Before the First Note

Field Note, Hermanovce

Long before the first note is played, something has already begun.

At the concerts of the Pro Musica Nostra festival, the waiting itself becomes part of the performance.

The performances take place in manor houses, castles, churches, and historic country estates. Each concert unfolds in a different setting, each setting with its own story. The experience therefore begins earlier — with a walk through a park, a glance into old rooms, and the discovery of details one would never notice in a conventional concert hall.

For Pro Musica Nostra, these peculiar moments between arrival and beginning have become a natural overture of their own.

Before the concert at the Péchy family manor in Hermanovce, this waiting meant wandering through the rooms of the manor, taking in an old tapestry, portraits of former owners, open windows, and a park filled with the soft light of late afternoon. It was while stepping out onto the terrace that I realized this concert would be special for another reason as well: it would take place outdoors, beneath the open sky, in the manor park itself.

For someone encountering Banda for the first time, the sight of the instruments waiting on stage could easily provoke a question: What kind of music will this be? What exactly awaits me here today? Those already familiar with the group, on the other hand, were filled with a different kind of anticipation — wondering which songs would be played and whether the band might surprise them with something entirely new.

One by one, the musicians took their places by their instruments. The band's leader and the evening's storyteller, Samo Smetana, began to introduce what lay ahead. Those who knew Banda were already shifting impatiently in their seats. The rest were still trying to guess what they were about to hear.

The overture was over.

Samo Smetana picked up his violin.

Text and Photo: Vladimír Jenčurák