C.N.R.S.-Musée de l'homme, LDX 274897
LE CHANT DU MONDE, 1988
Enregistrement Bernard Lortat-Jacob en collaboration avec Beniamen Kruta 1983-1988
01 What Have Ianina's Eyes Seen ~ Albanian Men's group from Vlorë
02 Legend Of The Walled-In Woman ~ Albanian Men's group from Vlorë
03 At The Peshkëpi Pass ~ Men's Choir from Tepelene
04 Song for Odriçan ~ Men's Choir from Tosk
05 For Freedom And The Flag ~ Men's Choir from Tosk
06 By The Riverside ~ Men's choir from Tosk
07 May You Live As Long As This Earth ~ Choir from Gjirokaster
08 Konofat's Song ~ Women's Choir from Permet
09 Song Of Emigration ~ Women's Choir from Permet
10 Kaba ~ Gypsy musicians from Tosk
11 Kaba preceding a dance ~ Gypsy musicians from Tosk
12 Carter Leading The Caravan ~ Women's Choir from Permet
'Until very recent times the folk music of Albania has remained, even to the specialists, more obscure than the songs of the Eskimos or the highlanders of New Guinea" (Lloyd 1968). So wrote British folklorist A. L. Lloyd in 1968. Twenty years later, scholars outside Albania know little more about that country's music as there continues to be a scarcity of both recordings and writings in languages other than Albanian. The release on the Chant du Monde label of a compilation devoted entirely to music from southern Albania should therefore attract considerable interest among ethnomusicologists. This is the first scholarly release of vocal music from Albania to be issued since Lloyd's recording on Topic (1966). It includes ten examples of polyphonic singing, as well as two instrumental improvisations, all recorded with excellent clarity and balance by Bernard Lortat-Jacob and colleagues from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the Ministere des Relations Extkrieures of France. All performers had participated in 1983 in the National Folkloric Festival in the city of Gjirokaster and so may be assumed to be among the most highly regarded singers and instrumentalists within their districts. Their highly polished, often spectacular renditions represent something close to an ideal for the styles of their respective areas. Albanians distinguish two major subdivisions among themselves: Ghegs in the north of the country, Tosks in the south. While most Gheg music is monophonic, the singing and instrumental music of Tosk communities is in a variety of polyphonic styles. This release focuses specifically on Tosk polyphony, presenting songs in two out of three of the major regional styles. One of these, known as the 'Lab' style [Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 7], is found in the districts of Vlore, Tepelene, Gjirokaster, and Sarande, and it generally features two to three soloists plus a syllabic drone sung by a group. Songs are homophonic in texture and closely resemble those of Greeks from the Pogoni district of Epirus. In contrast, the 'Tosk' style [Nos. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10] features two soloists whose lines overlap and interweave above a choral drone sung to a vowel sound. This style is found in the region extending north of the Lab region to the river Shkumbin, as well as among Tosks.
Yugoslavia, and is shared with some Slavic and AromAn communities in the same region.' The two instrumental selections [Nos. 11 and 12] are also from the 'Tosk' region. They are both of the genre kaba,a type of nonmetric improvisation paralleling the Epirut Greek 'miroloi' that is performed most often by Gypsy musicians. Lamentably the three women's songs are all from the same area within the 'Tosk' region, and they are in much the same style. The disc therefore provides a much better introduction to the range of men's singing styles in southern Albania than of women's' ~
Ethnomusicology: Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology no. 34 ed. 3 pg. 488
No comments:
Post a Comment