Balkan ballad

Balkan ballads (also known as Balkan folk ballads)^[1] are the emotional, slow music styles of the Balkan region of Southeastern Europe. Balkan ballads, similar to other ballads, often deal with various themes related to love (unrequited love, love-sickness, romantic and intimate relationships) while using Balkan string instruments such as the šargija, as well as the clarinet, trumpet, accordion, fiddle, guitar and bass guitar. Balkan ballads are distinct from traditional ballads by including a fusion of pop music, folk music and sentimental ballads. Singers usually perform in their native languages.^[2][3]

Characteristics[]

Typical ballads use ethnic instrumentation. In recent trends, Balkan ballads commonly implement some degree of westernized instrumentation.

History[]

As ballads are traditionally passed down orally, the exact dates of the origin are difficult to determine. However, the earliest recorded ballad, "Judas," Child Ballad no. 23, dates back to the early 1300s.^[4]

Over time, the ballad medium spread to the Balkan Peninsula, and has since developed into the narrative and musical art forms present in Balkan culture today.

Examples from Eurovision[]

• Doris Dragović – "Željo moja" (Yugoslavia 1986)
• Darja Švajger - "Prisluhni mi" (Slovenia 1995)
• Magazin & Lidija – "Nostalgija" (Croatia 1995)
• Maja Blagdan – "Sveta ljubav" (Croatia 1996)
• Danijela – "Neka mi ne svane" (Croatia 1998)
• Darja Švajger - "For A Thousand Years" (Slovenia 1999)
• Željko Joksimović - "Lane moje" (Serbia & Montenegro 2004)
• Hari Mata Hari - "Lejla" (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2006)
• Marija Šerifović – "Molitva" (Serbia 2007), which won the contest that year
• Karolina Gočeva – "Mojot svet" (FYR Macedonia 2007), features a language change to English at the end
• Marija Šestić – "Rijeka bez imena" (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2007)
• Jelena Tomašević - "Oro" (Serbia 2008)
• Regina – "Bistra voda" (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2009)
• Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea – "Lijepa Tena" (Croatia 2009)
• Feminnem – "Lako je sve" (Croatia 2010)
• Maja Keuc – "No One" (Slovenia 2011), a rare English-language Balkan ballad, although a Slovenian version was performed at the National Final
• Željko Joksimović - "Nije ljubav stvar" (Serbia 2012)
• Kaliopi – "Crno i belo" (FYR Macedonia 2012), a more rock-based ballad
• Nina Badrić – "Nebo" (Croatia 2012)
• Eva Boto – "Verjamem" (Slovenia 2012)
• Maya Sar – "Korake ti znam" (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2012)
• Klapa s Mora – "Mižerja" (Croatia 2013)
• Sergej Ćetković – "Moj svijet" (Montenegro 2014)
• Knez – "Adio" (Montenegro 2015)
• Dalal & Deen feat. Ana Rucner and Jala – "Ljubav je" (Bosnia & Herzegovina 2016)
• Kaliopi – "Dona" (FYR Macedonia 2016)
• Balkanika- "Nova deca" (Serbia 2018)
• Vanja Radovanović – "Inje" (Montenegro 2018)
• Nevena Božović – "Kruna" (Serbia 2019)
• Tamara Todevska – "Proud" (North Macedonia 2019)
• Ana Soklič - "Amen" (Slovenia 2021)
• Anxhela Peristeri - "Karma" (Albania 2021)

References[]