Croatia
Art
Twentieth century sculptor Ivan Mestrovic is the pride and joy of Croatia's art world. His work can be seen in town squares throughout the country, and he has also designed several imposing buildings, including the Croatian History Museum in Zagreb. Croatian literary figures include 16th century playwright Marin Drzic and 20th century novelist, playwright and poet Miroslav Krleza - the latter's multi-volume work, Banners, is a saga about Croatian life at the turn of the 20th century.
Religion
Croats are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, while virtually all Serbs are Eastern Orthodox. In addition to various doctrinal differences, Orthodox Christians venerate icons, let priests marry, and couldn't care less about the Pope. Thoroughly suppressed during Yugoslavia's communist period, Roman Catholicism is now making a comeback, with most churches strongly attended every Sunday. Muslims make up 1.1% of the population and Protestants 0.4%. There's a tiny Jewish population in Zagreb.
Food
Croatians love a bit of oil, and among the greasy delicacies you'll find here are burek, a layered pie made with meat or cheese, and piroska, a cheese donut from the Zagreb region. The Adriatic coast excels in seafood: regional dishes include scampi and Dalmatian brodet (mixed fish stewed with rice). Inland look for specialities such as manistra od bobica (beans and fresh maize soup) or struki (baked cheese dumpling).
Virtually every region produces it's own varieties of wine.Music
The music of Croatia, like the country itself, has three major influences: the influence of the Mediterranean especially present in the coastal areas, of the Balkans especially in the mountainous, continental parts, and of central Europe in the central and northern parts of the country.
Folk music
The traditional music of Croatia is mostly associated with tamburitza and gusle songs. Tamburitza music, a form of folk music that revolves around the tambura is primarily associated with the northern part of the country while the gusle music became mostly popular in southern (Dinaric) region of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Slavonian town Pozega hosts a known folk music festival, Zlatne zice Slavonije (Golden strings of Slavonia), which has prompted musicians to compose new songs with far-reaching influences, recently including American bluegrass.
Tamburitza became increasingly popular in the 1800s, and small bands began to form, paralleling similar developments in Russia, Italy and the Ukraine. It is sometimes said that the first sextet of tambura players was formed by Pajo Kolaric of Osijek in 1847.
Traditional tamburitza ensembles are still commonplace, but more professional groups have formed in the last few decades. These include Ex Pannonia, the first such group, Zdenac, Berde Band and the modernized rock and roll-influenced Gazde.
In comparison to tamburitza music, which is mainly focused on common themes of love and happy village life, the gusle music is primarily rooted in the Croatian epic poetry with emphasis on important historical or patriotic events.
By glorifying outlaws such as hajduks or uskoks of the long gone Turkish reign or exalting the recent heroes of the Croatian War for Independence, the gusle players have always kept Croatian national spirit alive bringing hope and self-confidence to the enslaved nation. Andrija Kacic Miosic, a famous 18th century author, had also composed verses in form of the traditional folk poetry (deseterac). His book "Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskog" became Croatian folk Bible which inspired numerous gusle players ever since.
As for contemporary gusle players in Croatia, one person that particularly stands out is Mile Krajina. Krajina is a prolific folk poet and gusle player who gained cult status among some Conservative groups. There are also several other prominent Croatian gusle players who often perform at various folk-festivals throughout Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Although some fans of tamburitza claim that the tambura is the most commonly used ethnic instrument in the United States, the first sound recordings of the Croatian instruments on the American soil were in fact those of gusle and misnica performed by Peter Boro in California in 1939.
Other folk traditions
The folk music of Zagorje, an area north of Zagreb, is known for polka and waltz music similar to the neighboring Slovenia and Austria.
The folk music of Medimurje, a small but distinct region in northernmost Croatia, with its melancholic and soothing tunes became the most popular form of folk to be used in the modern ethno pop-rock songs.
The Dalmatian coast on the other hand sports a cappella choirs known as klape, usually composed of up to a dozen male and female singers, singing typically Mediterranean tunes like in Italy.
In Istria, native instruments like sopila, curla and diple make a distinctive regional sound.
Pop and rock
Pop music and rock is more popular in Croatia than folk music, albeit the folk/pop combinations fare the best. Singers such as Oliver Dragojevic, Ivica Serfezi, Doris Dragovic, Severina, Gibonni and many others base their sound on the traditional sound of the regions they're from.
Among the folk-pop artists, many combine the oriental sound more commonly associated with the folk music of Bosnia and Serbia with the more traditional melodies of Croatia and Dalmatia. Among them are divas like Doris Dragovic and Severina, while the men like Vuco or Thompson are a trademark of perhaps the most oriental sound in Croatia.
Beginning in the late 1980s, folk-rock groups also sprouted across Croatia. The first is said to be Vjestice, who combined Medimurje folk music with rock and set the stage for artists like Legen, Lidija Bajuk and Dunja Knebl.
More vanilla, but nevertheless very popular rock bands in Croatia include Parni Valjak, Crvena Jabuka, Leteci Odred and others.
