Dariusz Błaszczyk and Jacek Hałas
Director: Dariusz Błaszczyk
Sound Engineer: Andrzej Brzoska
Music composer: Jacek Hałas
Cast: Narrator – Bronisław Wrocławski, Master Manole – Jacek Hałas (vocals), Negru – Bart Pałyga (gadulka, vocals), Wife – Agata Harz (vocals), Marija – Barbara Wilińska (vocals), Shepherd – Maciej Filipczuk (violin, vocals), Mason – Robert Wasilewski (cymbalom, vocals), Innkeeper – Paweł Nowisz, Wanczo – Bernard Lewandowski
There was a little well
and in it a little water.
It will give me salty water today
for it is mixed with tears.
Theater Play / 2014 / Jacek Hałas & Dariusz Błaszczyk & Zbigniew Olkiewicz
MASTER MANOLE is one of the most famous and extraordinary Romanian folk legends, addressing the eternal myth of the foundation sacrifice. In the Argeș valley, the master mason Manole is tasked with building the most beautiful monastery in the world. However, walls built by day fall by night. Manole hears a voice in a dream commanding him to wall up the first woman who comes to the masons in the morning. However, he does not foresee who that first woman will be…
The play MASTER MANOLE is a stage version of the Polish Radio Theatre radio play produced in 2013 by Darek Błaszczyk and Jacek Hałas in the form of an archaic musical play. Enriched with a visual part and an expanded musical form, it gained the character of a “magical performance” that evolves and changes in subsequent presentation venues.
Master Manole – dream team
Music:
Masons
Jacek Hałas / vocals, accordion, drum, ligawa, soundscape
Maciej Filipczuk / vocals, violin, gusle, soundscape
Wolf Niklaus / vocals, cobza, soundscape
Robert Wasilewski / vocals, cymbalom, shepherd flutes, soundscape
Bart Pałyga / vocals, gadulka, soundscape
Witek Roy Zalewski / vocals, violin, soundscape
Wives
Agata Harz / vocals, soundscape
Anna Broda Kowalska / vocals, cymbalom, soundscape
Basia Wilińska / vocals, soundscape
Performance Actions
Zbyszek Olkiewicz
Alex Kijania
Marta Kotwica
Direction, lighting:
Darek Błaszczyk
Scenography:
Darek Błaszczyk, Zbyszek Olkiewicz
Master Manole | Nowa Tradycja 2015 | Powszechny Theatre | Video
IN SEARCH OF MASTER MANOLE – Musical structure of the performance
JACEK HAŁAS
Polyphony of the Aromanians from Albania (Scene I)
One of the most interesting issues in shaping the cultural phenomenon of the Carpathians is the influence of the shepherd population of Balkan origin, called Vlachs. The complex history of this people, spanning over a thousand years, is permanently linked to the complicated history of the Balkans and Central Europe.
The Carpathians, despite being very spread out in space, share many common cultural elements. This community is visible in music, dance, crafts, as well as in the speech of the highlanders, even though Carpathian languages belong to different families (Slavic, Romance). One of such binders of Carpathian culture is precisely the culture of Vlach shepherds.
It is assumed that the Vlachs originate from the Romanized Thracian, Illyrian, and Dacian population – ancient Indo-European peoples who inhabited the Balkan Peninsula since the Bronze Age. After Rome occupied these areas, a long process of Latinization and assimilation of these peoples with Rome began, which led to the creation of the foundations of the Eastern Romance Vlach (Aromanian) language. The Vlach population, engaged in mountain pastoralism, during the Slavic expansion into the Balkans in the 6th and 7th centuries, was partially pushed into the mountainous areas of northern Macedonia, to then – having assimilated with the Slavs and Avars – move westward (Croatia, Slovenia, Austria) and northward (Silesian Beskids, Moravia).
