Polka
Encyclopedia
The polka is a Central European dance
and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia
. Polka is still a popular genre of folk music in many European countries and is performed by folk artists in Poland
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, Czech Republic
, Netherlands
, Croatia
, Slovenia
, Germany
, Hungary
, Austria
, Italy
, Ukraine
, Belarus
, Russia
and Slovakia
. Local varieties of this dance are also found in the Nordic countries
, United Kingdom
, Republic of Ireland
, Latin America
(especially Mexico
), and in the United States
.
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The name is generally thought to come from the Czech
word půlka ("little half") – a reference to the short half-steps featuring in the dance. But from its very outset, the word has been influenced by the similarity to the Czech word Polka ("Polish woman/girl"), and the Polish homophonic word Polka with the same meaning. The name has led to the dance's origin being sometimes mistakenly attributed to Poland. It should also not be confused with the polska
, a Swedish
dance with Polish roots (cf. polka-mazurka
). A related dance is the redowa
. Polkas almost always have a time signature
.
Before it is documented to have acquired this name, a Polka style of folk music was growing common in central Europe, appearing in written music by 1800.
, to accompany a local folk song called "Strycek Nimra koupil simla", or Uncle Nimra Bought a White Horse, in 1834. She is said to have called the dance Madera, simply meaning "quick".
By 1835, this dance had spread to the ballrooms of Prague
, where it was called Pulka for its quick 2/4 step. From there, it spread to Vienna by 1839, and in 1840 was introduced in Paris by Raab, a Prague dance instructor.
Apparently, it was so well-received that it became a sort of dance craze, spreading across all of Europe, and to the US within a decade. It remained a dominantly popular dance in these areas until the 20th century, when it was displaced by ragtime
jazz, and the dance crazes of the Roaring Twenties
.
Polka did enjoy a resurgence in popularity after World War II, when many Polish refugees moved to the US, adopting this Bohemian style as a cultural dance. Polka dances are still held on a weekly basis across many parts of the US with Central European heritage.
One of the types found in the United States is the North American "Polish-style polka," which has roots in Chicago
; two sub-styles are "The Chicago Honky
" (using clarinet
and one trumpet
) and "Chicago Push" featuring the accordion
, Chemnitzer
& Star concertinas, upright bass or bass guitar
, drums, and (almost always) two trumpets. North American "Slovenian-style polka
" is fast and features piano accordion
, chromatic accordion, and/or diatonic button box accordion; it is associated with Cleveland
. North American "Dutchmen-style" features an oom-pah
sound often with a tuba
& banjo
, and has roots in the American Midwest. "Conjunto
-style" polkas have roots in northern Mexico
and Texas
, and are also called "Norteño
". Traditional dances from this region reflect the influence of polka-dancing European immigrants. In the 1980s and 1990s, several American bands began to combine polka with various rock
styles (sometimes referred to as "punk
polka"), "alternative
polka", or "San Francisco-style".
There also exist Curaçao
n polkas, Peruvian polkas (becoming very popular in Lima
). In the pampas of Argentina, the "polca" has a very very fast beat with a 3/4 compass. Instruments used are: acoustic guitar (usually six strings, but sometimes seven strings), electric or acoustic bass (sometimes fretless), accordion (sometimes piano accordion, sometimes button accordion), and sometimes some percussion is used. The lyrics always praise the gaucho
warriors from the past or tell about the life of the gaucho
campeiros (provincial gauchos who keep the common way). The polka was very popular in South and Southwest of Brazil, were it was mixed with other European and African styles to create the Choro
.
The polka is also one of the most popular traditional folk dances in Ireland
, particularly in Sliabh Luachra
, a district that spans the borders of counties Kerry
, Cork
and Limerick
. Many of the figures of Irish set dance
s, which developed from Continental quadrilles, are danced to polkas. There are hundreds of Irish polka tunes, which are most frequently played on the fiddle or button accordion.
