Yugoslavia

Compiled and edited by famed music ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, Volume Five of this series showcases the rich musical traditions from a national folk festival in the former Yugoslavia in 1951. The festival featured only rural folk music, since at that time only anonymous individuals from "the humblest ranks of society" could represent national culture. Remastered to 24-bit digital from the original field recordings, this two-CD set features a diverse and intriguing range of sounds and instruments (lutes, ancient string instruments and flutes among them). The first CD features the celebratory harmonies of Croatia, thunderous, mountain dance music from Slovenia and mystical chants and flowery flute music from Bosnia and Herzegovina; while the second disc follows the Slavic tradition of Montenegro, the melting pot of shifting rhythms in Macedonia and the Muslim and Albanian influenced music of Serbia. As a whole, the well-preserved collection is an intriguing document of a romantic period when unified culture in the Balkans was aggressively promoted through the arts. Now, as Anikca Petrovic sadly notes in the liner space, "Music serves to reinforce political tensions rather than facilitate and enrich cultural communication and exchange."