Slovenian Folk Music

Slovenian folk music spans the village traditions of the Alpine and Pannonian regions and the popular-folk (narodnozabavna) industry they fed, whose emblem is the Oberkrainer quintet sound created by *Slavko Avsenik*: accordion, clarinet, trumpet, guitar and bass playing polkas and waltzes of great melodic charm. Alongside professional ensembles stand brass bands, part-singing and a contemporary folk-revival wing led by *Katalena*, and a vast Slovenian diaspora carried the style to Cleveland and beyond. The professional ensembles made the music a national emblem at home and a calling card abroad.