The polka also migrated to the Nordic countries where it is known by a variety of names in Denmark (galopp, hopsa), Estonia (polka), Finland (pariisipolkka, polkka), Iceland, Norway (galopp, hamborgar, hopsa/hopsar, parisarpolka, polka, polkett, skotsk) and Sweden (polka). The beats are not as heavy as those from Central Europe and the dance steps and holds also have variations not found further south. The polka is considered a part of the gammeldans tradition of music and dance. While it is nowhere near as old as the older Nordic dance and music traditions, there are still hundreds of polka tunes in each of the Nordic countries. They are played by solo instrumentalists or by bands/ensembles, most frequently with lead instruments such as accordion
fiddle
, diatonic accordion, hardingfele
and nyckelharpa
.
Bedřich Smetana
incorporated the polka in his opera The Bartered Bride
and in particular, Act 1.
While the polka is Bohemian in origin, most dance music composers in Vienna
(the capital of the vast Habsburg
Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was the cultural centre for music from all over the empire) composed polkas and included the dance in their repertoire at some point of their career. The Strauss family in Vienna for example, while probably better-known for their waltz
es also composed polkas which have survived obscurity. Josef Lanner
and other Viennese composers in the 19th century also wrote many polkas to satisfy the demands of the dance-music-loving Viennese. In France
, another dance-music composer Emile Waldteufel
also wrote many polkas in addition to his chief profession of penning waltzes.
The polka evolved during the same period into different styles and tempi. In principle, the polka written in the 19th century has a 4-theme structure; themes 1A and 1B as well as a 'Trio' section of a further 2 themes. The 'Trio' usually has an 'Intrada' to form a break between the two sections. The feminine and graceful 'French polka' (polka française) is slower in tempo and is more measured in its gaiety. Johann Strauss II's Annen Polka op. 114, Demolirer
polka op. 269, the Im Krapfenwald'l
op. 336 and the Bitte schön!
polka op. 372 are examples of this type of polka. The polka-mazurka
is also another variation of the polka, being in the tempo of a mazurka
but danced in a similar manner as the polka. The final category of the polka dating around that time would be the 'polka schnell' which is a fast polka or galop
. It is in this final category Eduard Strauss
is better known, as he penned the 'Bahn Frei' polka op. 45 and other examples. Earlier, Johann Strauss I
and Josef Lanner wrote polkas which are either designated as a galop (quick tempo) or as a regular polka which may not fall into any of the categories described above.
The polka was also a further source of inspiration for the Strauss family in Vienna when Johann II and Josef Strauss wrote one for plucked string instruments (pizzicato
) only, the well-known 'Pizzicato polka'. Johann II later wrote a 'New pizzicato polka' (Neu pizzicato-polka), opus 449, culled from music of his operetta
'Fürstin Ninetta'. Much earlier, he also wrote a 'joke-polka' (German
"scherz-polka") entitled 'Champagne-polka', opus 211, which evokes the uncorking of champagne bottles.
Other composers who wrote music in the style of the polka were Jaromír Weinberger
, Dmitri Shostakovich
and Igor Stravinsky
.
based in Chicago
, which works to preserve the cultural heritage of polka music and to honor its musicians through the Polka Hall of Fame. Polka is also big in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
, beer barrel polka is played during the seventh inning stretch and halftime of Milwaukee Brewers
and Milwaukee Bucks
games.
The United States Polka Association is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Polka America Corporation is a non-profit organization based in Ringle, Wisconsin
.
Nickolas Daskalou was one of the early polka pioneers starting in the late 1930s. Recognition expanded when he won a Grammy Award
in 1931 for being the first man to polka on the pyramids. Nickolas won the first America's Polka King award in 1947. Subsequently, he was crowned "Biggest and Best Polka Dancer" in the western world. Nickolas is also recognized for producing and conducting the classic "Polka Rock" in 1967.
