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Albanian iso-polyphony

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Albanian iso-polyphony is a traditional part of Albanian folk music and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Wikidata item: Albanian iso-polyphony (Q47112)

UNESCO ICH ID: RL/00155

instance of: music genre

country:

country of origin: Albania

subclass of: Albanian folk music and polyphony

indigenous to:

intangible cultural heritage status: Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity () and Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity ()

described at URL: https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/00155 (English), https://ich.unesco.org/fr/RL/00155 (French) and https://ich.unesco.org/es/RL/00155 (Spanish)

Introduction

Traditional Albanian polyphonic music can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Ghegs of northern Albania and the Tosks and Labs living in the southern part of the country. The term iso is related to the ison of Byzantine church music and refers to the drone accompanying polyphonic singing. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always continuous and sung on the syllable ’e’, using staggered breathing, while among the Labs, the drone is sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone, performed to the text of the song. 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.

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. Over the last few decades, the modest 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, the tradition is adversely affected by poverty, the absence of legal protection and the lack of financial support for practitioners, threatening the transmission of the vast repertoire of songs and techniques. The rural exodus of young people to the bigger cities and abroad in search of jobs compounds this danger. Given these conditions, at the present time, the transmission of this tradition is maintained through professional folk artists, rather than within the family structure.[1]

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References

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  1. "UNESCO - Albanian folk iso-polyphony". ich.unesco.org. Retrieved 2023-01-18. 

Further reading