A relic of these oldest Balkan Vlach groups are the modern Aromanians (Vlachs) from the territories of Albania. They are concentrated in the southern part of the country, in the mountains along the Greek border between the cities of Saranda and Permet (and also south of Saranda, by the sea) and between the cities of Erseka and Korce (the main Vlach center in Albania), finally further north, in the Mali Valamares mountains near Lake Ohrid, and in the coastal valley of the Samani River, between Vlora and the Shkumbini River, where the second Vlach center is located – Selenica. These lowland Vlach settlements were established on the grounds of former winter pastures, where shepherds annually drove herds from summer, mountain areas.
Vlachs in Poland
Vlach settlers influenced the shape of the culture of today’s Carpathian highlanders, both material and spiritual. They introduced and popularized high-mountain pastoralism here, influenced the type of music and visual arts. In Lemko churches, one can find Bulgarian-type icons, and music associated with “our” highlanders can be found in Hungarian, Romanian, or Bulgarian villages. Vlachs also left a lasting trace in the language, which, unlike many products of traditional culture, will not disappear. Many phrases of the Vlach dialect have penetrated not into folk highlander dialects, but into the general language. Since they were primarily engaged in pastoralism, Romanian (or Aromanian, as the Vlach regiolect is called in linguistics) borrowings have been preserved in this field, such as: fujara (flute), cap (billy goat), maczuga (club), koszara (sheepfold), szałas (shelter/hut), bryndza (sheep cheese), żętyca (sheep milk whey), or multanka (pan flute). The most characteristic Romanian word is “Magura”, frequent in our mountains, which is given to many peaks, mountain ranges, or even an entire mountain complex (Magura National Park in the Low Beskids). As a result of Vlach migrations, four main ethnographic territories were created: Hutsulshchyna and Boyko region in the Eastern Carpathians, and Lemkivshchyna and the Highlander region (Góralszczyzna) in the Western Carpathians.
Music and singing: An Albanian proverb says: “when you travel alone – you are alone, when you travel in a pair you start a quarrel, when three – you start singing”.
Traditional Albanian vocal music is referred to as Iso-polyphony. The term “iso” is related to the term “ison” referring in Byzantine music to the drone that accompanies polyphonic singing. Drone sounds are performed here in two ways: in a “horizontal” manner, continuous and maintained on one syllable “e” using irregular breathing, and “vertical”, where several voices arranged in tonality follow the text rhythmically. These songs are performed during important ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, harvests, or religious celebrations. Ethnomusicologists consider this type of singing to be the most archaic preserved form of vocal art based on the pentatonic scale, tracing its sources to ancient lamentations, Homeric “siren songs” and oral epic poetry.
Serbian Gusle (Scene II)
One of the most interesting phenomena in South Slavic folklore is the performance of epic songs to the accompaniment of the gusle (in Albania lahuta).
The Epic is considered the first literary genre. The name derives from the Greek poiein – to create, to compose, and the word epos itself means in Greek a word, a story, a song. The narrative basis of the epic are myths, fairy tales, legends, folk transmissions, imaginings about historical events, memory of figures significant for the nation, moral values, or religious beliefs.
The Gusle (a form of rebab) is a string instrument, originally made of sycamore wood and horsehair. It originates from Central Asia. On the Balkan Peninsula, it became a symbol of national identity. It is most often used by Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Bulgarians – both Christians and Muslims.
This performance technique derives directly from the tradition of monophony based on modal scales, which also includes beggars’ songs performed with the hurdy-gurdy and the Biłgoraj suka (fiddle).
“It is not exactly known when the gusle was created, nor when it will disappear, but its historical, musical, and ethnic role is precisely known. It possesses exceptionally modest musical – and exceptionally strong intellectual possibilities. In times when our ancestors were illiterate and when they had no possibility to record history for descendants – they sang. While grinding grain in a water mill, near the fire at home, on the occasion of holidays, birthdays, and slavas, and even funerals. In these moments they had a need to create a testimony, they wanted to convey life truths that were most important to them. Truths about how heroism, respect, and čojstvo (moral norms) were born and developed…” – writes Branko Konatar, a Serbian poet.
