Music of the Republic of Macedonia

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Music of the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonians has many things in common with the music of neighbouring Balkan countries, but maintains its own distinctive sound.

Folk music

The ethnic Macedonian folk music (Macedonian: Народна музика, Narodna muzika) includes:

• Traditional music (Macedonian: Изворна музика, translit.: Izvorna muzika literally meaning: roots music)
• Newly-composed folk music (Macedonian language: новокомпонирана народна музика or новосоздадена народна музика)

Traditional music

The ethnic Macedonian traditional music, which can be rural or urban (starogradska muzika), includes: lyric songs, epic songs, labour songs, ritual songs, humorous songs, circle dance ("oro"), the old urban style called Čalgija (not to be confused with chalga) etc. Popular traditional songs are: Kaleš bre Angjo, Slušam kaj šumat šumite, Biljana platno beleše, Dafino vino crveno, Narode Makedonski, Zemjo Makedonska and many others. Often referenced oro dances are Teškoto from the village of Galičnik, Kalajdžiskoto, Komitskoto (The Dance of the freedom fighters) and others. An internationally acclaimed professional folklore association is the award winning Tanec.

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  Female oro performed by Tanec

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  Mens oro performed by Tanec

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  Female folk dance performed by Tanec

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  Mens oro by Tanec

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  Female folk dance by Tanec

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  Mixed male and female dances

The music of the Balkans is known for complex rhythms. Macedonian music exemplifies this trait. Folk songs like "Pominisli libe Todoro" can have rhythms as complex as 22/16, divided by stanza to 2-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2. In order to add tension to notes, musicians (primarily from older schools) will add the distinctive characteristic of stretching out beats.

The gajda (гајда), a type of bagpipe, was the most common folk instrument in traditional Macedonian culture. It has now become an instrument for concert recitation, drawing on recent legends like Pece Atanasovski (video), leader of the Radio Skopje ensemble Ansambl na Narodni Instrumenti, as the source of modern tradition. Other instruments include:

• šupelka (шупелка) — small flute
• kjemane (кемане) — three-stringed fiddle
• tambura (тамбура) — long-necked lute
• zurla (зурла) — large double-reed horn
• tapan (тапан) — cylindrical drum
• kaval (кавал) — rim-blown flute
• harmonika (хармоника) — accordion

Macedonian folk orchestras consist of a clarinet or saxophone, drum kit, bass guitar, accordion and guitar, sometimes with modern synthesizers and drum machines. These orchestras are very popular in Macedonia. Popular members are virtuoso musicians Skender Ameti and Goran Alachki on accordion and Miroslav Businovski on clarinet.

Čalgija is an urban style, played by bands (Čalgii) with a dajre (tambourine) and tarabuka (hourglass drum) providing percussion for ut (lute), kanun (zither), clarinet and violin. Though modern musicians have updated the Čalgija into a spectrum of hard and soft, classical and pop sounds, some traditional musicians remain. Perhaps the most influential of recent years was Tale Ognenovski, who plays a wide variety of traditional and modern sounds.

Newly composed folk music

The newly-composed folk music (in Macedonian language: новокомпонирана народна музика or новосоздадена народна музика), is a contemporary popular style based on the traditional music. However, unlike it, the newly-composed folk music is credited to a particular author and it falls under the copyright laws, its performed by professional musicians and its usually (but not necessarily) played with modern instrumentation. Usually, the older performers and composers (such as the highly acclaimed Aleksandar Sarievski, Jonče Hristovski and Dobri Stavrevski) stay closer to the traditional roots, and thus some newly-composed folk songs are often mistaken for traditional. On the other hand, the younger usually espouse a more modernized sound and image, thus often being disproved by the traditional purists as kitsch. Nevertheless, the style is popular among the common people and notable performers include: Elena Georgieva, Suzana Spasovska, Mitre Mitrevski, Efto Pupinovski, Vojo Stojanovski, Orce Stefkovski, Blagica Pavlovska, Dragan Vučić, Zoran Vanev, Vaska Ilieva and others. Some of them also perform traditional songs. The newest generation of performers of this genre such as Blagojce Stojanovski-TUSE, Sonja Tarculovska, Elena Velevska, Jasmina Mukaetova, Aneta Nakovska, Pane Panev altogether with the bands such as Bioritam, Bolero bend have introduced a newer outlook to this kind of music inspired by the Serbian turbofolk, Bulgarian chalga, and Greek laika, so their style is more considered as pop-folk, rather than folk music.

