You are here: Home > Media > Music > Polka, General
Collier's Encyclopedia tells us that the polka is originally a Czech dance in quick double time.  It was said to have been danced for the first time around 1830 by a Czech peasant girl, but it quickly spread from Bohemia throughout Europe and into the ballrooms of New York where it aroused a mania similar to that of the waltz.
It was the composer Smetana who introduced this dance into art music with a number of famous polkas fro the piano.  He included the polka in his operatta, "The Bartered Bride."
At the popular level, the polka proved to be a dance from with universal appeal as it spread among the peasantry of Europe.  In a short time it became firmly rooted in the cultures of Russia, Prussia, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, the Ukraine, and virtually all other European countries.  Polkas are today included in the traditional dance repertoire of virtually every European culture, and many cultures beyond.
It is, nevertheless, the Poles who are most closely identified with polkas and it is the descendants of these peasant farmers who raised the polka to its present level of popularity in the United States. It is here that the polka, grown on roots of Polish folk traditions, reached its highest levels of sophistication.
Unschooled musicians with their "skrzypki" and "klarnci" brought the traditional melodies and stylings to the United States around the turn of the century,
The second generation of musicians, educated in music and surrounded by the sounds of the roaring twenties and the despair of the Great Depression, married this traditional music with the emerging modern stylings to create a new popular form particularly Polish-American in nature.
Unlike their predecessors and even their peers, the Polish-American orchestras learned to play the foxtrot as adeptly as they did the polka.  Their obereks, mazurkas, szacy (Schottishes), kujawiaks and other Polish musical forms only served to lend variety to their increasingly popular dances.  This modern period of polkas began in the early 1930's and continued well into the 1970's, with polka bands often drawing crowds of two to three thousand dancers and spectators.
The "Golden Age of Polkas" was a post-war phenomenon which ran from the mid-1940's through the late 1960's when the music reached its highest level of quality and sophistication.  It is the period that gave birth to the most famous of all the polka bands.
In recent years the polka musicians themselves have acquired a stature of their own through the high levels of proficiency.  Former polka band musicians have found positions in many world-recoognized musical institutions including the Boston Symphony,  the Boston Pops, and the Springfield Symphony.
The magic of polka remains strong today as is evidenced in its present popularity.  It has survived many changes in style and taste and continues to deliver a strong and positive message of joy and happiness in contrast to the often negative popular culture of today.
Source (Kielbasa Polkas)
Sort By:
Page of 7
25 Million Seller Polka Hits - Volume 2 25 Million Seller Polka Hits - Volume 2

Compact Disc

Our Price: $14.95
25 Million Seller Polka Hits - Volume 3 25 Million Seller Polka Hits - Volume 3

Compact Disc

Our Price: $14.95
2K10 The Next Phase With Tony Blazonczyk CD 2K10 The Next Phase With Tony Blazonczyk

Compact Disc

Our Price: $14.95
2 in stock!
This CD features Paul Dudasik on the piano, Steve Forniak on the sax, Stas Bulanda on the concertina, Bennie Gorak on drums and Marty Drazek on the turmpet. A Honky Style Christmas - Stas Bulanda and the Old School Review [ch]

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
2 in stock!
A Tribute To Casimir Pulaski - Various Artists A Tribute To Casimir Pulaski - Various Artists

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
3 in stock!
A Tribute To Li'l Wally - The Early Hits A Tribute To Li'l Wally - The Early Hits

Recorded By Ed Guca And The Polish Canadians

Our Price: $16.95
1 in stock!
A Twelve Pack of Polkas - Lenny Gomulka & Chicago A Twelve Pack of Polkas - Lenny Gomulka & Chicago Push

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
1 in stock!
The polka band One More Tyme was formed in 2001 by John Furmaniak and IPA Polka Music Hall of Famer Wally Maduzia. The band recorded on CD and performed together from 2001 to 2007. After All These Years - One More Tyme

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
3 in stock!
Aggie's Telephone Gems - Comedy Skits By Marisha Data Aggie's Telephone Gems - Comedy Skits By Marisha Data

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
3 in stock!
All Time Great Polka Singers All Time Great Polka Singers

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Way back in the early 1950's there was a very popular band called the Eddie Zima Orchestra which was comprised of Eddie Zima, concertina, Andy Dziagwa (Day), trumpet, Wally Glowicki and Roman Truskolaski (Travers), clarinet and sax, Ampol Aires - Life is Short

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
1 in stock!
Way back in the early 1950's there was a very popular band called the Eddie Zima Orchestra which was comprised of Eddie Zima, concertina, Andy  Dziagwa (Day), trumpet, Wally Glowicki and Roman Truskolaski (Travers), clarinet and sax, Frank Barwig, piano a Ampol Aires - Past, Present, Forever

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
2 in stock!
Frankie Yankovic (July 15, 1915 Davis, West Virginia - October 14, 1998) was a grammy award winning polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King," Yankovic was the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during a long and successful career. An Evening At Yankovic's - The Polka King Remembered

Compact Disc

Our Price: $12.00
Internet Special $7.95
Stanley "Stas" Bulanda’s love for polka music started at a very early age while listening to the music of his fathers' and uncles' polka band. Bandstand Favorites By Stas Bulanda's Average Polka Band

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
2 in stock!
Eddie Blazonczyk is a native Chicagoan, son of Fred and Antoinette Blazonczyk, who for years operated the Pulaski Village Ballroom and later the Club Antoinette in Chicago.  Eddie started playing polkas in the early fifties with a four-piece combo known a Better Than Ever By Eddie Blazonczyk's Versatones

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
3 in stock!
Big Band Polkas - Larry Chesky & His Orchestra Big Band Polkas - Larry Chesky & His Orchestra

Compact Disc

Our Price: $14.00
1 in stock!
Big Daddy Lackowski: Polkas For Lovers Big Daddy Lackowski: Polkas For Lovers

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
1 in stock!
Big Daddy Say, Praise The Lord One Day At A Time Big Daddy Say, Praise The Lord One Day At A Time

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
1 in stock!
Booklet with the words to all the songs included! Bulletproof Polkas By John Goral And Gorale

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
The CD "BUTTERFLY" is a WINNER for the BEST CD and Song of the 2013 Year from the PACE Awards as well as CD of the Year from the listeners and IJ's of 247polkaheaven.com Butterfly By John Goral And Gorale

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
Booklet with the words to all the songs included! Can-Am Polkas By John Goral And Gorale

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
Casey Homel has been playing concertina for 35 years. He plays a star concertina. He started at age 15. He never took any lessons. He plays by ear. He was inspired to play the concertina by his uncle, Mike Ryba, from Pulaski, WI. Casey Homel and his Polka Stars - Classic Casey

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
2 in stock!
Casey Homel has been playing concertina for 35 years. He plays a star concertina. He started at age 15. He never took any lessons. He plays by ear. He was inspired to play the concertina by his uncle, Mike Ryba, from Pulaski, WI. Casey Homel and his Polka Stars Casey's Cookin' 'Em... Hot And Honky

Compact Disc

Our Price: $15.95
Internet Special $14.95
1 in stock!