Polka Varieties was an hour-long television program of polka music originating from Cleveland, Ohio
. It was the only television program for this type of music in the US. From 1956 to 1975, Polka Varieties ran solely in WEWS-TV
, Cleveland, on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:00, and was syndicated during its later years to 30 television markets. The program featured various popular Polish, Slovenian, Italian, and Bohemian-style bands. America's "Polka King" Frankie Yankovic
was the original band to perform on the show; during his time he commuted between Cleveland and Buffalo to host Polka Time on WKBW-TV
at the same time. Other bands included Johnny Vadnal, Richie Vadnal, Johnny Pecon/Lou Trebar, Marion Lush, Frankie Kramer, Eddie Habat, George Staiduhar, Markic-Zagger, and Hank Haller. Original host Tom Fletcher was replaced by Paul Wilcox, whose presence became an indelible part of the show.
Beginning with its inception in 2001, the RFD-TV Network aired "The Big Joe Show", a television program which included polka music and dancing that was filmed on location in various venues throughout the United States from 1973 through 2009. The program featured such nationally known (United States) polka greats as Frankie Yankovic, Al "Big Al" Grebnic, Alvin Styczynski, Karl Hartwich, and "Whopee John", along with hundreds of regional performers. RFD-TV replaced The Big Joe Show with "The RFD-TV Polka Fest" in January, 2011.
, which hosts/produces the Grammy Awards, announced that it was eliminating the polka category
. The Academy's official reason for eliminating the polka award was “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” The Academy's decision stems from the declining number of popular polka albums considered for an award in recent years. For example, out of the five polka albums nominated for an award in 2006, only one album was widely distributed in the mainstream.
style polka
(and waltzes
), also Chicago
- Polish
style polka and Czech, German
style polka (and waltzes) and so on. Among some of the better known polka (and waltzes) artists and composers include Frankie Yankovic
, Walter Ostanek
(Canada
), Verne Meisner
, Mike Schneider
, Tom Brusky
, Walt Groller
, Joey Miskulin
, Jimmy Sturr
, Lawrence Welk
, and (in combination with more modern styles) "Weird Al" Yankovic
(no known relation to Frankie).
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. Polka is still a popular genre of folk music in many European countries and is performed by folk artists in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. Local varieties of this dance are also found in the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
(especially Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
), and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Etymology
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
word půlka ("little half") – a reference to the short half-steps featuring in the dance. But from its very outset, the word has been influenced by the similarity to the Czech word Polka ("Polish woman/girl"), and the Polish homophonic word Polka with the same meaning. The name has led to the dance's origin being sometimes mistakenly attributed to Poland. It should also not be confused with the polska
Polska (dance)
The polska is a family of music and dance forms shared by the Nordic countries: called polsk in Denmark, polska in Sweden and Finland and by several names in Norway in different regions and/or for different variants - including pols, rundom, springleik, and springar...
, a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
dance with Polish roots (cf. polka-mazurka
Polka-mazurka
The polka-mazurek is a dance, musically similar to the mazurek, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurek's were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurek example written by the Strauss family was in...
). A related dance is the redowa
Redowa
A redowa is dance of Czech origin with turning, leaping waltz steps that was most popular in Victorian era European ballrooms.-History:Thomas Hillgrove states that the redowa was introduced to London ballrooms in 1846...
. Polkas almost always have a time signature
Metre (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
.
Before it is documented to have acquired this name, a Polka style of folk music was growing common in central Europe, appearing in written music by 1800.
Origin and popularity
The actual dance and accompanying music called "polka" are generally attributed to a girl, or young woman, Anna Slezakova of Labska Tynice, BohemiaBohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, to accompany a local folk song called "Strycek Nimra koupil simla", or Uncle Nimra Bought a White Horse, in 1834. She is said to have called the dance Madera, simply meaning "quick".
By 1835, this dance had spread to the ballrooms of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, where it was called Pulka for its quick 2/4 step. From there, it spread to Vienna by 1839, and in 1840 was introduced in Paris by Raab, a Prague dance instructor.
Apparently, it was so well-received that it became a sort of dance craze, spreading across all of Europe, and to the US within a decade. It remained a dominantly popular dance in these areas until the 20th century, when it was displaced by ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
jazz, and the dance crazes of the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
.