Several popular folk music festivals exist, including: Folk fest Valandovo in Valandovo, Serenada na Širok sokak in Bitola, Cvetnici in Skopje, Ohridski trubaduri - Ohrid Fest in Ohrid and others.

Outside the Republic of Macedonia

Traditional as well as modern music is created and performed in other countries where ethnic Macedonian communities exist, which include primarily the Balkan countries surrounding Republic of Macedonia, as well as enclaves resulting from the diaspora in the USA, Australia, Canada and other countries. A notable example is the folk musician Kostas Novakis from Greece (born in Koufalia, Thessaloniki prefecture, Greek Macedonia), who claims Macedonian ethnicity and performs traditional ethnic Macedonian music. Despite the political tensions between Republic of Macedonia, with ethnic Macedonians on one side and Greece on the other, Novakis released several CD titles with traditional ethnic Macedonian music in Greece [1].

Classical music

The Mokranjac School of Music

The Mokranjac School of Music was established in Skopje, in 1934. In addition to its well-respected choir, it was famous for the people that were involved in its establishment, composers like Trajko Prokopiev and Todor Skalovski.

Post-WWII

After the liberation of the country from fascist occupation in the Second World War and the formation of the modern Macedonian state, the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra was established in 1944, while 1947 saw the formation of the Association of Musicians of Macedonia. Shortly after that, the first Macedonian radio concert was made, conducted by Todor Skalovski.

During the 1950s, the first Macedonian ballet by Gligor Smokvarski and opera Goce by Kiril Makedonski were produced. The period after these brought a relative renaissance of Macedonian music, focussed on innovation. The most prominent composers in this period are Zivko Firfov, Trajko Prokopiev, Stefan Gajdov, Todor Skalovski, Petre Bogdanov Kocko, Vlastimir Nikolovski, Blagoja Ivanovski, Tomislav Zografski, Toma Prosev and Mihajlo Nikolovski. One of the most prominent music artists in this period are the opera singers Danka Firfova, Pavlina Apostolova, Georgi Bozikov and Zina Krelja, and the pianist Ladislav Palfi.

Current

Today, one of the most prominent classical music artists is the pianists Simon Trpčeski, also notable opera singers include Blagoj Nacoski, Ana Durlovski, Igor Durlovski and Boris Trajanov. From the diaspora, a notable performer is the Australian born, but ethnic Macedonian pianist Hristijan Spirovski. The most prominent conductors include Sasha Nikolovski-Gjumar, Borjan Canev, Sasho Tatarchevski, Bisera Chadlovska and Oliver Balaburski, and the most notable instrumentalist are the violinists Ljubisha Kirovski, Oleg Kondratenko and Russian born Anna Kondratenko, the saxophonist Ninoslav Dimov, the clarinetist Stojan Dimov, the basists Velko Todevski and Petrus Petrusevski and the oboist Gordana Josifova-Nedelkovska. Among the composers are Darija Andovska, Jana Andreevska, Tome Mancev, Stojan Stojkov, Damjan Temkov, Valentina Velkovska, Soni Petrovski, Goran Nachevski, Boris Svetiev, Ljubomir Brangjolica and the composer, but also a performer, musicologist and researcher, Dimitrije Bužarovski.

Popular music

Pop music

Popular pop music performers in Republic of Macedonia include: the superstar Toše Proeski (and the most prominent Macedonian singer), Karolina Gočeva, Maja Odžaklievska, Verica Risrtevska, Ljupka Dimitrovska, Gjoko Gjorchev, Elena Risteska, Dani Dimitrovska, Kaliopi, Tamara Todevska, Vrcak, Robert Bilbilov, Lambe Alabakoski, Jovan Jovanov, Andrijana Janevska, Kristina Arnaudova and others. Notable composers, producers and arrangers involved in the pop music scene are Darko Dimitrov, Damir Imeri, Aleksandar Masevski, and Grigor Koprov. Many artists are famous as both singer and songwriter such as Jovan Jovanov and Miyatta.

