Croatian

tamburitza Tamburica ( or ; sometimes written tamburrizza or tamburitza; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", tamburica, тамбурица, little tamboura) or tamboura (; ) refers to a family of long-necked lutes popular in Southeast Europe and southeastern ...

(tam•bu•rit•za) is a

folk instrument A folk instrument is a traditional musical instrument that has remained largely restricted to traditional folk music, and is not usually used in the classical music or other elite and formal musical genres of the culture concerned, though relate ...

played with a tambura (cousins with

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

balalaika The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...

and the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

) and is accompanied with a dance. The origin is most commonly thought to be introduced from the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

by way of

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

between the 14th and 16th century. Although, others believe that the tambura was introduced by the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

. It was not until the 19th century that tamburitza gained popularity during several nationalist movements against the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. Many societies such as Croatian, Slovak and Czech, used national folk songs and dance as an "expression of their national identity". During this time, the first Croatian tamburitza ensemble was created by

Pajo Kolarić Pajo Kolarić (1821–1876) was an early Croatian composer for tamburitza. Kolarić formed the first amateur tamburitza orchestra in Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the large ...

in 1847. Also, during early 20th century ethnomusicologist Professor

Vinko Žganec Vinko Žganec (January 22, 1890 – December 12, 1976) was a Croatian ethnomusicologist. Žganec was born in Vratišinec in Međimurje. He started to be interested in music early in his childhood and jotted down his first folk song in 1908. In ...

, began to write down Croatian folk songs which in the past were not written, but passed down from generation to generation. The popularity of Croatian

continued to grow and even developed into professional working ensembles throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. Tamburitza became so popular that newsletters began to circulate Croatia and neighbouring countries that shared interest in the instrument. Then in 1941, the first radio station in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

(located in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

) whose basis was tamburitza was created and named the Croatian Radio-Television Tamburitza Orchestra. Croatian Tamburitza continues to be popular in Croatia and in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

thanks to the Croatian Fraternal Union and

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

External links

Tamburitza Association of America

Croatian Fraternal Union

Duquesne University TamburitzansTamburicaOrg – tamburaški portal – tambura portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croatian Tamburica Croatian folk music