Sevdah and the sweet scent of former Yugoslavia
Bosnia & Montenegro
May 27, 2021
Story: Joe Manzanov
Photography: Aida Redzepagić
Translation: Dzana Branković
I.c.w. Are We Europe
A decade later, in a small and charming restaurant in the center of Sarajevo called Žara iz duvara (“The Singing Nettle”), people from many different placesTurkey, Bosnia, France and Spain—would sit down to eat, drink and talk, and spontaneous gatherings would arise. As the night progressed, Redžepagić would take out his guitar and play flamenco songs. After flamenco, he went through pop and rock songs better known to most of his friends. However, they always ended the night—sometimes at dawn—with Sevdah. “Those nights were very important to me because, beyond practicing the technique, it also helped me discover my personality as an artist and break that barrier between the musician and the public”, Mirza Redžepagić recalls. Sevdah is a traditional musical genre rooted in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it isalso spread across the Balkan region. In fact, it is a genre that arises from the fusion of Eastern (it emerged when a large part of the Balkans was under Ottoman rule), Western and Sephardic elements.
The Sevdalinka is the name given to the musical composition itself, and is characterized by a slow tempo and intense emotional melodies. It can be sung without accompaniment or with stringed instruments such as the šargija and the saz. From the end of the 19th century, drums and the accordion were incorporated. And, as the 20th century progressed, new additions such as violins or clarinets were merged in the thousands of record productions in the genre. Today, new generations work on recovering the essence of Sevdah, either from a traditional perspective or from mergers with more avant-garde rhythms. Among them are Damir Imamovic, grandson of Zaim Imamović, one of the best singers in the history of Sevdah and great popularizer of the aesthetics and philosophy of the genre, and Amira Medunjanin, a singer baptized as the Billie Holiday of the Balkans.
Despite its long history, the Sevdah lived its golden age during the Yugoslav era, becoming one of the defining elements of that cultural and ethnic union. “From the second half of the 20th century, there was a boom in record production that led to stardom for artists such as Zehra Deović, Zora Dublević or Zaim Imamović, among many others,” says César Campoy, an expert on Sevdah and one of Redžepagić’s colleagues during those meetings in Sarajevo. “This boom encouraged great rock and pop voices, such as Zeljo Bebek, Zdravko Colić, as well as bands such as Divlje Jagode and Azra to flirt with Sevdah.”
According to Redžepagić, those nights at the Žara iz duvara were the best example of how Sevdah, beyond a musical style, evokes a cathartic feeling, a way of expressing oneself, doing things and understanding life. “As the same way blues seems to connect with the soul, or how fado, the Portuguese sailor’s folk, evokes melancholy and the loss of love. I also feel the emotional similarity with flamenco, which in the peak moment the artist brings out a deep feeling, expresses himself: Olé!”. In fact, the most accepted theory about the roots of the term says that it comes from Turkish, meaning “love”. “I think it is something that connects between the Mediterannean countries. Regardless of whether or not they understood the lyrics, in our meetings everyone enjoyed the same atmosphere.”
Currently, Sevdah is on the way to becoming one of the pillars of the Bosnia and Herzegovina brand and of its national claim, but without forgetting the multicultural condition of its essence. Redžepagić himself serves as an example as his father and his great-uncle, a famous singer in his day who introduced him to the genre, are from Montenegro. Today there are several artists from this country who, in addition to playing their native rhythms, have also dabbled with the Sevdalinka.
Among the most prominent are Ksenija Cicvaric, pioneer and great promoter of the Montenegrin folk song with songs like “Mlada Jelka ljubi Janka” (“Young Jelka loves Janko”) or “Oj vesela veselice” (“Oh joyful, joyous girl”) and Mirko Rondovic, a singer who composed around 30 songs, recorded more than 100 and rescued from oblivion many others from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.
In addition, in the historic region of Sandzak, divided between Serbia and Montenegro and bordering Bosnia, the World Music Fest Zeman, organized and curated by Mirza Redžepagić himself, has been celebrated the last four years, a must for lovers of the Balkan music. In it, apart from a competition of musicians from all over the region, concerts are organized mixing various types of music and rhythms.
