Music – Albania

Last stop on this year’s fascinating cultural journey, and we could not but dedicate this post to Albania, host country of the BSEC Chairmanship-in-Office for the first semester 2024.

So, let’s discover Albanian folk iso-polyphony, which was inscribed on UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.

Albanian iso-polyphony is characterized by songs consisting of two solo parts, a melody and a countermelody with a choral drone. The structure of the solo parts varies according to the different ways of performing the drone, which has a great variety of structures, especially in the popular style adopted by all groups performing this music.

As for the term ‘’iso’’? It is related to the ison of Byzantine church music and refers to the drone accompanying polyphonic singing.

Rendered mainly by male singers, the music traditionally accompanies a wide range of social events, such as weddings, funerals, harvest feasts, religious celebrations and festivals such as the well-known Albanian folk festival in Gjirokastra.

Over the last few decades, the rise of cultural tourism and the growing interest of the research community in this unique folk tradition have contributed to the revival of Albanian iso-polyphony. However, there is still a need to support the transmission of the vast repertoire of songs and techniques. Today, the transmission of this tradition is maintained through professional folk artists, rather than within the family structure.

Watch the following video and learn more.

Sources and photographs taken from: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/albanian-folk-iso-polyphony-00155

Photographs No 1-2: © Vasil S.Tole

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