Katarina Bronja releases videos for two traditional folk pieces

Flautist Katarina Bronja has unveiled two new music videos, for the pieces Ergensko oro and Radojkino kolo. Both were released at the same time, and both were filmed at the Lukijan Bogdanovic Hall in Zemun.

Let us clear one thing up straight away, because it is easy to get wrong at first glance. Katarina does not sing these pieces. She is a flautist, so Ergensko oro and Radojkino kolo are instrumental compositions, familiar melodies now dressed in a new sound. Instead of a voice, the flute leads the way.

The pieces were not chosen at random. Ergensko oro is the work of Vlada Panovic, while Radojkino kolo carries the name and signature of Radojka Zivkovic, names that need no introduction in traditional folk music. Katarina, in other words, did not experiment with unknown material. She took melodies the audience already knows by ear and tried to give them her own stamp.

Why does a flute in folk music draw attention?

Because it is unexpected. We usually tie the kolo and the oro to the accordion, the frula, the violin, the trumpet. A flute in that setting sounds like a small step aside, different enough to be noticed, yet close enough that the melody stays recognizable.

Through these interpretations Katarina continues to explore the richness of the domestic instrumental tradition. The idea is simple. Take melodies everyone knows and present them in a new arrangement, so that the flute conveys the energy, the virtuosity and the emotion of folk music. For an audience that loves the traditional sound, and for one just discovering the genre, it is an easy way in.

Releasing two videos at once is also no accident. Rather than spreading the material across two separate dates, Katarina decided to put everything on the table at the same time. For listeners that means a double serving, and for her a chance to have two different pieces heard side by side as a whole.

What does filming in the Zemun hall bring?

The choice of location matters. The Lukijan Bogdanovic Hall in Zemun gives the videos a more serious, concert-like frame, different from the typical folk setting outdoors or in an ethno village. A space with the acoustics and atmosphere of a hall suggests the focus is on the music and the performance, not on the decor.

Projects like this rarely break into the most-watched entertainment coverage, but they have a loyal following. Traditional and instrumental music has for years lived a little to the side of the mainstream, so every new, cleanly produced release helps keep that repertoire alive. With these videos Katarina joins the performers who do not copy tradition one to one, but run it through their own instrument.

It remains to be seen how audiences will receive a flute in such well-known dances. Do you prefer traditional melodies kept in their classic form, or do you enjoy it when someone, like Katarina Bronja, translates them onto another instrument?