Bulgarian Two-voice (Scene III)
The most characteristic distinguishing feature of Bulgarian music is its ornamentalism and irregular rhythm, so difficult to catch and repeat for a person accustomed to the duple or triple meter typical for most European melodies. The rhythm of most Bulgarian folk songs is characterized by duple meter, the most common meter being 2/4, considered in neighboring Turkey as the “Bulgarian measure”. Triple (3/4) and quadruple (4/4) meters rather do not occur. The uniqueness of Bulgarian music is constituted by irregular meters, such as 5/4 and 7/4, 5/16 and 7/16, 9/16, 11/16, 13/16, and various combinations thereof. An interesting phenomenon are also unmeasured melodies, in which it is difficult to distinguish any meter, nevertheless possessing their own rhythm, intuitively felt by the performer.
As for the ambitus (range), a large part of Bulgarian melodies is narrow-range, closed within a third, fourth, or fifth. These are mainly old ritual songs; with their disappearance, the ambitus of the melody gradually increased. An essential feature of the melodic line is its Mediterranean-Oriental character with typical decorative elements, rich chromaticism, and high mobility. A musical phenomenon are very small intervals, covering 1/4 or 1/3 of a tone. Bulgarian melodies are usually short, divided into two equal periods with a caesura in the middle, with the melody strictly corresponding to the text. These are mainly monophonic melodies, but two- and three-part singing is also encountered, where lower voices usually play the role of a drone (constantly repeated sound). Depending on the functions that songs perform among the people, several groups can be distinguished: festive songs, ritual songs, work songs, evening gathering songs, feast songs, and dance songs. Most Bulgarian songs are characterized by a melody with a limited ambitus of a minor third or a fourth.
In Master Manole, we refer primarily to Bulgarian Diaphony, which is a specific type of polyphonic singing in which one or two voices create a melody consisting of izvikva (shout) and buchi krivo (rumbling, uneven roars, so-called cackling, hiccupping, syllabizing).
Gadulka
The Gadulka is one of the most popular bowed instruments in Bulgaria, typical for the valleys of Thrace. According to old traditional technology, the body was carved from a single piece of wood, most often sycamore, which is distinguished by very high sound quality. The rather short neck is a natural extension of the resonance trough. The strings (usually three – two melodic and one drone) are made of twisted animal intestines. The instrument is played with a bow – using the fingernail technique (in Poland such a technique is used for the Biłgoraj suka).
Romanian Lăutari (Scene IV)
Derived from the word “lute”, the name Lăutari is given to a group of musicians who were slaves in the area of today’s Romania and Moldova (until the abolition of serfdom in the 1860s). Initially, they served at Greek and Turkish courts, later for Romanian and Hungarian aristocrats and in monasteries. Most of them are Gypsies who, after enfranchisement, penetrated into rural communities, settling mainly in Wallachia, where they created compact environments continuing their musical traditions.
To this day, Lăutari are concentrated in the Muntenia region, in Wallachia (southern Romania), inhabiting several villages whose names define the origin of the taraf – (musical group). All are both singers and instrumentalists. Surrounded from birth by the atmosphere of indigenous music, they adopt and continue its specific style, repertoire, and performance techniques. The leader (primas) selects the instrumental lineup depending on needs, occasion, or specific order. The traditional composition of a taraf is violin, nai (pan flute), and cobza. It gradually underwent transformations and was expanded, depending on needs and possibilities, with cymbalom, guitar, double bass, or accordion. Lăutari are famous for their flexibility, ability to adapt, adjusting the repertoire and composition to specific needs and conditions. They are recognized by other musicians as masters of virtuosity and improvisation. Emphasizing the high level of both composition and performance as well as temperament, their music is referred to as “Gypsy jazz”.