Croatian record companies produce a lot of material each year, if only to populate the numerous music festivals. Of special note is the Split festival which usually produces the best summer hits.
Croatian pop music is fairly often listened to in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro due to the union of Yugoslavia that existed until the 1990s. Conversely, Bosnian singers like Kemal Monteno and Dino Merlin and Serbian Ceca, Πorde Balazevic and many others also have a large audience in Croatia.
Croatia is a regular contestant on the Eurovision Song Contest. Back in Yugoslavia, Croatian pop group Riva won the contest in 1989.
The Moreska Dance
Moreska is pronounced 'Moreska'. It means 'Moorish'. The word is derived from the Spanish adjective 'Morisco' or the Italian 'Moresco'. It is a matter of conjecture whether the dance came to the Adriatic directly from Spain through roving Spanish sailors, or from Sicily or Italy when Dalmatia formed part of the Venetian Republic whether it was originally a Moorish dance or a Spanish one, inspired by the struggle of Spanish Christians against the Moors is also debatable though the latter seems the most likely. We do know for certain that it is one of the oldest traditional European dances still performed, and that records exist of it being danced in Lerida in 1156 in a form portraying a Christian and National victory over the Moors and their expulsion from Aragon.
From the 12th century and particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries, the dance spread to many Mediterranean countries: to Italy, Corsica, Sicily, Malta, France and, through Spanish trade, to Flanders, Germany and even to England. It was subject to frequent local variations, in regard to plot, protagonists and eventually also to form. In Corsica it was danced by eighty swordsmen on each side, armed with two swords apiece, who did battle for the town of Mariana to the music of a solo violin; in Elba the engagement was between Christians and Turks, in other places between Arabs and Turks; sometimes the damsel in distress was a white maiden of royal blood, sometimes a Turkish or Moorish one of equal innocence and beauty. In Ferrara a dragon was introduced who tried to devour the damsel and there were many later versions which degenerated from the original war-dance (intrinsically a useful sword practice and 'keep-fit' class for the warriors of small island or coastal garrisons for whom good swordsmanship and alertness meant their survival) into a form of folk drama, and eventually into the dance interludes of pastoral plays and Italian opera. In Germany the Moreska, though called Moriskentanze, became a mere collection of local folk dances and in England the Morris (l.e. Moorish) dancers threw away their swords and substituted long wooden sticks which they fought with and over which they hopped. In most of the Mediterranean the Moreska survived until the end of the 18th century, and in Italy and Dalmatia till the close of the 19th.
Today, Korcula is the only island where it is still danced with real swords in its original War-Dance form and where it has enjoyed a proud and almost unbroken tradition for over four centuries, though the text, music and pattern of the dance have been slightly altered and shortened (the contest used to last for two hours!) over the years.
The introduction to the dance is a short drama in blank verse which sets the scene -- four characters recite the verses: the enemy or the Black King, his father, Otmanovic, (a kind of Balkan mediator), the Hero or the White King, and the Bula or Moslem maiden, who is a peace-maker as well as a heroine (and a possible convert to Christianity?).
The Moreska arrived in Korcula in the 16th century, at the same time as it did in Dubrovnik, most probably from Sicily or Southern Italy, via Venice. An indication of this is that two of the dance "figures" have Italian names: the "Rujer" and the "Rujer di fori via". "Ruggero" was the name of a Sicilian war-dance, a version of the Moreska, in which the Saracens are shown fighting against the Norman Prince Ruggiero d'Altavilla -- a powerful family who ruled over Sicily and Southern Italy in the 11th and 12th centuries, which suggests a possible link. There are, however, no written records of the Korculan dance until the beginning of the 18th century. Latterly and up to the first World War the Moreska was "fought" only every few years -- protagonists were often wounded and replaced by 'seconds' during the dance -- between 1918 and 1939 it was performed every year under the aegis of the Gymnastic Society of Korcula. Nowadays it is an exclusive Society (and 'club') of its own and the Moreska is performed much more frequently for the benefit of the many tourists who visit the Island. Every family in Korcula is proud to have one of its members dance in the Moreska, especially one of the key roles, which demand considerable talent and stamina. When the Black or the White Kings "retire" they are allowed to keep their crowns and these become valued family possessions.
During the second World war costumes, swords, even musical scores and instruments had all been lost in the bombing and fighting and for the first time in its history only very young lads of between twelve and seventeen were available to dance the Moreska, and they had to be taught from scratch.
It was the undefeatable and indefatigable spirit of Ivo Lozica, the town barber, and Bozo Jerirevic, a school-teacher, with the help of a local policeman, Zdravko Stanic, and Josip Svoboda the conductor of the town orchestra, that somehow got the Moreska dancing again and in a very short time the poor, thin undernourished youths were growing into splendid young men and were taking the Moreska to youth conferences and festivals at home and abroad.
Dances
Have a look at this pdf-file for information about the dance Slavonsko Kolo
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The Adobe Reader you can find on the homepage from Adobe under Support - Downloads.National Anthem
To listen the national anthem click here.