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Music Of SlovakiaThe Slovaks are a Slavic people, closely related to the Czechs. Due to long-term political ties, Hungarian music has also been influential in Slovakia. Popular music began to replace folk music beginning in the 1950s, when Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia; American jazz, R&B, and rock and roll were popular, alongside waltzes, polkas, and czardas, among other folk forms. By the end of the '50s, radios were common household items, though only state stations were legal. Slovak popular music began as a mix of bossa nova, cool jazz, and rock, with propagandistic lyrics. Dissenters listened to ORF (Austrian Radio), Radio Luxembourg, or Slobodna Europa (Radio Free Europe), which played more rock. Czechoslovakia was more passive in the face of Soviet domination, and thus radio and the whole music industry toed the line more closely than other satellite states. As communist power declined, the popularity of reggae, hip hop, and punk rock increased. After the Velvet Revolution and the declaration of the Slovak state, domestic music greatly diversified as free enterprise allowed a great expansion in the number of bands and genres represented in the Slovak market. Soon, however, major labels brought pop music to Slovakia and drove many of the small companies out of business. The 1990s saw German dance music, American grunge and alternative rock, and Britpop gain a wide following, as well as a newfound popularity in musicals. Some of the most famous Slovak musicians in the late 20th century: Folk music Folk instruments include the fujara (a flute), bagpipes, and others, used to make dance music called czardas. Lyrics often concern a local hero named Janosik, a legendary highwayman who brought justice for the oppressed and poor. Samples - Download recording "Ej lcka, lcka sirok" Slovak song from the Library of Congress' Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections; performed by Lillian Jakubcin and Emily Mertn on July 31, 1939 in Slavia, Florida
References - Plocek, Jiri. "East Meets West". 2000.
- In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 49-57. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
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