Cimbal Classic
The band Cimbal Classic first came together in 1991 on the occasion of the first year of the folk festival “Okolo Třeboně” in Třeboň (Czech Republic). At that first performance, the ensemble—formed by musicians who were schoolmates at the Brno Conservatory—played transcriptions of Renaissance and Baroque music as well as non-traditional arrangements of folk songs. Although only formed for this single occasion, the band was inspired to continue by Vlasta Redl, a rising star in the heavens of Czech folk music, with whom they performed at the Třeboň festival.
Since those early beginnings, Cimbal Classic has, thanks to its originality and musical universality, become a welcomed guest at most of the prestigious folk festivals in the Czech Republic as well as abroad. Live performances with other famous singer-songwriters and bands have led to new recordings, including collaborations with Jaroslav Lenk, Slávek Janoušek, Nezmaři, Cop, Pavlína Jíšová, Věra Martinová, Wabi Daněk, and others.
Since the mid-1990s, the band has been performing independently. It specializes in the music of Dalibor Štrunc, its songwriter and leader, which makes the band original and unique.
Cimbal Classic has performed in its home country the Czech Republic as well as abroad. Apart from live performances, they have recorded six albums and co-operated on six additional recordings. Their live recordings and programs have been broadcast on Czech Television, Czech Radio, and BBC Radio. This is all the more surprising when we take into account that all the members also perform in other musical ensembles and teach at pedagogical institutions. These other careers include engagements with Javory, Trebonští pištci, Teagrass, BROLN, and the Brno Philharmonic, and teaching appointments at the Janáček Academy of Musical Arts, the Brno Conservatory, and the Academy of Ancient Music at the Institute of Musicology at Masaryk University.
Although the information above may look poetic and official on paper, Cimbal Classic and its music stay truly modest and down-to-earth. Its folk- and classical-influenced music floats somewhere between the borders of genres. The band has no greater wish than to inspire and please its soul-mates. You yourself might well be enchanted by and absorbed in their world of friendliness and kindness. Perhaps you will meditate, as did Milan Kolář in his sleeve note for Cimbal Classic’s first CD:
I have never had any respect for anything classical, and radio and TV gave me an aversion to traditional folk music and the cimbalom. Nothing like that applies here. Cimbal Classic is a band that breaks all the rules. You will not find the stylised, artificial performance of an ensemble in folk costumes that may come to mind when you think of a cimbalom band; neither will you find the stiff postures and tailcoats that may be linked to the meaning of the word classical. My impression of the music of this ensemble is of something plainly human and personal. The cimbalom plays everything from classical music, such as the Renaissance Dances, to ragtime to Irish folk music as well as all kinds of folk music native to our country. This is a band that can play requests for its listeners all night long. This is an ensemble of wonderful musicians who never lack the joy of playing together in spite of their duties in other ensembles, orchestras, and philharmonics.
The Repertory of Cimbal Classic
The band plays all sorts of music. You will hear melodies with sources in folk music, world music, and classical music as well as freely arranged folk tunes from Eastern Europe, especially from Moravia (the eastern part of the Czech Republic).
Sample Sound Clips:
“On a Lark”
“No One Is Far”
“A Girl Has Come Out”
“Fill Your Ears . . .”
