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Beata Palya

'Ágról-ágra, Tradition in Motion'

(ORP003BEA1)

Musicians:
Beata Palya - voice
with:
Balazs Szokolay Dongo - flutes, saxophone, bagpipe, Jew's harp
Andras Des - water can, percussion
Tamas Geroly - percussion
and
Karpatia Band:
Mátyás Bolya - koboz
Dávid Eredics - clarinet
Attila Búzás - tambura, contrabass
Balázs Jakabffy - drum
and
Arco'lor Trio:
Andras Monori - gadulka
Istvan Kerek - violin
Zoltan Farkas - cello

Label - Orpheia Records, Hungary
Released 2003

All melodies are traditional, arranged by Beata Palya and her guest musicians, except track 2, arranged by Andras Monori, and tracks 12,13,14 poems set to music by Beata Palya.

From Orpheia Record label:
"Born Nov. 11, 1976 in Hungary, Beata Palya has been dancing and singing in her village's folk music group since she was a child. She won first prize in the regional singing competition on three occasions. Since the age of 16, she has been singing and dancing with the group Karpatia (traditional Moldavian music). She pursued the study of Hungary's culture of song, particularly that of the Moldavian region. ...she began her acting career in the Hungarian troupe Bladder Circus, where she played and sang in three musicals: The Bladder circus (1997), The Bitter Lunatics (1998), A Thousand and One Sinbad (1999).

In addition to folk singing in its various forms, she also uses her voice in learning the singing styles of the baroque period, Persia and India, for which she holds a particular admiration.

... Awarded the Artisjus prize for music in Hungary in December 2002, she officially launched her public career as a soloist in January 2003. In this year she gave her first concerts in Paris: with the group Folkestra at the Maroquinerie, and solo at the Institut Hongrois for Europe Day...

Roots and influences:
Traditional Hungarian folk music:
Beata first learned singing in the folk music 'school', beginning with that of her own culture. And traditional music as such was primarily born from the expression of emotions. Certainly in the daily life of the villages of old, there were aesthetic and community roles for music, but the most important was its psychological role: to sing was to express what was in one's heart -- its joy, its pain.

Thus what Beata had heard from her earliest childhood, she immediately and instinctively imitated. Then she polished it. Her tools: cassette recordings of the voices of old peasant women and men who sang folk songs from the heart. Their voices were natural, they sang as they spoke: the intonation of the melodies perfectly mirrored that of their thoughts. 

Gypsy music and interpretation:
Beata is half-gypsy through her mother.
In gypsy music, the interpretation is much more extreme than in Hungarian music. More expressive, more liberated, the tone of the voice is often more piercing, powerful, raucous. The 'scat' singing of the Gypsies is a technique by which, without words, only with onomatopoeia, often like instruments, one sings with a very distinct rhythm.

Beata integrates all these elements into her repertoire, as well as humor and playfulness, which also belong to this style of music, fundamental aspects of her personality as a musician.

Music of the East: India and Persia:
It is in Indian music that one finds the most refined relationship between melody and rhythm. It is improvised music, but with strict rules. The melody is ornamented, at times with tiny grace notes as subtle as a sigh, or very forced, even exaggerated. The relationship between the sounds reflect, in a way, the hidden feelings of human relationships - desire, fear, hesitation, mischief). Beata got closer to the singing itself, to the essence of song, when she began studying the music of India.

Persian music differs from European music by the quarter-notes in the scale. It is also characterized by the idea of "taking time in music": one has time, the music flows slowly and calmly. Holding notes for a long time, 'pressing' a final note while embellishing it at will, whispering and amplifying the voice as finely and slowly as possible. One of the most interesting technical differences is the use of the 'gasp' style, reminiscent of birdsong.

Improvisation, experimentation, seeking the frontiers of the human voice:
Beata has worked for four years in musical theatre. It is there that she began to seek the frontiers of the human voice, all that one can bring out of the throat. She began by exploring different kinds of music. That brought her to the repetitive choruses of Central Africa, capable of perfectly imitating the sound of piercing flutes. Then to Bulgarian women, capable of deepening their voice with the sound of the bagpipe that accompanies them, voice and bagpipe producing exactly the same sound. Then to Arab women, who, face turned toward the sky, sing from their deepest soul, singing of love and making their voice tremble and gasping with passion. To the rhythmic scatting of the Gypsies, with the soft 'bl-bl-bl-' (produced by a light movement of the tongue) which accompanies Hungarian lullabies. To rapid vibratos held on a single note in baroque song. To the plays on voice and improvisation of Bobby McFerrin.

From all this is born the voice of Beata Palya, particularly rich and varied. This distinguishes her from other Hungarian folk singers, who do not diverge from the characteristic Hungarian folk style."

USD 16.99

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Visit the Beata Palya web site at:
www.palyabea.hu

Beáta Palya

'Ágról-ágra, Tradition in Motion'

(ORP003BEA1)

This symbol  indicates an mp3 sound clip for that track. Click on the symbol and wait for the clip to start. For more information click here. Tracks

1. Hajnal - In the Morn (Hungarian) (1'05") 2. Úton - On the Road (Bulgarian) (6'04") 3. Szelence - The Precious Box (Persian) (4'30") 4. Pey-Dabadi (Hungarian Gypsy) (3'45") 5. Rikoltok - Sparrow's Song (Hungarian) (2'50") 6. Ágról-ágra - From Branch to Branch (Hungarian) (2'25") 7. Hegyezd füled - Listen, Friend (Hungarian) (5'01") 8. Tánc - Dance (Romanian) (3'14") 9. Ne csicseréssz - Don't Whistle (Hungarian) (6'02") 10. Devia - Gypsy God (Transylvanian Gypsy) (2'33") 11. Doromb-boy (Hungarian Gypsy) (2'35") 12. Patak Parttyán (Hungarian) (0'29") 13. Szózat Katitzához a férfiak ügyiben (Hungarian) (1'16") 14. Sáros-Pataki polgár leány (Hungarian) (1'05") 15. Lüktetés - Heartbeats (Bulgarian) (4'43") 16. Ketten a hegyen - Echo on the Mountain (Bulgarian) (3'23") 17. Altató - Lullaby (Hungarian and Melanesian) (3'23")

Duration (55'26")

Our mp3 samples are approximately 30 seconds long and of low(ish) quality for a fast download (file size app 300KB)

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