Chain dance (workshop, dance party)
Although in our realization of “Master Manole” dance is not directly present as a stage form, the reference to ritual forms of movement is obvious, and we will gladly share practical knowledge on this subject with you during workshops or a dance party.
Chain dance is one of the oldest forms of group dance. It originates from rituals and tribal dances related to fertility cults, astral cults, the cult of the dead, war dances. It was traditionally performed in the form of a circle, procession, or chain (in more complex forms, two or more circles may occur; the direction of movement also mattered, especially in the context of rites of passage – which the legend from Argeș undoubtedly also tells about). Dancers move in a line or in a circle, performing simple, repetitive sequences of steps, while musicians perform melodies /sometimes several for one dance/ increasing and decreasing the tempo to transport participants between fun and meditation.
SPECIAL ADDITIONS
„VALACHIA – TERRA BALCANICA”
– a tale
About the constituent elements of Wallachian culture – by referring to the history of Vlach culture with Balkan inspirations and pedigree, as well as to folk mythology and traditional imagology of the areas creating the cultural geography of the region. The myth of the Argeș Monastery, the history of the Brâncoveanu family, Horezu ceramic motifs, the fusion of traditional folklore elements with religious ones.
PhD Emilia Ivancu (Department of Romanian Studies, IFR AMU Poznań)
Emilia Ivancu is a literary critic, poet, and translator. She teaches Romanian language and literature at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Most important publications: Travels with Steinbeck in Search of America (2005), Dicționarul personajelor din teatrul lui Lucian Blaga (co-author, 2005), Polish-Romanian and Romanian-Polish Dictionary (co-author, 2012) and poetry collections: Jocul de a nu fi mai mult decât sunt/The Game of Not Being More Than I Am (2012, translation into Polish by Tomasz Klimkowski), Șamanii și poeții (2014).
IN SEARCH OF MASTER MANOLE (music-myth-ritual-object) – discourse
Jacek Hałas & Darek Błaszczyk & Zbyszek Olkiewicz
Emilia Ivancu (Mircea Eliade’s MASTER MANOLE)
Tomasz Klimkowski (Lucian Blaga’s MASTER MANOLE)
PhD Tomasz Klimkowski (Department of Romanian Studies, IFR AMU Poznań)
Tomasz Klimkowski graduate of Romanian philology and PhD in Romanian linguistics at AMU in Poznań, employee of the Department of Romanian Studies at AMU and translator (collection of essays On Angels by A. Pleșu, novels: Wasted Morning by G. Adameșteanu and Scarred Hearts by M. Blecher, collection of poems by E. Ivancu The Game of Not Being More Than I Am). Co-author of the Polish-Romanian and Romanian-Polish Dictionary (Nowela Publishing House, Poznań).
CSANGO BALL – workshops and night of dance
The meeting will be dedicated to the music and dances of the mysterious CSANGO (Csángó) people.
The Csángós themselves consider themselves, according to local tradition, descendants of Huns who arrived from the steppe. Researchers speak of a Hungarian minority settled many centuries ago in Romanian Moldavia and Transylvania, east of the Carpathians. The Csángó tradition, territorially cut off from the motherland and surrounded by a culturally, ethnically, and religiously foreign element, on the one hand preserved many features of archaic Hungarian culture, and on the other hand, enriched itself by absorbing elements of neighboring nations’ cultures: Balkan, Romanian, Slavic, and Turkish.
The Csángós have preserved local dances in their tradition, which they adopted from other peoples or created themselves.
Csángó music is not based on octaves typical for the West, but on pentatonic scales, whose pedigree, according to folklore researcher Zoltán Kallós, dates back to the songs of the Mongols and Uyghurs from the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
During the workshops and the night of dance, live music will be played by the “Master Manole Orchestra”.
Dance instruction is led by the president of the Poznań Dance House, co-founder of the Szczecin Dance House – Jacek Hałas.
