The Slovenia Times

Festival Honours 60 Years of Avsenik Brothers Music

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The first festival evening will feature the songs from the bands' most popular years, the 1980s. The second one will feature the whole 60 years of Avseniks' music, while the songs praising the beauties of Slovenia and its people will be played on the last evening.

Established by the brothers Slavko and Vilko in 1953, the Avsenik Brothers Ensemble paved the way for success of Slovenian folk music as they were the first Slovenians to succeed in the genre abroad.

While Slavko and Vilko have produced nearly 1,000 songs in Slovenia and Germany, the band has played thousands of concerts before millions of music lovers, selling over 31 million records.

The band's most popular song is a polka entitled "Na Golici" in Slovenian, or "Trompetenecho" in German, or "Trumpet Echoes" in English.

This is, according to some, the most played instrumental song in the world, being an early trademark and success of the Avsenik Brothers.

The band's milestones include a 1961 performance before over 80,000 people in Berlin Stadium, tours of the US and Canada in 1970 and 1985, and a one-hour German television network special in 1980.

Slavko and Vilko Avsenik were born in 1929 and 1930, respectively, in the village of Begunje na Gorenjskem in the north-west of Slovenia.

The band stopped playing in 1988, but their tradition is carried on by Slavko's grandson Sašo with the Sašo Avsenik Ensemble and Slavko's son Gregor Avsenik, who will also perform at the festival.

The Slovene Ethnographic Museum classified the Avseniks' music last year as part of Slovenian intangible or spiritual cultural heritage.

During the day, the festival will offer free guided tours and carriage rides to the places praised in Avseniks'songs.

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