The music, explained
The cimbalom, and the rest of a Czech folk band, explained
What a cimbalom actually is, why a Moravian folk band is built around a lead and a second violin, and where clarinet and double bass fit — the instrument line-up behind every dance in the evening's performance.
See folklore evening tickets on GetYourGuide ↗The band, at a glance
| Instrument | Role |
|---|---|
| Cimbalom | The hammered-dulcimer instrument the whole band is built around |
| Primáš (lead violin) | Plays the ornamented lead melody |
| Obligát (second violin) | Supports with a plainer line beneath the lead |
| Clarinet | Ornaments and doubles the melody |
| Double bass | Anchors the rhythm underneath everything else |
What a cimbalom actually is
The cimbalom belongs to the hammered dulcimer family — a large trapezoidal box on legs, with strings stretched across the top that are struck, not plucked or bowed, with two sticks (traditionally cotton-tipped). The modern concert version was developed by V. József Schunda in Budapest in 1874, building on older folk dulcimer forms that had already been played across Central Europe for generations, some on nothing more than a barrel or a table.
Why Moravia, specifically
The cimbalom spread widely through Central Europe — Hungary, Slovakia, Belarus, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine all have their own traditions — but it became especially central to Moravian folk ensembles, particularly in the Slovácko and Valašsko (Wallachia) regions. By the early twentieth century it had been adopted by both concert musicians and, notably, by Roma musicians whose bands had a real influence on how the regional repertoire developed.
Two violins, doing different jobs
A traditional Moravian cimbalom band (cimbálová muzika) is led by a first violinist called the primáš, who carries the ornamented main melody with the most freedom in the group. A second violinist, the obligát, plays a plainer, more supportive line beneath it — the two together doing the melodic work that a single violin would struggle to carry alone across a whole evening of dancing.
Clarinet and double bass round out the sound
Clarinet sits above the strings, ornamenting and doubling the melody line — it's also, on this booking, one of the instruments guests are invited to try during the evening's more interactive later stretch. Double bass sits underneath everything, anchoring the rhythm the way it has in Moravian bands for generations, alongside the cimbalom's own harmonic and rhythmic role.
Why it matters for the evening
Knowing the roles going in changes what you notice: the primáš's ornamented lines during the sousedská, the obligát quietly filling in underneath, the clarinet cutting through on the faster furiant, and the double bass driving the verbuňk's more percussive solo turns. It's the same five-piece formula — cimbalom, two violins, clarinet, bass — that has carried Moravian dance music for well over a century, not a one-off arrangement put together for visitors.