The first examples of Macedonian pop music appeared in the mid-20th century and was called "zabavna muzika". The most famous old-generation performers are Zafir Hadzimanov, Verica Risteska, Dragan Mijalkovski and many others.

According to style, the Macedonian pop music is a Western type of pop music, with influences of folk and oriental music. Several fusion genres such as pop-rock, pop-rap, ethnopop, and pop-folk also have developed.

Music festivals

Major music festivals in Macedonia include Skopje Fest in Skopje, Ohridski Trubaduri - Ohrid Fest in Ohrid, MakFest in Štip, Interfest in Bitola.

Main article: Republic of Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Republic of Macedonia debuted as an independent state at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998. So far, its highest placing was 12th in Eurovision Song Contest 2006 final which altogether was overall best result in televoting years. Skopje Fest currently also serves as Macedonia's national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Rock music

The most successful and influential rock band in Macedonia (and one of the most popular in former Yugoslavia) was the band Leb i Sol. They combined rock music with fusion jazz and traditional music elements creating a distinct sound of their own, becoming one of the top acts of the former Yugoslav Rock scene. After they broke up, the guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski, the bassist Bodan Arsovski, the keyboard player Kokan Dimuševski and the drummer Garabet Tavitijan all started successful solo careers, each in his own right. In 2006 they gathered again for a reunion tour to mark 30th anniversary since their beginning as a band. In 2008, a different line-up recorded a new album, I taka nataka without Stefanovski's and Tavitjan's participation.

Other notable group was Bisbez, which was influenced by The Beatles and other 1960s artists. It was formed in 1964 by merging two previously existing bands Biseri (meaning Pearls) and Bezimeni (No Names). During the 1970s notable groups were Pu, Ilinden 903, Den za Den, Leva patika, Triangl, Torr and others. Most of them were into hard rock, progressive rock, folk rock, symphonic rock, jazz rock and funk rock. The late 1970s saw the emergence of punk rock. The first punk rock band was Fol Jazik, formed in Skopje in 1978. During the 1980s other notable punk groups were Saraceni and Badmingtons, both led by Vladimir Petrovski Karter. Later he switched to a more mainstream sound and formed the group Aleksandar Makedonski (Alexander The Great). The New Wave music scene featured artists such as the ska group Cilindar, Usta na usta and Tokmu taka. Tokmu taka's vocalist Ljupčo Bubo Karov from Kavadarci later became popular as an actor of the comedy TV show K-15, while Usta na usta's member Aleksandar Prokopiev became a prominent writer. Notable heavy metal artists were the groups Karamela and Concorde, the latter being remembered for their more radio-friendly megahit Visoki štikli i crni čorapi (High Heels and Black Stockings). Its guitarist Venko Serafimov later started a successful solo career. The synthpop trio Bastion which featured Kiril Džajkovski was one of the most important 1980s acts. Another notable 1980's act was Haos in Laos. The pop-rock group Memorija formed in 1984 was one of the most prosperous from this period. The most productive in the country was the post-punk, darkwave and gothic rock scene which included the cult bands Mizar, Arhangel and Padot na Vizantija, the latter led by Goran Trajkoski. Later he formed the neo-folk group Anastasia which became internationally acclaimed with its soundtrack for the Milčo Mančevski's Academy Award nominated film Before the Rain.

Notable artists during the first half of the 1990s included the thrash metal group Sanatorium, the alternative rock bands Suns, Last Expedition, The Hip, Balkan Express,Decadence, Vodolija, Nikeja, the punk rockers Rok Agresori and Parketi, and D' Daltons, which was initially a rockabilly act. The second half of the decade saw the emergence of the hardcore punk bands Sidewalk, Fluks, Tank Warning Net, Smut, Bumbiks and No Name Nation, while a notable extreme metal band was Siniac. In the 2000s, prominent acts in the country include Superhiks (ska punk), Bernay's Propaganda (indie-rock, post-punk revival), Denny Te Chuva (melodic hardcore, emo), Smut (metalcore), Two Sides (hardcore punk), Parketi (pop punk), Noviot početok (hardcore punk), Fluks (melodic punk), Kulturno Umetnički Rabotnici (garage punk) and many others. Notable all-female bands included Royal Albert Hall and Vivid.

