Murchole is a word used in Kujawy and Pałuki to describe the inhabitants of Poznań. It is an endemism – you will not find it in any dictionary, just as you will not find the Pałuki style of violin playing today, and above all, the logic behind Pałuki bass playing. From the perspective of Murchole, we look at this beautiful archaic music and dances that reflect the character of the people of this region. The dance forms are structured, yet leave plenty of room for interpretation and individual expression. We draw on old recordings of local bands, including those of Jan Boruch from Słupy, Antoni Bąk from Żużoły, Szczepan Nowicki and Stanisław Nowak from Kcynia, trying to capture the specificity of the violin phrasing and find the key to the distinctive bass playing with changing harmonisation, not necessarily following the melodic line directly.

Bo taniec to nie robota, ale jak się nie umie to sromota! (Because dancing is not work, but if you cannot do it, it’s a shame!)

Performers

Ewa Szymczak – cellist, singer and violinist. Member and co-creator of many projects dedicated to traditional music, mainly within the Dom Tańca Poznań community. Since 2021, together with Maria Woźna, she has been creating the Baby Borowe duo, whose repertoire includes music from Greater Poland. She runs a traditional music group for children and young people at the Youth Cultural Centre No. 2 in Poznań. She co-creates performances for children at Teatr Mozaika.

Maciej Filipczuk – violinist, student of Kazimierz Meta. Creator and co-creator of many artistic projects, such as Radical Polish Ansambl, Lautari, Tęgie Chłopy, Boygn Trio, Niewte, Regionalna Grupa Barw and Nomad Service.

Kacper M. Nowak – improvising cellist exploring fragments of memory, laments and buried books. Bass player of the Szalonego band, drawing on field recordings of rural outcasts – violinists and folk healers from the Rawa Mazowiecka area.

Marcin Sawiński – founder and clarinettist of the Odmieniciese band, playing music from the Lublin and Podkarpacie regions. Recently, he has been learning violin under the guidance of Maciej Filipczuk and working on sound archives of traditional music.

Photo: Piotr Baczewski