In the last weeks of the holiday season, Brno folklore fans had the opportunity to enjoy the music of the Horňácko region twice. In both cases it was provided by musicians from Horňácká muzika Petra Mičky. Although the two concerts offered contrasting interpretations and atmospheres, both captivated the audience with their sincerity. I’ve already written about the joint performance with Filharmonie Brno. We had the chance to hear a different form on Thursday 28 August in Denisovy sady park. The concert, organized by Masaryk University, commemorated an important figure not only for the Horňácko region, but also an internationally recognised ethnologist - Dušan Holý.
In previous years, the traditional farewell to summer that Masaryk University organises in the park at Petrov, has been dedicated to film music or the swing era, such as to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the university. This year's programme was affected by a sad piece of news - the passing of the aforementioned singer and professor of the Institute of European Ethnology, who passed away at the beginning of this year. Yet his death at the venerable age of 91 is not a cause for mourning, but rather an opportunity to celebrate the life and work he left behind. And it was in this spirit that the organisers and performers embraced the evening concert. This is evidenced by the title itself, borrowed from one of the songs - Chvała Bohu, že sem sa narodił (Thanks Be to God That I Came into This World).
The programme was introduced by the male choir from Hrubá Vrbka, which put on an impressive show with its pure and strong singing. The choir was not chosen by chance - this village, lined with listed barns reminiscent of the time when most of the inhabitants farmed the adjacent land, is the birthplace of Dušan Holý. And not only his birthplace, but also a lifelong source of inspiration - both for his songs and his scientific work. Both of these aspects naturally intertwined and complemented each other in Dušan Holý's work.
Masaryk University invited the staff of the newly established Horňácko Regional Centre based in Velká nad Veličkou to collaborate on the programme. Its founder is Petr Mička, a pupil of Professor Holý and also the leading man in the aforementioned ensemble. This distinctive Moravian Slovak subregion had long been lacking a memory institution like this. In the one year or since it opened, it has already organised several exhibitions and talks, for example as part of this year's Horňácko festivities. Thanks to the erudition of the organisers, the programme of the festive evening was put together not only with dramaturgical imagination but also as a fine tribute to the work of Dušan Holý.
The programme featured songs from his extensive collections, performed by some exceptional musicians and singers. Besides Horňácká muzika Petra Mičky, which was accompanied by violinist Miroslav Kolacia on the first violin as the band leader was indisposed due to poor health, the singers were particularly interesting. Jiřina Miklošková appeared in several numbers, with her fragile voice and deep musicality making her one of the few solo singers today who represent the older style of Horňácko women's singing. Dušan Holý describes this style of singing in his research, especially in his monograph Horňácko, as apparent even in singers born at the beginning of the century and earlier. It is mainly a quieter vocal style, often used in long or balladic songs.
Martin Ňorek, the leader of the young ensemble from Hrubá Vrbka, can also be considered a significant discovery on the contemporary Horňácko scene. Not only in his name and lineage, but also in his singing and playing, he continues the art of his distinguished Horňácko ancestors. Representing the older generation, Jiří Miškeřík performed both solo and together with the Vrbka male choir.
The programme included songs that Professor Holý recorded not only from singers from Hrubá Vrbka, but also from Nová Lhota. The set also included lyrics evidently penned by his father Martin Holý, as well as numbers written by the exceptional singer Kateřina Hudečková, who inspired Leoš Janáček. Romani songs were also performed, in tribute to Professor Holý's important research on the Romani Holocaust.
The programme was hosted by a friend of Dušan Holý - senator and director Břetislav Rychlík, who invited not only Petr Mička, but also an ethnologist from the Institute of European Ethnology, prof. Martina Pavlicová, and in the introduction also the Vice-Rector prof. Jiří Hanuš. These appearances added a nice touch of diversity to the programme and I dare say that they deserved more space.
That sunny evening saw several hundred people gather at the gazebo in Denisovy sady, who - like me - left amazed and delighted at the chance to have witnessed such an event. Professor Dušan Holý's legacy is timeless and needs to be remembered. I’m glad that Masaryk University opted for the best possible way of doing this, such a fitting homage to this man: music and singing.
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