Skaldowie, a Cracow, Poland, rock group, was particularly popular from the 1960s to the 1980s. With their musical training and proximity to the folklore-rich area of Podhale, many of their tracks were a fusion of rock, folk, and classical music.
Skaldowie formed in 1965 in Kraków (Cracow). Its founding members Andrzej and Jacek Zieliński's maternal grandparents hailed from Zakopane in the High Tatras, and both boys enjoyed spending time there and hiking in the mountains. Many of their compositions included references to folk music from the region. Skaldowie caused a stir in 1972 with the extent to which motifs from the Goral music of Podhale featured on their groundbreaking album Krywań, Krywań (Kriváň is a mountain on the Slovak side of the High Tatras). Its 18-minute title track, labeled a "suite" on the album cover, was a fusion of rock, folk, and classical music with quotations from works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Alexander Borodin, Modest Mussorgsky, Gioachino Rossini, and others. The lyrics, although credited as a folk song, were actually from the folkloric poem "Kriváň, High Kriváň!" ("Krywaniu, Krywaniu wysoki!") by Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer published in 1903.
Between 1966 and 1980 they received numerous national awards and were one of the most popular musical groups in Poland.
Discography
