Music of Slovakia

The music of Slovakia has been influenced both by the county's native Slovak peoples and the music of neighbouring regions. Whilst there are traces of pre-historic musical instruments, the country has a rich heritage of folk music and mediaeval liturgical music, and from the 18th century onwards, in particular, musical life was influenced by that of Austria-Hungary. In the 19th century, composers such as Jan Levoslav Bella began to write romantic music with a Slovak character. In the twentieth century, there were a number of composers who identified with Slovak culture. After the fall of communism in 1989–90 the country also began to develop its own popular music scene in Western style.

History of music in Slovakia

The term Slovak music is sightly confusing; many peoples lived over the ages in the territory now represented by the state of Slovakia, and the history of the region's music is therefore not merely the history of music of the Slovak

Earliest times

Bone pipes dating from the Early Bronze Age (about 3000 BC) have been found in the Nitra region, testifying to the early role of music in the Celtic 'Nitra Culture'. Such instruments were produced continuously, albeit with more sophistication, up to the mediaeval period. Other early instruments found include drums dating back to the Palaeolithic period, iron and bronze bells from the 3rd or 4th century AD. Other folk instruments of the region whose early development must remain largely conjectural include the fujara and the Slovak versions of bagpipes and the jaw harp. They certainly existed in the 15th century.

Slovakia

Coordinates: 48°40′N 19°30′E / 48.667°N 19.500°E / 48.667; 19.500

Slovakia (ⁱ/sloʊˈvækiə, slə-, -ˈvɑː-/;Slovak: Slovensko [ˈsloʋensko]), officially the Slovak Republic (Slovak: Slovenská republika,  listen ), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. Slovakia's territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks. The capital and largest city is Bratislava. The official language is Slovak, a member of the Slavic language family.

The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries. In the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which itself became part of the Habsburg Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Slovaks and Czechs established Czechoslovakia. A separate Slovak Republic (1939–1945) existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reestablished under communist rule as a Soviet satellite. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

Slovak wine

Slovak wine is produced in the southern part of Slovakia, which is divided into 6 wine-producing areas. Although Slovak wines except Tokaj are not well known internationally, they are popular domestically and in neighbouring countries.

History

During the time period when the Jagiellonian dynasty ruled the area as part of the Kingdom of Hungary and shortly thereafter, Hungary and Slovakia had similar levels of wine quality and were integrated in terms of production. Moreover, they were also connected to vineyards in France as part of an economy. According to David Gass, owner of Fleurs de Gas Vineyards and one of thousands of direct descendants of Janos Wass, King Louis II's illegitimate son – after Budapest fell and King Louis II died at the Battle of Mohács, Janos (In Hungarian) was granted vineyards to produce wine in Bratislava. Some of the Wass family subsequently migrated to France, joining the wine country economy there.

Regions

Slovakia (European Parliament constituency)

In European elections, Slovakia is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by fourteen MEPs. It covers the member state of Slovakia.

Current MEPs

As of October 2007

2004

The 2004 European election was the sixth election to the European Parliament. However, as Slovakia had only joined the European Union earlier that month, it was the first European election held in that state. The election took place on June 13.

2009

The 2009 European election was the seventh election to the European Parliament. The number of seats was reduced to thirteen.

2014

References

External links