There are several rock music festivals, some of the most notable include: Taksirat annually organized by Lithium Records and the Skopje gori organized by Avalon Productions. Both of the festivals hosted numerous internationally acclaimed rock, electronica and hip hop acts. There are also smaller demo band festivals such as Winner Fest (formerly known as Loser Fest) and Rok-fest, the latter has existed for several decades. The most notable international open-air festival was Alarm held in Ljubaništa by the Ohrid Lake in 2002. In 1994 during the tensions in the Balkans such as the Yugoslav Wars and the Macedonia naming dispute, a peace festival called Urban fest was organized in Skopje gathering underground music artists from all the Balkan countries.

Macedonian 80s pop music

In the 80s the world music was booming, british and US music scene was getting its highest glam. Music TV chanels like Music Box and MTV lounched their programs in the air, and so on the music videos were new reality.In that period in Macedonia satelite cable TV brought all these programs to the Macedonian young public especialy the teenagers.The New Wave, New Romantics, Ska Punk,Reggea ,Dark Wave ,Electro Pop ,Metal,Jazz Fusion,Punk & Hip Hop music was new reality on the Macedonian Music Scene.Kids were dancing in the streets and parks with their stereos cassete players and walkmans and all the radio stations started to play the charts brand new hits & play lists DJs VDJs plus tv shows like Top of the Pops.Soon the Macedonina version of T.O.P was lounched and it was called "Rock Stage"(Rok Podium).Many new bands were formed during this period of the time and their hits were on the every single radio station including the TV shows plus the famous music show "Rock Stage".The biggest Bands from that time were :"Bon Ton","Tokmu Taka","Cilinder","Memoria","Avtogram","Triangl","Bastion","Leva Patika","Penicilin","Madrigali","Psiho","Hotel","Haos in Laos","Kaliopi","Aleksandar Makedonski","Badmingtons","Konkord","Karamela","Mizar","Padot na Vizantija","Arhangel","Cuden Kroj","Cista Okolina","Bubamara","Mariana&Rosana","Makakus","Fora","Izlez","Den za Den","Paskvelija","Inola Iks","Leb i Sol" & many many more.This remarkable decade of great sound and many hits from these Macedonian Bands produced big POP music scene in the era of Music TV videos and brand new sound for the generation of computers sinthysizers stereos walkmans and teenage movies.They performed in the Macedonian night clubs and their music was spinned in every single Disco club and beach resorts on the Macedonian Riviera by the Ohrid Lake.All the Hotels which were packed with turists from northern Europe and US played those hits during the day time,by the swimming pools and beaches all arround the Ohrid riviera and in the evenings in their lobies and disco clubs.The magical world of SF and Comic books inspired all the artist and musicians to create wonderful world of POP music that brought holiwood in the streets of Macedonian major cities.In the end of the decade new sound started to evolve and new technologies that were to come in the up comming 90s.

Hip hop

Main article: Macedonian hip hop

A well-developed hip hop music scene also exist. Contributed to the development of hip hop music in Macedonia, Vladimir Agovski became involved in the Macedonian hip-hop scene since childhood as a very young b-boy in 1986. In the following year he formed a juvenile rap act called The Masters of Rap and recorded his first studio track in 1988. In 1991 he joined the band Instant Beat, which performed around the country and made recordings in the Macedonian Radio-Television production, which were never officially released. Later, he formed another group The Most Wanted which in 1995 released the first Macedonian hardcore rap album, called "Judgment Day". After the group disbanded in 1996, he continued to work under the name Temnata strana (The Dark Side) and he founded the first Macedoninan hip-hop label, called "Dolina na senkite" abbreviated "DNS" (Valley of the Shadows) to promote his own works and other upcoming Macedonian hip hop acts as well. One of the famous hip hop acts is SAF Sakam Afro Frizura, lang-en|I want an afro hairdo. Also, brothers Aleksandar and Slavcho Koviloski, known by their hip hop political and social activism, and known as a long time members of hip hop groups like Braka Po Krv and Klan Istok, since the year 2005 are holding hip hop lectures in Macedonian highschools, universities ana cultural centres. Brothers by the year 2008 have been published three books about hip hop and urban culture, unique on the Balkans. Most Macedonian hip hop artists are underground hip hop but there are many mainstream pop-rap artists as well. Melbourne Based Vulk Makedonski keeps the language and his cultural pride alive in Australia, through his involvement in the band 'Curse ov Dialect' who are gaining popularity in countries such as Germany and France. In addition many new faces come to the music scene on a daily basis. Gazda Pari also known as Goranco Petrovski is a worth while mentioning face that was amongst the new faces in 2010. His new music video Dobra Kombinacija aired on K-15 TV and was accepted with great success by the hip hop community.One of the young names worth mentioning is Dino 'Versus' Bojadzievski,who is considered to be one of the best Macedonian Hip-Hop lyricists.In 2009,he entered and won the "Rap i Pivo" freestyle battle competition,which brought him some recognition.Afterwards he released several demo recordings,some of which still retain popularity.Also,during that period,he worked with Macedonian rap legend Vladimir 'Temnata Strana' Agovski on a single entitled 'Kako shto e' (As it Is) which is to be released on the mixtape 'PRO-dukt'.He is currently finishing work on his album 'Od Hejt do Aplauzi' which will feature many new songs as well as remakes of some of his most popular demo's.

