Bosnian sevdah, Roma music and other music of the Serbian and Macedonian region
“If I use my own personal terminology, by which I distinguish between language and speech, I could say that I do not speak the Balkan musical language, I did not grow up with this music; all I knew was that there was something called Balkan music or similar. Nevertheless, this music speaks to me in a way that I feel immeasurably close to, that I can identify with completely.
Apart from the characteristic sadness and melancholy that is expressed in the melodies of Sevdah music, it is the text that moves me at least as much as the music itself. The apparent simplicity, directness, sincerity or naivety of these texts are among the qualities that also fascinated Heine and Goethe.
Today, now that I am familiar with the background of Sevdah, I better understand my spontaneous reaction on listening to it that evening when I heard the musicians for the first time and excitedly commented that it is like Bosnian Schubert, only that ‘everything is in minor’. The deepest expression is achieved with minimal means.
For the musicians taking part in the present concert, this kind of music making is not how they earn their living (with the exception of guitarist Boško Jović, who often collaborates with Amira Medunjanin), although all of them are in fact professional musicians. They play rarely, on their own initiative, for themselves or a close circle of friends, only in order to nurture their own souls. This is exactly what makes this concert so special and unpredictable. The stage and the audience bring their own demands and expectations related to time, the moment, form and many other things, so every performance is slightly different.
The cry, moan and scream of the human soul – this is the speech of the soul’s deepest intimacy, the laying bare of emotions, something only a few can glimpse, probably those who are willing to mirror what they hear to the greatest extent, and at least symbolically at that moment throw off the armour of everyday life and surrender to their naturalness, their compassion, their nakedness, their vulnerability, their humanity...”
(Mate Bekavac)
* Tickets (online purchase): 15 € / Senior 12 € / Students, Dissability 7,50 €¸/ Children 5 €.
Discounted tickets can be purchased at the Information office of Narodni dom Maribor or at the concert venue up to an hour before the concert.