Polka did enjoy a resurgence in popularity after World War II, when many Polish refugees moved to the US, adopting this Bohemian style as a cultural dance. Polka dances are still held on a weekly basis across many parts of the US with Central European heritage.
Styles
There are various styles of contemporary polka.One of the types found in the United States is the North American "Polish-style polka," which has roots in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; two sub-styles are "The Chicago Honky
Honky
Honky is a racial slur for white people, predominantly heard in the United States...
" (using clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and one trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
) and "Chicago Push" featuring the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, Chemnitzer
Chemnitzer concertina
A Chemnitzer concertina is a musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free-reed category, sometimes called squeezeboxes. The Chemnitzer concertina is most closely related to the Bandoneón , more distantly to the other concertinas, and accordions.- Physical description :It is roughly...
& Star concertinas, upright bass or bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums, and (almost always) two trumpets. North American "Slovenian-style polka
Slovenian-style polka
Slovenian-style polka is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is also known as "Cleveland Style."...
" is fast and features piano accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, chromatic accordion, and/or diatonic button box accordion; it is associated with Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. North American "Dutchmen-style" features an oom-pah
Oom-pah
Oom-pah, Oompah or Umpapa is the rhythmical sound of a deep brass instrument in a band, a form of background ostinato.The oom-pah sound is usually made by the tuba alternating between the root of the chord and the 5th — this sound is said to be the oom...
sound often with a tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
& banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, and has roots in the American Midwest. "Conjunto
Conjunto
Conjunto literally translates as "group," and is regionally accepted in Texas as defining a genre of music that was born out of south Texas at the end of the 19th Century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is...
-style" polkas have roots in northern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and are also called "Norteño
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
". Traditional dances from this region reflect the influence of polka-dancing European immigrants. In the 1980s and 1990s, several American bands began to combine polka with various rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
styles (sometimes referred to as "punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
polka"), "alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
polka", or "San Francisco-style".
There also exist Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
n polkas, Peruvian polkas (becoming very popular in Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
). In the pampas of Argentina, the "polca" has a very very fast beat with a 3/4 compass. Instruments used are: acoustic guitar (usually six strings, but sometimes seven strings), electric or acoustic bass (sometimes fretless), accordion (sometimes piano accordion, sometimes button accordion), and sometimes some percussion is used. The lyrics always praise the gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
warriors from the past or tell about the life of the gaucho
Gaucho
Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, chacos, or Patagonian grasslands, found principally in parts of Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Chile, and Southern Brazil...
campeiros (provincial gauchos who keep the common way). The polka was very popular in South and Southwest of Brazil, were it was mixed with other European and African styles to create the Choro
Choro
Choro , traditionally called chorinho , is a Brazilian popular music instrumental style. Its origins are in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. In spite of the name, the style often has a fast and happy rhythm, characterized by virtuosity, improvisation, subtile modulations and full of syncopation and...
.
The polka is also one of the most popular traditional folk dances in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, particularly in Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra
Sliabh Luachra is a region in Munster, Ireland, located around the River Blackwater, on the County Cork/County Kerry/County Limerick borderland.-Music and literature:...
, a district that spans the borders of counties Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
and Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
. Many of the figures of Irish set dance
Set dance
Set dancing, sometimes called "country sets", are a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. Set dances are based on quadrilles. The latter were court dances which were transformed by the Irish into a unique folk dance of the Irish rural communities...
s, which developed from Continental quadrilles, are danced to polkas. There are hundreds of Irish polka tunes, which are most frequently played on the fiddle or button accordion.
The polka also migrated to the Nordic countries where it is known by a variety of names in Denmark (galopp, hopsa), Estonia (polka), Finland (pariisipolkka, polkka), Iceland, Norway (galopp, hamborgar, hopsa/hopsar, parisarpolka, polka, polkett, skotsk) and Sweden (polka). The beats are not as heavy as those from Central Europe and the dance steps and holds also have variations not found further south. The polka is considered a part of the gammeldans tradition of music and dance. While it is nowhere near as old as the older Nordic dance and music traditions, there are still hundreds of polka tunes in each of the Nordic countries. They are played by solo instrumentalists or by bands/ensembles, most frequently with lead instruments such as accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
, diatonic accordion, hardingfele
Hardingfele
A Hardanger fiddle is a traditional stringed instrument used originally to play the music of Norway. In modern designs, the instruments are very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings and thinner wood...
and nyckelharpa
Nyckelharpa
A nyckelharpa , sometimes called a keyed fiddle, is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a...
