Tomas Kocko & Orchestr

Moravian folk music is the traditional music of Moravia, the eastern historical region of the present‑day Czech Republic. It is distinguished by regionally specific styles (Slovácko, Valašsko/Wallachia, Haná, Lachia) and by its characteristic cimbalom‑led string bands (cimbálová muzika), bright, open vocal timbre, and richly ornamented melodic lines. Typical ensembles feature a lead violin (primáš), supporting violas playing rhythmic chords (kontra), double bass, and the cimbalom; clarinet or flute may double melodies, while regional bagpipes (gajdy) appear in Lachia and Valašsko. In Haná, brass bands (dechovka) adapt local song repertoires. Dance types such as verbuňk (a men’s recruiting dance), odzemek, and skočná underpin the music’s lively, driving character. Modal inflections (especially Mixolydian and Dorian), drones and open fifths, parallel thirds/sixths, and flexible phrasing are common. Texts (often in local dialects) treat love, conscription, harvest and vineyard life, and village rituals, frequently in call‑and‑response or strophic forms.