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Čalgija | Unforgotten

The second album that was to be Čalgija’s second, recorded in the mid-1980s, all ready for production, never released in its entirety, but partly recycled on their 1991 album. Rediscovered and digitised in 2019, with five unreleased studio tracks, supplemented with one live track from 1978 and five from 1983.

> Straight to the liner notes >
(info, music and downloads below)   

Album information

Tracks / total playing time 66:31

  1. Cheimariotikos
  2. Krivo horo
  3. Dali znaeš pomniš li
  4. Baş bar
  5. Razložko kalajdžijsko horo
  6. Acem kızı
  7. To aidhoni
  8. Naz bar
  9. Alexandra
  10. Tronkata
  11. Ispaiče
  12. Köşküm var
  13. Beratçe
  14. Nevenstinsko oro – Live
  15. Kırım’dan gelirim – Live
  16. Mǎdro horo – Live
  17. Schoon lief – Live
  18. Damian-Vojvodovo horo – Live
  19. Proviknal si e Nikola – Live

Genre

Folk music from the Balkans (Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria) Anatolia, Armenia and Flanders.

Liner notes

Read all about the rediscovery of these recordings, the history and significance of Čalgija, and the individual tracks.

Credits

Musicians

Wouter Swets (musical director) – kanun, accordion, tăpan
Jan Hofmeijer – clarinet, santur, tanbur
Roel Sluis – vocals, sopranino recorder, kaval
Tjarko ten Have – santur, bağlama saz, kaval, gajda, tăpan
Frank Leenhoutsoud, laouto, Macedonian tambura, divan saz

Roelof Rosendal – darbuka, def, tăpan
Monique Lansdorp – violin, gǎdulka
Remco Busink – Macedonian tambura
Crispijn Oomes – violin
Thijs de Melker – Macedonian tambura

Tracks
All material is traditional, and has been analysed and arranged by Wouter Swets. Tracks 1-13 were recorded, mixed and mastered in 1983-85 by Carlo van Nierop (Van der Linden Studio, Rossum, Netherlands), and digitised and remastered in 2019 by Wil Hesen (Farmsound Studio, Heelsum, Netherlands).
Tracks 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19 were recorded live on 6 November 1983 at Theater aan de Haven (The Hague, Netherlands) with two dynamic Sennheiser microphones and a Revox A77 4-track tape recorder by Willem Bakker, who digitised the material in 2017.
Track 16 was recorded in the same venue in 1978 by Frenk van Meeteren and Jørn Plas (Pan Records) using a TEAC 34-2 tape recorder and Neumann omnidirectional microphones, and digitized in 2019 by Wil Hesen. The live material was denoised and mastered by Vangelis Apostolou in August 2019  (Studio Vasmaris, Heraklion, Greece).

Album
Production, artwork and liner notes – Michiel van der Meulen for Pan Records
Executive producer – Bernard Kleikamp

Acknowledgements
Michiel van der Meulen and Bernard Kleikamp thank Roel Sluis, Roland van Abel, Martine van der Meulen, Crispijn Oomes, Frank Leenhouts and Monique Lansdorp for providing information, comments and contributions, Dominy Clements and Magnus Robb for correcting the English, Roland van Abel for supporting the production financially with a grant from the estate of Wouter Swets, and Cengiz Arslanpay, Zehra Çayıroğlu, Nikos Kokolakis and Vassilis Philippou for helping with the translations of lyrics in the revised online liner notes (01/2022).

PAN 2056 / TouMilou Records #4 / EAN 713958205648
© 1991 Parallax (tracks 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13)
℗ 2020 Pan Records and TouMilou Music

Get the album

  • Unforgotten is streamed on all major platforms
  • Use the contact form below to order a CD (€ 12.00, shipping excluded)

Čalgija CD sales revenues are transferred to the estate of Wouter Swets and used to cover the expenses of a continued effort to safeguard his musical legacy. TouMilou Music contributes to this effort on a pro bono basis.

Downloads

Unforgotten album art (1000 x 1000 px jpg)

Album art (1000 x 1000 px jpg)

About the album artwork
The album art features the Albanian city of Berat, nicknamed “Town of a Thousand Windows”, a UNESCO world heritage site renowned for its beautifully preserved Ottoman architecture. Front cover image: modification of a photo of the city by Olena Kachmar, reproduced under a 123RF Ltd Standard License).

Other albums by Čalgija

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