Karolina Cicha

mus: E. Hirshin, lir: I. Perlow - '9 Languages' album shows multidimensionalness of Polish culture. It draws from the richness and diversity of Cicha’s home region – Podlaskie, located in the very northeast of Poland, which is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse areas in the whole Poland – the borderland between the East an the West. The region is inhabited by Polish, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Tatars and Roma people. Before the war there was a big Jewish community living here – the Jews constituted a big proportion of local society. Many religions are practiced there, many languages spoken. No wonder it was here that the idea of Esperanto language was born – in this multicultural enwironment Ludwig Zamenhof was brought up. 

'9 Languages' draws from traditional musical scales. However, it is not a compilation of archive material, but a coherent whole, speaking modern musical language, based on the original Cicha’s style, her charisma, individual expression, and musical experience she gained in The Centre For Theatre Practices “GARDZIENICE”. Cicha invited multiinstrumentalist Bart Palyga to arrange this material. Duet Cicha/Palyga uses more than 13 as well ethnic and electronic instruments and sings as well in archaic aliquote style as well as traditional and rock.  


At the '9Languages' album we'll hear the songs in 9 following languages: Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Russian, Romani, Belarusian, Yiddish, Polish and Tatarian and... Esperanto.  

TRACK LIST
1) Pas mocinieli (Lithuanian)
Length: 4mn 35s

2) Za rieczkaju (Belorussian)
Length: 4mn 12s

3) Oj u poli (Ukrainian)
Length: 4mn 3s

4) Luba (low lands Gipsies language)
Length: 4mn 28s

5) Sul Sulay (Tatar language)
Length: 1mn 44s

6) Bialystok majn hejm (Yiddish- east European Jewish language )
Length: 3mn 35s

7) Ale (Yiddish)
Length: 4mn 10s

8) Kon (Russian)
Length: 2mn 39s

9) Mix of melodies from the Kurpie region
Length: 4mn 29s

10) Umirzaja (Tatar language)
Length: 4mn 7s

11) O grzebaniu umarlych (Polish)
Length: 9mn 43s
12) hidden track: Psalm 23 in Esperanto