“A River Flows” – about an unhappy love on the banks of the Svratka, a Moravian river
“Under Solán Mountain” – a cruel ballad from the Valachian mountains about a virgin who was seduced and drowned
“Stories”
“A Star Called Hope”
“Who Knows What Is Right”
“Life Is a Circle” – a song based on Jack London’s novel Star Rover, with a sense of the immortality and freedom of a human soul
“Don’t Leave Me, My Love”
“Lullaby” – on the motives of Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert, who received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Literature
Christmas Renaissance Tune
“Sirba” – a Romanian folk song
“Horses, My Horses”
“Gypsy Dance” – a Slovak folk song
“It’s Dawn”
“I Sense a Human” – a single from the album of the same title about Balík, the “band dog” and mascot
“My Dear, My Heart” – a Romanian folk song
“Reeling” – a single from our fourth album about the uncertainty and confusion in the soul of a girl whose ideas float somewhere between dreams and reality
“Fata Morgana Fox” – in memoriam of Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich, two pioneers of modern musical theater in the Czech Republic and abroad
“My Dear Friends”
Valachian Carols
“On a Good Night” – a free arrangement of an old gothic tune
“Because”
“What There Was and Is No More” – this song and our most recent album are about the matters and feelings that have been, unfortunately, quietly but constantly disappearing from our lives
Dalibor Štrunc – ensemble leader
Dalibor Štrunc studied cimbalom at the Brno Conservatory. Since 2000, he has been teaching the cimbalom at that institution. He began his professional career as a solo player in the Czechoslovak State Ensemble of Dancing and Singing (Prague). He moved to Brno in 1992 to become the principal cimbalomist in the Brno Radio Orchestra of Folk Instruments (BROLN). He has been working as a freelancer since the restructuring of Czech Radio.
Štrunc leads the multi-genre ensemble Cimbal Classic. He is not only its lead performer but also its songwriter. Apart from three albums of his compositions (Čichám člověčinu [1996], Vrávorám [1999], Bylo a není [2004]), he has worked on two other notable projects: a recording of Valachian Christmas carols with the Polajka chorus (Vánoce v Rožnově [1996]) and a collection of Easter-focused songs (Jaro [1998]). In addition to his work with Cimbal Classic, he also performs with other ensembles – such as Hana and Petr Ulrych’s group Javory and BROLN – appears as a guest performer, and works as an arranger. His album Prameny (2000) was a showcase recording for his composition and performance talents; the album introduced the cimbalom as a solo instrument, explored new musical directions, and also featured musical collaborations with many well-known musicians. He has worked with many ensembles, such as Fisyo, Veronique Sanson (in Bruxelles), the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, and Staats Operette Dresden. In most of his musical activities he co-operates with his wife Kateřina.
Kateřina Štruncová – violin, vocals
1980–1986 The Brno Conservatory
1985–1989 The National Theater in Brno
1985–1989 Divadlo Husa na provázku / Goose on a String Theater (external cooperation)
1989–2001 Brno Philharmonic
1993–present BROLN (Brno Radio Orchestra of Folk Instruments)
1994–present Javory
Kateřina Malíková – viola, mandolin,vocals
1994–2000 Conservatory of P.J. Vejvanovský, Kroměříž
2000–2004 JAMU (Janáček Academy of Musical Arts, Brno)
1999–2001 Moravian Philharmonic, Olomouc
2002–2003 Hogskolen i Stavanger, Norway; Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Norway
2002–present BROLN (Brno Radio Orchestra of Folk Instruments)
Rastislav Kozoň – oboe and historical woodwind instruments
1986–1992 Žilina Conservatory
1991–1997 Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno (Musicology and Aesthetics)
1997–2004 Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno (Postgraduate studies in Musicology)
1997–present Academy of Ancient Music at the Institute of Musicology at Masaryk University in Brno
2004–present Institute of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno
Ongoing cooperation with Czech and Slovakian musical ensembles that focus on authentic interpretation of ancient music, including Cappella Accademica, Capela Regia, Musica Aeterna, Musica Florea, Musica Poetica, Solamente naturali, Nocturno Praha, and others.
Jakub Šimáně – double bass, bass guitar
1993–1999 Brno Conservatory
1998–2003 The National Theater in Brno
2000–present Mošny
2004–present Brno Municipal Theatre
Discography of Cimbal Classic
Čichám člověčinu / I Sense a Human – 1996
Vánoce v Rožnově / Christmas in Rožnov – 1996
Jaro / Spring – 1998
Vrávorám / Reeling – 1999
Prameny / Sources – 2000
Bylo a není / What There Was and Is No More – 2004