.
The polka in the classical repertoire
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
incorporated the polka in his opera The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The opera is considered to have made a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863–66, and first performed at the...
and in particular, Act 1.
While the polka is Bohemian in origin, most dance music composers in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(the capital of the vast Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was the cultural centre for music from all over the empire) composed polkas and included the dance in their repertoire at some point of their career. The Strauss family in Vienna for example, while probably better-known for their waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
es also composed polkas which have survived obscurity. Josef Lanner
Josef Lanner
Joseph Lanner was an Austrian dance music composer. He was best remembered as one of the earliest Viennese composers to reform the waltz from a simple peasant dance to something that even the highest society could enjoy, either as an accompaniment to the dance, or for the music's own sake...
and other Viennese composers in the 19th century also wrote many polkas to satisfy the demands of the dance-music-loving Viennese. In France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, another dance-music composer Emile Waldteufel
Émile Waldteufel
Émile Waldteufel was a French composer of dance music.-Life:Émile Waldteufel was born in Strasbourg to a Jewish Alsatian family of musicians....
also wrote many polkas in addition to his chief profession of penning waltzes.
The polka evolved during the same period into different styles and tempi. In principle, the polka written in the 19th century has a 4-theme structure; themes 1A and 1B as well as a 'Trio' section of a further 2 themes. The 'Trio' usually has an 'Intrada' to form a break between the two sections. The feminine and graceful 'French polka' (polka française) is slower in tempo and is more measured in its gaiety. Johann Strauss II's Annen Polka op. 114, Demolirer
Demolirer
Demolirer-Polka op. 269 is a polka written by Johann Strauss II in 1862. The title chronicled a significant milestone in the history of Vienna where earlier on 20 December 1857, Austrian emperor Franz Josef decreed that the city limits of the capital be expanded to cater to the further needs of...
polka op. 269, the Im Krapfenwald'l
Im Krapfenwald'l
Im Krapfenwald'l op. 336 is a polka by Johann Strauss II written in 1869 and was originally titled 'Im Pawlowsk Walde' when first performed in Pavlovsk on 6 September 1869...
op. 336 and the Bitte schön!
Bitte schön!
Bitte schön! , opus 372, is a polka composed by Johann Strauss II. The first two themes of the composition incorporate Strauss' operetta Cagliostro in Wien. The composition was first performed in the summer of 1872....
polka op. 372 are examples of this type of polka. The polka-mazurka
Polka-mazurka
The polka-mazurek is a dance, musically similar to the mazurek, but danced much like the polka. Many polka-mazurek's were composed by Johann Strauss II and his family. Johann Strauss I did not compose any of this type of music; the first polka-mazurek example written by the Strauss family was in...
is also another variation of the polka, being in the tempo of a mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
but danced in a similar manner as the polka. The final category of the polka dating around that time would be the 'polka schnell' which is a fast polka or galop
Galop
In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse , a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popular in Vienna, Berlin and London...
. It is in this final category Eduard Strauss
Eduard Strauss
Eduard Strauss was an Austrian composer who, together with brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss made up the Strauss musical dynasty. The family dominated the Viennese light music world for decades, creating many waltzes and polkas for many Austrian nobility as well as dance-music...
is better known, as he penned the 'Bahn Frei' polka op. 45 and other examples. Earlier, Johann Strauss I
Johann Strauss I
Johann Strauss I , born in Vienna, was an Austrian Romantic composer famous for his waltzes, and for popularizing them alongside Joseph Lanner, thereby setting the foundations for his sons to carry on his musical dynasty...
and Josef Lanner wrote polkas which are either designated as a galop (quick tempo) or as a regular polka which may not fall into any of the categories described above.
