Balkan Folk Music: Sevdah, Klapa, Brass and Polyphonic Song

Bulgarian folk singing is known for its open, powerful voices and close harmonies, made famous abroad by recordings of Bulgarian women’s choirs. Typical instruments are the gadulka (a bowed string instrument), the kaval (an end-blown flute) and the gaida (bagpipe). Dances such as the horo often use rhythms like 7/8 and 11/8.

The polyphonic singing of the Bistritsa Babi, a group of village women near Sofia, is on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Brass bands, strongly shaped by Roma musicians, play at weddings, saints’ days and festivals across Serbia. The best-known gathering is the Guča Trumpet Festival in western Serbia, held every August since 1961.

The kolo, a circle dance, was added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017.

Sevdalinka, or sevdah, is Bosnia’s song of love and longing, traditionally accompanied by the saz, a long-necked lute, and later by accordion and small ensembles. The songs are slow, ornamented and deeply emotional, and you can still hear them in Sarajevo’s cafés and at special evenings.

Klapa is unaccompanied multipart singing from Dalmatia, traditionally performed by small groups of men, and today also by women’s groups. Songs about the sea, love and home are sung in close harmony, often in town squares on summer evenings. Klapa was inscribed on UNESCO’s list in 2012.

Albanian folk iso-polyphony, in which some voices hold a steady drone while others weave melodies above it, is on UNESCO’s list. It is especially associated with southern Albania.

In North Macedonia, the oro circle dance is accompanied by instruments such as the zurla (a loud shawm) and tapan (a large drum). The Teškoto, a slow and demanding men’s dance from the western mountains, is among the best known.

In Romania, the doina, a free and often melancholy lyrical song, is on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. In Greece, rebetiko, an urban song tradition that grew in port cities in the early 20th century, was added to the list in 2017.