“I know several Montenegrin musicians and we have been talking for some time about collaborating and mixing Balkan rhythms and flamenco,” says Mirza. In some way or another we all carry Sevdah within our roots. Each country has its own Sevdalinkas, but they all share similar characteristics. It is difficult to distinguish if it is from Bosnia or it is from Montenegro, it is something connected with the people of the Balkans.”
This piece owes much to Cesar Campoy's help and input on Sevdah culture and music on his website www.sevdalinkas.com and on his book “Sevdalinkas, 150 joyas del Sevdah”. After those Sevdah nights at Žara iz duvara, Mirza Redžepagić began to explore new rhythms and finally Nairuz emerged, his current project, in which, together with four musicians from four different countries, he connects his inner dimension – beliefs, spirituality and tradition – and its external side, flamenco.
Translation by Dzana Branković
Sevdah i slatki okus bivše Jugoslavije
Mirzi Redţepagiću je bilo 17 godina kada je, 2003. godine, po prvi put otputovao iz Novog Pazara u Sarajevo. Trebao je provesti dva dana, ali je morao ostati čitavu sedmicu zbog snijeţnog nevremena. Inspirisan ljubavlju koju je osjetio prema gradu, iskoristio je vrijeme da posjeti muzičku akademiju i nedugo potom je odlučio da se preseli u bosansku prijestolnicu. Deset godina kasnije, u jednom malom i draţesnom restoranu u centru Sarajeva, zvanom “Ţara iz duvara”, okupljali su se ljudi iz različitih zemalja (Turske, Bosne, Francuske i Španije) kako bi jeli, pili, pričali i tako nastadoše usputna poznanstva. Kako bi noć napredovala, Redţepagić bi izvadio gitaru i svirao flamenko. Nakon flamenka bi prešao na pop i rock, muziku koju je većina njegovih prijatelja bolje poznavala. MeĎutim, noć bi se uvijek završavala, pa nekad i u cik zore, sa sevdahom. “Te noći su mi bile veoma vaţne jer su mi, pored vjeţbanja tehnike, pomogle da otkrijem svoj umjetnički pravac i razbijem tu barijeru izmeĎu muzičara i publike”, prisjeća se Mirza Redţepagić.
Sevdah je tradicionalni muzički ţanr duboko ukorijenjen na tlu Bosne i Hercegovine, ali se takoĎer prostire po cjelokupnoj regiji Balkana. Zapravo, to je jedan ţanr koji je nastao mješavinom istočnjačke, zapadnjačke i sefardske muzike u periodu kada je veliki dio Balkana bio pod osmanskom vlašću. Sevdalinka je naziv za kompoziciju proisteklu iz ovog ţanra, a karakterišu je sporiji ritam i melodije pune emocionalnog naboja. Moţe se pjevati a capella ili u pratnji ţičanih instrumenata poput šargije i saza. Od kraja 19. stoljeća se počela izvoditi u pratnji bubnjeva i harmonike. Tokom 20. stoljeća došlo je do uvoĎenja violine ili klarineta u hiljade novonastalih diskografskih zapisa ovog ţanra. Mlade generacije danas se sve više vraćaju suštini sevdaha, bilo da je to iz jedne tradicijske perspektive ili miješanjem sa drugim avangardnijim ritmovima. MeĎu njima se ističe Damir Imamović, unuk Zaima Imamovića, jednog od najboljih izvoĎača sevdaha ikad velikog zagovornika estetike i filozofije ovog ţanra, te Amira Medunjanin, interpretarorica poznata kao Billie Holiday Balkana.