Electronic scene

The most prominent electronic musicians are Kiril Džajkovski (a former member of Bastion), the PMG Collective, Robotek, Novogradska and Gotra. Macedonia has a developed clubbing scene especially in Skopje. Several festivals featuring foreign DJs take place in the country, many of them on the Ohrid Lake during the summer season.

Jazz

One of the most successful Jazz Brand in Macedonia are "Tavitjan Brothers - (Garo Tavitjan Garo Tavitjan Junior& Diran Tavitjan) with traveling around the world there are bringing authentic Macedonian jazz sound with virtuosity of playing and performance. The Macedonian jazz scene is highly appreciated as well. The premier jazz guitarist in Macedonia currently is Toni Kitanovski. Among notable jazz musicians and bands are vibraphonist Zoran Madžirov, pianists Dragan Soldatovic - Labish and Simon Kiselicki, bands like Sethstat, Letecki Pekinezeri, La Colonie Volvox among others. The Skopje Jazz Festival is held annually.

Children's music

One of the most notable children's music festivals is Zlatno slavejče (Golden Nightingale) annually held in Skopje, which has a long tradition in the Republic of Macedonia. Other festivals include Si-Do in Bitola Kalinka in Gevgelija and Super Zvezda, also in Skopje. Notable composers of children songs,producers and arrangers include Dragan Karanfilovski Bojs, Miodrag and Marjan Nečak, Kire Kostov, Petar Sidovski, Slave Dimitrov, Milko Lozanovski, Aleksandar Džambazov, Ljupčo Mirkovski, Darko Mijalkovski and others. Several TV shows featuring children music exist. The country also takes part in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and recently achieved the best result- 5th place for their 2007 entry at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007.

See also

• Esma Redžepova, eminent musician of Roma ethnicity from Republic of Macedonia.
• List of radio stations in the Republic of Macedonia

References

• Burton, Kim. "Tricky Rhythms". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 202–206. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

Audio clips

• Kaleš bre Angjo
• Slušam kaj šumat šumite
• Biljana platno beleše
• Dafino vino crveno
• Narode Makedonski

Video

• Teškoto oro folk dance
• Kalajdžiskoto oro folk dance
• Pece Atanasovski playing gajda (bagpipe)
• Pajduško oro folk dance
• Nevestinskoto oro - Wedding folk dance
• Žensko beranče female folk dance

External links

• (French) Audio clips: Traditional music of Macedonia. Musée d'Ethnographie de Genève. Accessed November 25, 2010.
• Macedonian ethnology, folk music and dances - Foundation Open Society Institute, Macedonia
• Macedonian Music Network
• Mister Company Production
• Lithium Records (Macedonian music label) - mostly alternative rock & roll and electronic artists including news, biographies and MP3s
• Avalon Production
• Macedonian Underground Music Archive including most of the Darkwave generation of bands from the 1980s
• Mavrova 'dan aldim sumbul(Turkish lyrics)
• Brenna MacCrimmon - Ediye
• Tous aux Balkans » Macedonia songs lyrics and videos