Marta Topferova
Homage To Homeland - Czech, Moravian & Slovak Folk Songs
Collected folk songs, beautifully arranged for two to five a capella voices, from former Czechoslovakia
About CD:
The idea of doing this recording came to me over time...
I was born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, but having lived in the US since the 6th grade, I had not sung in my native language in all that time.
Instead, I had formed strong relationships with other musics living here and traveling to different places.
But my love for the folk music I grew up hearing re-appeared and I decided to do something with it.
Our tradition is slowly vanishing as the majority of young people are no longer interested in folk music. The poetry in these songs is beautiful. The themes might be about love, courtship, heartbreak, nature, or wartime and loss...
The history of the land and people's lives are preserved in this music.
I collected different songs for this album - some were sung to me by my family when I was young, some of them I found on tapes I have at home, and I also composed two peices for it using folkloric texts.
In arranging the songs, I decided to use only a capella vocal harmonies, hoping to achieve a pure, transparent and emotional recording.
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Marta Topferova
Bio
Marta started singing at age eight in her native Prague, Czech Republic with the 'Mládí' choir. Upon moving to the US in 1987, she continued her vocal and music studies with the Seattle Girls' Choir. At an early age, she sang in many different languages including Latin, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Finnish and Czech, as well as a wide range of works by Brahms, Hayden, Poulanc and Pergolesi to name a few.
She toured Germany and Finland participating in choral festivals in 1985, 1986 and 1990. Her first two recordings were a collection of songs inspired by children's poetry from the Terezin concentration camp, and 'A Ceremony of Carols' by Benjamin Brittain, both with the Seattle Girls' Choir.
But Marta's first encounter with Latin American music goes back to when she was six years old, she remembers her favorite album being Inti-Illimani's songs from the Andes. Her parents, both actors, had gotten the record from a Chilean friend that had come to live in Czechoslovakia in the 1970's.
So at about age fifteen, when she started developing as a soloist, exploring her own style and direction as a singer, she was again completely drawn to music from Spain, Cuba and South America. She was particularly inspired by Camarón De La Isla, Paco De Lucía, Mercedes Sosa, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Joao Gilberto, A.C. Jobim, Vinicius Da Moraes, Ornella Vanoni, Guillermo Portabales, Eliades Ochoa, Benny Moré, Los Compadres and Simón Díaz.
Continuing in her musical calling, she first majored in music and dance at Bard College from '92 to '93. Afterwards, she moved to Morón de la Frontera, Spain, to study privately and further develop as a musician.
She took up playing the guitar, hand percussion and now most recently, her favorite accompanying instrument, the four-string 'cuatro'.
Her love and dedication to Latin American music as well as the folklore of Czechoslovakia, makes her a unique artist who sings in and is fluent in both Czech and Spanish.
After spending two years in Spain and the Czech Republic, she settled in New York City in '96 and since then has been actively composing, arranging and performing her original songs as well as collaborating with other groups including Lucía Pulido & Fiesta De Tambores, Los Acustilocos, Flamenco Latino among others.
Marta has performed in many venues in New York City including The United Nations, Sweet Rhythm, The Duke Theater on 42nd Street, Thalia Spanish Theater, El Taller Latinoamericano and The Knitting Factory as well as on television and radio programs in the US and The Czech Republic.
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"Marta romanced the audience with her captivating voice" - The Prague Post
World: Eastern European