Singing at dawn is closely tied to a specific group within the local community—girls who have reached the age of 15, young women (the bride’s close friends who are already married and to whom the bride herself once sang at dawn), and female relatives. On the morning of the wedding day, the girls gather at sunrise and sing lyrical songs with poetic lyrics under the bride’s window. The opening song, Svitajú mi zore (Dawns Break for Me), is followed by a carefully structured sequence of songs that singers rarely alter. After the dawn singing, a small gathering takes place, during which the girls perform various songs with looser functional connections. The singing concludes with the bride requesting her favourite song.
From a musical perspective, the songs belong to an older developmental layer of pre-harmonic melodies characteristic of the so-called old culture. Their lyrics often thematise concepts of significant symbolic value, reflecting the bride’s change in status or the loss of virginity (hair, a braid, a bird, a gold or silver ring, a wreath, and the number three).
Despite changes in the lifestyle of young girls, singing at dawn is still demanded and is considered an indispensable part of the wedding ceremony. Even today, it is one of the most emotionally powerful moments of the wedding ritual, capturing the solemnity of farewell and often bringing the bride, her mother, and her friends to tears. Although the custom is practiced by a close-knit group, the broader village community also participates indirectly as listeners of the songs.
Outside its usual context, singing at dawn is also maintained by members of the Hrušov Folklore Group, the children’s folklore group Ragačinka, the women’s singing group from Hrušov, and the folk music ensembles Čardáš and Horička from Hrušov.
