Traditional / folk music of Croatia
Croatia is a country with rich traditional music heritage in Europe. It has many different type of nature. Adriatic sea, farmlands with rolling hills, rivers, and deep forests. It was part of Yugoslavia and between Yugoslavian countries, it has most western European culture. After the Balkan war it was fastest country between Balkan countries which rapidly recapture its normal state and growing.
Here we mention some of the notable Croatian folk music genres.
Tamburica
This type of folk music is the most common and most popular music genre of traditional music in Croatia. In fact it is the name of lute instrument which also pronounced as tamburitza. It is something between Ukrainian bandura and the Italian mandolin with a high-pitched timbre that gives Croatian folk music a different feeling compare to other Balkan countries music. The name has root in turkish language and it is said that first it came to Bosnia in 14th century. This traditional music instrument has many different versions in different sizes. The ensembles of tamburica started to shaped from 18th century and little by little, many composers started to compose for these ensembles. Most of the time, the main themes for this type of folk music are about love and happy village life. Today most of Tamburica music are combination of folk and pop.
Klapa
This genre of folk music is a cappella which means it is a vocal music without instruments. Traditionally it is a group of men (these days also women sometimes) who sings about love and loss in harmony. It has roots in liturgical church singing. Klapa is registered as UNESCO's list of Intangible Heritage. It is also one of the most common type of Croatian folk music.
Gusle
This type of folk music is also the name of a traditional music instrument. Gusle is a one string bowed instrument. The player hold the instrument vertically between his knees. Usually it has a long song with epic poetry. The instrument is also common in other countries like Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia with different names. One of the most important Gusle player in 20th century was Mile Krajina.
Ganga
This type of folk music is originated in rural of Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. It is a type of singing which is characterized by a lone singer singing one line of lyrics and then others joining in for what can be best described as a wail. Ganga music is protected by the Croatian Ministry of Culture to preserve its place in Croatian culture and to encourage its study. Several popular Croatian musicians have incorporated some Ganga into their work. This singing is performed by men and women, but not together. It is also not unusual for both Catholic and Muslim men to perform ganga together.
Some other notable type of folk music in Croatia are Zagorje and Međimurje.
If you have more information about the folk music Croatia, its genres or instruments or you know specific song on each genre, please kindly contact us and let us know about it or send them through “Post a Song” link on top of the page. Also if you see any wrong information about the song tags on the list below please kindly let us know.
Traditional / folk songs for Croatia
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