26
the
universit y
of
wisconsin
press
•
F
all
2013
FOLKLORE / MUSIC / SLAVIC & EASTERN EUROPEAN STUDIES
“
The Tamburitza Tradition
is the first English-language monograph on a
vibrant but relatively unknown musical tradition. Richard March has a
broad and deep knowledge of tamburitza, and he writes with infectious
warmth.”
—Mark Forry, East European Folklife Center
The Tamburitza Tradition
is a lively and well-illustrated comprehensive intro-
duction to a Balkan folk music that now also thrives in communities through-
out Europe, the Americas, and Australia. Tamburitza features acoustic stringed
instruments, ranging in size from tamburas as small as a ukulele to ones as large
as a bass viol.
Folklorist Richard March documents the centuries-old origins and develop-
ment of the tradition, including its intertwining with nationalist and ethnic
symbolism. The music survived the complex politics of nineteenth-century
Europe but remains a point of contention today. In Croatia, tamburitza is strongly
associated with national identity and supported by an artistic and educational
infrastructure. Serbia is proud of its outstanding performers and composers
who have influenced tamburitza bands on four continents. In the United States,
tamburitza was brought by Balkan immigrants in the nineteenth century and
has become a flourishing American ethnic music with its own set of representa-
tional politics.
Combining historical research with in-depth interviews and extensive
participant-observer description,
The Tamburitza Tradition
reveals a dynamic
and expressive music tradition on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, illumi-
nating the cultures and societies from which it has emerged.
Richard March
was raised in the tamburitza
tradition in the Croatian American communi-
ties of Chicago and Los Angeles. He was the
state folk arts specialist for the Wisconsin Arts
Board until retiring and was a longtime host of
Wisconsin Public Radio’s
Down Home Dairy-
land
program. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
SEPTEMBER
LC: 2013015067 ML
326 PP. 6 × 9 36 B/W PHOTOS, 1 MAP
E-BOOK $29.95 S ISBN 978-0-299-29603-2
Languages and Folklore
of the Upper Midwest
Joseph Salmons and James P. Leary,
Series Editors
“A landmark contribution
documenting a musical heritage
that is richly deserving of wider
recognition.”
—Michael Kuharski,
director of the Wisconsin Folk Arts
Association
PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2013
LC: 2012011408 ML 356 PP. 8 × 10
47 B/W ILLUS.
E-BOOK $19.95 T ISBN 978-0-299-29053-5
Of re l at ed int e re s t
Bart Plantenga
“Plantenga goes well beyond the who
and what of yodeling into the most intri-
cate aspects of human culture, above
all, our need to make freaky noise.”
—Eugene Chadbourne, musician-
composer and reviewer for Allmusic