The polka was also a further source of inspiration for the Strauss family in Vienna when Johann II and Josef Strauss wrote one for plucked string instruments (pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
) only, the well-known 'Pizzicato polka'. Johann II later wrote a 'New pizzicato polka' (Neu pizzicato-polka), opus 449, culled from music of his operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
'Fürstin Ninetta'. Much earlier, he also wrote a 'joke-polka' (German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
"scherz-polka") entitled 'Champagne-polka', opus 211, which evokes the uncorking of champagne bottles.
Other composers who wrote music in the style of the polka were Jaromír Weinberger
Jaromír Weinberger
- Biography :Weinberger was born in Prague, from a family of Jewish origin. He heard Czech folksongs from time spent at his grandparents' farm as a youth. He started to play the piano at age 5, and was composing and conducting by age 10. He began musical studies with Jaroslav Křička. Later teachers...
, Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich was a Soviet Russian composer and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century....
and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
.
Organizations in the United States of America
Polka in the United States of America is promoted by the International Polka AssociationInternational Polka Association
The International Polka Association, IPA is located in Chicago, Illinois and dedicated to the study and preservation of polka music and the cultural heritage of Polish Americans who have made this music tradition part of their heritage. The IPA hosts an annual festival and convention as well as its...
based in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which works to preserve the cultural heritage of polka music and to honor its musicians through the Polka Hall of Fame. Polka is also big in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, beer barrel polka is played during the seventh inning stretch and halftime of Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
and Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
games.
The United States Polka Association is based in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Polka America Corporation is a non-profit organization based in Ringle, Wisconsin
Ringle, Wisconsin
Ringle is a town in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Wausau, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,408 at the 2000 census...
.
Nickolas Daskalou was one of the early polka pioneers starting in the late 1930s. Recognition expanded when he won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1931 for being the first man to polka on the pyramids. Nickolas won the first America's Polka King award in 1947. Subsequently, he was crowned "Biggest and Best Polka Dancer" in the western world. Nickolas is also recognized for producing and conducting the classic "Polka Rock" in 1967.
Polka Varieties was an hour-long television program of polka music originating from Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. It was the only television program for this type of music in the US. From 1956 to 1975, Polka Varieties ran solely in WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. WEWS has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception, and is an affiliate of the ABC television network...
, Cleveland, on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:00, and was syndicated during its later years to 30 television markets. The program featured various popular Polish, Slovenian, Italian, and Bohemian-style bands. America's "Polka King" Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic was a Grammy Award-winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career.-Background:Of Slovene descent, he was raised in South Euclid, Ohio...
was the original band to perform on the show; during his time he commuted between Cleveland and Buffalo to host Polka Time on WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo, New York television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden. The station is owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who...
at the same time. Other bands included Johnny Vadnal, Richie Vadnal, Johnny Pecon/Lou Trebar, Marion Lush, Frankie Kramer, Eddie Habat, George Staiduhar, Markic-Zagger, and Hank Haller. Original host Tom Fletcher was replaced by Paul Wilcox, whose presence became an indelible part of the show.
Beginning with its inception in 2001, the RFD-TV Network aired "The Big Joe Show", a television program which included polka music and dancing that was filmed on location in various venues throughout the United States from 1973 through 2009. The program featured such nationally known (United States) polka greats as Frankie Yankovic, Al "Big Al" Grebnic, Alvin Styczynski, Karl Hartwich, and "Whopee John", along with hundreds of regional performers. RFD-TV replaced The Big Joe Show with "The RFD-TV Polka Fest" in January, 2011.
Grammy Award status
In 2009, the National Academy of Recording Arts and SciencesNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
, which hosts/produces the Grammy Awards, announced that it was eliminating the polka category
Grammy Award for Best Polka Album
The Grammy Award for Best Polka Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality polka albums...
