Music Ethnography: Polka

The space is small, intimate and darkly lit, perfect setting for a raucous Saturday night. The perfume of caraway seeds fills the air. Intermittently, people come in and disappear to the back, no doubt to check out the pastry case. Few people leave Henk’s without a pastry box. Here one can find the accordion player Allen and his comedy/polka show (Polka Performance). This place is the Dallas version of European culture. Where else can you see a man in lederhosen next to a man in a kilt and have them be perfectly dressed for dinner? Where else can people who have just arrived form an Irish festival cone in to enjoy a German beer in the company of Texans? Where can the accordion player begin his set with ZZ Top and then go on to play zydeco and ended with a song called Guacamole (with the aid of maracas)?

Methodology:

In researching this report I used mostly print sources, mostly music history anthologies. The performance and subsequent interview were done at Henk’s European Deli and Black Forest Café, just off Northwest Highway and Greenville Avenue in Dallas, Texas. The interview was done in an informal way, in between songs. The Interviewee was also the performer.

Background History:

The music form now known as Polka originates in the former state of Bohemia in central Europe (Polka, 1073). Most of it is now the Czech Republic. For most of its history, polka did not have a name; rather it was an unnamed set of folk dances that were native to the region. The name polka is assumed to come from the Czech word for “Polish Girl” (Polka, 1073). The choice of this term is little understood and few know why they chose this name for a Czech art form. Polka rhythm is in half time (2/4) and is often syncopated (Polka, 1073). Traditional (European) instruments include bagpipes, bases, violins, violas and the ubiquitous accordion (Czechoslovakia, 158). The accordion is the instrument most closely linked to polka in America.
Many countries have other ethnic variations of the Polka. In America it is common in communities that abound in German, Polish and Czech immigrants. These areas include vast swaths of the Midwest and Texas. There is something known as the “Polka Belt”, that includes portions of the upper Midwest and on eastward (Bohlman, 282). In Texas, the two main types of Polka are Polish and Czech varieties.

Ideas about Polka:

The “idea” of Polka does not exist, so much as other forms of music because it is not a “high art” per-se. Even in Texas, it was still seen as a “blue collar” form of music, preformed by the agricultural workers (Gutierrez, 167). In other words it was (and still is) for the enjoyment of the community. The Polka is in fact one genre of music that was common to the people of central Europe. It was primarily meant to be played for dancing.

Activities about Polka:

The obvious activity surrounding Polka is dancing. The rhythms of the Polka make it and dancing inseparable. It reached its peak of popularity in the middle of the 19th century when it began to sweep European dance halls. Immigrants soon brought the polka to America, where it became extremely popular, even among non-immigrants. Prior to the arrival of the polka, the waltz was prevalent in dancehalls all across Europe and America (Broyles, 144). The polka was new and novel for the time. It seemed new and crisp while the waltz began to seem dated (Broyles, 144). The polka was faster (two-step) than the waltz and allowed for greater freedom of movement (Broyles, 144). The Polish polka is most commonly seen in weddings, which are very important in this culture (Griffith, 177-80). At weddings, hired musicians would often play for days on end and they were only allowed few breaks, in which the guests (usually the women) would assume the role of musicians (Griffith, 180). Czech Polkas were not reserved for such occasions. Often they claim that “Every Czech is a musician” (Griffith, 183). Often they were held every weekend in living rooms or on outdoor dance floors. Over time, official dance halls were built and the house parties were turned into inter-communal occasions (Griffith, 186).

Polka Repertoire:

Polish Polka is a common occurrence, often played in religious or nationalistic reasons (Griffith, 176). Czech Polka is more of special occasion thing, although these “occasions” are many and often (Griffith, 184-5). I can make a few generalizations based on the performance I saw shortly before my interview. Polka does include lyrics that are often repetitive and often are meant to be humorous and inspire audience participation with calls and response. The lyrics can also cross language barriers (Bohlman, 293).

Material Culture and Instrumentation:

Polish Polka is chordophone biased, with the main instrument being the fiddle and often accompanied with the cello or with some sort of bass (Griffith, 177). The Polish Polka never has accordions, something which they are very strict with, because they see it as an unwanted Czech influence. They did, however, occasionally allow the stray clarinet (Griffith, 177). Czech Polka prefers a larger band that includes lots of brass instruments, in the “German” style. It is not uncommon to see tubas, trombones, trumpets, saxophones, clarinets and a piano, if the occasion was special enough (Griffith, 184). They can all be used in a single performance. However, the accordion is still the defining characteristic of Czech Polka as is indispensable in its composition.


Polka Branches Out:

On a historical note, during the Mexican-American war, well-to do Mexicans listened to polka as a mild protest against Santa Anna (Gutierrez, 153). In Texas, the two main Polka playing ethnic groups adapted their traditional music when polka rhythms and instrumentation were blended with Mexican music to create a new form of music often called Conjunto/Tejano (Hartman, 10). The Czechs were responsible for introducing the accordion to Norteño music, which can now be heard in nearly every song. Also there is the characteristic polka rhythm that also permeates the genre. In the words of Alex, my interviewee, Mexican music added a “little spice, a little pepper, a little chili powder, a little paprika” (interview) to traditional Polka.

The Performance:

The performance that I saw was sort of a mutated polka/comedy act (Polka Performance). Allen was very keen on mixing popular music with Polka by playing popular songs with an accordion. There was also a large emphasis on audience participation. The audience was encouraged to clap along with the beat, sing out loud and on occasion play the maracas or washboard (Polka Performance). And of course suggestions were always welcome. The instrumentation was minimalistic, an accordion (electrified) and Allen’s voice (Polka Performance). He also used many voices and costumes (Elvis comes to mind) to keep the show lively.

Conclusion:

As I walked out of the restaurant where I listened to Allen perform, I noticed that I could hear the trademark “um-pah” and accordion of traditional (Texas Czech) polka, but this in Spanish, coming out of a pool bar (Polka Performance). Although the Dallas of today may seem to have no history, it has the amazing ability to house two different yet related cultures on two sides of the same street. In unexpected ways, Polka made its way both into a campy Euro-deli and a Mexican bar. What a more eloquent example of how cultures could be so similar any yet so different.

Works Cited:

Allen. "Interview." Personal interview. 06 Mar. 2010.

Bohlman, Philip V. "Immigrant, Folk, and Regional Musics in the 20th Century." Ed. David Nicholls. The Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1998. 282-83. Print.

Broyles, Michael. "Immigrant, Folk, and Regional Musics in the 19th Century." Ed. David Nicholls. The Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 1998. 144-45. Print.

Griffith, Carolyn F. "Czech and Polish Music In Texas Before World War II." Ed. Lawrence Clayton and Joe W. Specht. The Roots of Texas Music. College Station: Texas A&M UP, 2003. 176-87. Print.

Gutierrez, Jose A. "Chicano Music: Evolution and Politics to 1950." Ed. Lawrence Clayton and Joe W. Specht. The Roots of Texas Music. College Station: Texas A&M UP, 2003. 153-67. Print.

Hartman, Gary. "The Roots Run Deep: An Overview of Texas Music HIstory." Ed. Lawrence Clayton and Joe W. Specht. The Roots of Texas Music. College Station: Texas A&M UP, 2003. 10. Print.

Polka Preformance. Cond. Allen. Henk's European Deli, Dallas. 06 Mar. 2010. Performance.

"Polka." The World of Music: An Illustrated Ecncyclopedia. Vol. 3. New York: Abradale, 1963. 1073. Print.

Vinton, John, ed. "Czechoslovakia." Dictionary of Contemporary Music. New York: E. P. Dutton Inc, 1974. 158. Print.