Uprkos svom dugom ţivotnom vijeku, zlatno doba sevdaha je bilo za vrijeme Jugoslavije, te je on postao vezivno tkivo ove kulturološke i etničke zajednice. “Od početka druge polovine 20. stoljeća došlo je do naglog rasta diskografske produkcije, koja je pretvorila u zvijezde izvoĎače poput Zehre Deović, Zore Dublević i Zaima Imamovića”, kaţe César Campoy, veliki poznavalac sevdaha i jedan od Redţepagićevih kolega tokom ovih susreta u Sarajevu. Ova nagla popularnost je navela velike zvijezde pop i rock scene poput Ţeljka Bebeka, Zdravka Čolića, te bendove kao što su Divlje jagode i Azra, da počnu da eksperimentišu sa sevdahom. Prema Redţepagićevim riječima, te noći u “Ţari iz duvara” su bile najbolji primjer kako je sevdah više od pukog muzičkog stila. On izaziva osjećaj katarze, to je način izraţavanja emocija, te filozofija ţivota.” Na isti način se blues povezuje sa dušom ili fado, tradicionalna muzika portugalskih moreplovaca, izaziva nostalgiju i ţal za izgubljenom ljubavlju. TakoĎer, tu je i emocionalna sličnost sa flamenkom, u kojem na vrhuncu izvedbe izvoĎač donosi jedan duboki osjećaj kroz izraz “Ole!”;.
Štaviše, najprihvaćenija teorija o porijeklu ovog izraza je da on potječe iz turskog jezika i da znači “ljubav”;. “Mislim da je to nešto što povezuje mediteranske zemlje. Bez obzira na to da li su razumjeli tekst ili ne, pri našim susretima svi su uţivali u istoj atmosferi.” Trenutno, sevdah je na putu da postane jedan od ključnih elemenata Bosne i Hercegovine kao brenda, na koji ona polaţe svoje nacionalno pravo. No, ne smijemo zaboraviti njegovu suštinsku multikulturalnost. I sam Redţepagić moţe da posluţi kao primjer za to, s obzirom na to da su i njegov otac i brat od djeda, koji je u svoje vrijeme bio poznati izvoĎač i koji ga je i upoznao sa ovim ţanrom, bili porijeklom iz Crne Gore.
Danas postoje brojni umjetnici iz ove zemlje koji su se, pored svojih autohtonih melodija, bavili i sevdalinkom. MeĎu najistaknutijima su Ksenija Cicvarić, predvodnica i velika zagovornica crnogorskog folkora sa pjesmama poput “Mlada Jelka ljubi Janka” i “Oj vesela veselice”, te Mirko Rondović, kantautor tridesetak pjesama koji je snimio više od stotinu sevdalinki, te od zaborava spasio čak i više od toga, kako iz Crne Gore, tako i iz Bosne i Hercegovine i Makedonije. Pored toga, u sandţačkoj pokrajini, koja se nalazi na tromeĎi Srbije, Crne Gore i Bosne i Hercegovine, posljednje četiri godine se organizovao Festival svjetske muzike Zeman. Ovaj nezaobilazni dogaĎaj za sve ljubitelje balkanske muzike je organizovao i priredio Redţepagić lično. Tokom festivala, pored regionalnog muzičkog takmičenja, organizuju se koncerti na kojima se miješaju različiti muzički ţanrovi i ritmovi.” najem nekoliko crnogorskih muzičara i već neko vrijeme se dogovaramo o saradnji, u nastojanju da pomiješamo ritmove Balkana sa flamenkom”, kaţe Mirza. Na ovaj ili onaj način, svi mi nosimo sevdah u svojim korijenima. Svaka drţava ima vlastite sevdalinke, ali sve one imaju zajedničke karakteristike. Teško je razlikovati da li neka potječe iz Bosne i Hercegovine ili Crne Gore, to je nešto što je zajedničko za sve narode Balkana.”
Za nastanak ovog članka uveliko dugujemo Césaru Campoyu i njegovom doprinosu razumijevanju sevdaha, stranici www. sevdalinkas.com, te knjizi ” Sevdalinke, 150 dragulja sevdaha” (originalni naslov: ” Sevdalinkas, 150 joyas del Sevdah” Nakon noći sevdaha u “Ţari iz duvara”, Mirza Redţepagić je počeo istraţivati nove ritmove, što je u konačnici dovelo do Nairuza, njegovog trenutnog projekta na kojem, zajedno sa još četiri muzičara iz četiri različite drţave, spaja unutrašnje elemente, vjerovanje, duhovnost i tradiciju, sa vanjskim izrazom – flamenkom.