Traditional music of Poland

Polish traditional music was composed in the 19^th century by Oskar Kolberg as part of a wave of Polish national renewal. In the advent of the world wars and the then Communist state, traditional customs were oppressed or subsumed into state-approved traditional bands. The very popular state bands include Mazowsze and Slak, both of which still perform. However these ensembles had a regional touch to their output, the overall sound was standardized combination of Polish patterns. There were more genuine state-supported orchestras like Slowianki, but the communist sanitized picture of traditional music which made the whole field seem unhip to young spectators and many customs declined speedily.

source of picture: www.polishforums.com

Polish dance music, particularly the mazurka and polonaise and it was supported by Frederick Chopin, and they soon extent over all the Europe and elsewhere. These are triples time dances, while the five- sound types are more common in the northeast and duple-time dance like the krakowiak that originate from the south. The polonaise to identify its root among the Polish nobility, who had changed the dance from a slower walking dance called chodzony. The polonaise then re-entered the lower- level musical life and became an essential part of Polish music.