. The Academy's official reason for eliminating the polka award was “to ensure the awards process remains representative of the current musical landscape.” The Academy's decision stems from the declining number of popular polka albums considered for an award in recent years. For example, out of the five polka albums nominated for an award in 2006, only one album was widely distributed in the mainstream.
Polka music artists
The most popular genre is Cleveland - SlovenianSlovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
style polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
(and waltzes
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
), also Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
- Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
style polka and Czech, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
style polka (and waltzes) and so on. Among some of the better known polka (and waltzes) artists and composers include Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic
Frankie Yankovic was a Grammy Award-winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career.-Background:Of Slovene descent, he was raised in South Euclid, Ohio...
, Walter Ostanek
Walter Ostanek
-External links:***...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), Verne Meisner
Verne Meisner
LaVerne Donald "Verne" Meisner was an American polka musician born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Whitewater, Wisconsin. He was inducted into five halls of fame, including the International Polka Association Hall of Fame as a "Living Legend" in 1989...
, Mike Schneider
Mike Schneider (polka bandleader)
Mike Schneider is the leader of The Mike Schneider Polka Band. Schneider and his band perform at approximately 100 events annually in Wisconsin and throughout the United States...
, Tom Brusky
Tom Brusky
Tom Brusky is a Slovenian-style polka musician and bandleader from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the creator and webmaster of Wisconsin Polka Music, and actively records, produces, and promotes polka music through his company, Polkasound Productions...
, Walt Groller
Walt Groller
Walt Groller is an American polka musician. He is generally considered one of the premier polka musicians in the world.-Early years:...
, Joey Miskulin
Joey Miskulin
Joseph M. Miskulin is a hall of fame accordionist and producer of Grammy Award-winning music albums. In a music career spanning more than four decades, Joey Miskulin has collaborated with a range of artists including Paul McCartney, John Denver, Ricky Skaggs, Andy Williams, Ricky Van Shelton,...
, Jimmy Sturr
Jimmy Sturr
James W. "Jimmy" Sturr, Jr. is a polka musician, trumpeter/clarinetist/saxophonist and leader of Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra. His recordings have won 18 out of the 24 Grammy Awards given for Best Polka Album. Sturr's orchestra is on the Top Ten List of the All-Time Grammy Awards, and has acquired...
, Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
, and (in combination with more modern styles) "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
(no known relation to Frankie).
See also
- List of polka artists active in WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
- Austrian folk dancing
- Banda musicBanda musicBanda is a brass-based form of traditional music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas, and boleros. Bandas are most widely known for their rancheras, but they also play modern Mexican pop, rock, and cumbias...
– a country musicCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
performed in Spanish to a polka beat; the country music have a polka 2/4 beat in the rhythm. - Beer Barrel PolkaBeer Barrel PolkaBeer Barrel Polka, also known as Roll Out the Barrel, is a song which became popular worldwide during World War II. The music was composed by the Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda in 1927. Eduard Ingriš wrote the first arrangement of the piece, after Vejvoda came upon the melody and sought Ingriš's...
- Polka in the United States of America
External links
- The Worlds Polka Network The world's first 24/7 Polka Streamer.
- Polka Jammer Network Internet radio station featuring many LIVE & taped shows.
- National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame.
- WRJQ Radio Internet radio station with a WIDE variety of polka music.
- International Polka Association and Hall of Fame.
- Mùsica tradiciounella dòu Peïs nissart. (in Occitan, also available in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
& EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
) - Polka America Corporation.
- Wisconsin Polka Music.
- The Queensland sugar-cane polka (music cover) by Edward Leadbeater digitised and held by State Library of Queensland, Australia.
- A Polka Fan's Website Stella's website to carry on the Polish Music Tradition.
- WMUH streaming radio Biweekly polka on Kovatch's Korner, 10am-12pm Eastern.
Music sample
- Download & play a recording of "Jenny Lind", a polka from the Library of Congress' California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collection; performed by John Selleck (violin) on October 2, 1939 in Camino, CaliforniaCamino, CaliforniaCamino is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, and, per the 2010 census, has a population of 1,750...
.