Albanian iso-polyphony

Iso-Polyphony (Albanian: Iso-polifonia) is a traditional form of Albanian folk music in which multi-line singing is accompanied by choral drone parts, and which has many regional and formal variations. It is included in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. Albanian Iso-Polyphony is considered to have its roots in the many-voiced vajtim, the southern Albanian traditional lamentation of the dead. The instrumental expression of the Albanian Iso-Polyphony evolved into the Albanian kaba. All four regions of southern Albania—Lalëria (Myzeqe), Toskëria, Çamëria, and Labëria—have polyphonic song as part of their culture. A related form of polyphonic singing is found in northern Albania, in the area of Peshkopi; Polog, Tetovo, Kičevo and Gostivar in North Macedonia; and Malësia in northern Albania and southern Montenegro. Labëria is particular well known for multipart singing; songs can have two, three, or four parts. Two-part songs are sung only by women. Three-part songs can be sung by men and women. Four part songs are a Labërian specialty.¶

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Albanian iso-polyphony”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.¶

Albanian iso-polyphony is Albanian iso-polyphony is a traditional part of Albanian folk music and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage., according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition.¹¶

The source record links this tradition to 4 external registers, which can be verified through the citation.¹¶