One of the forgotten songs of the Croatian Arbëresh has been brought back to attention by two young artists. The two musicians Dina Buçiiq and Melita Ivkovii recently realized the ethnomusicological project “Bërbili”, through which they reworked one of the ten almost forgotten songs of the Arbëresh who migrated from Skadar Lake to the Zadar area in the early 18th century.
Dina and Melita have managed to preserve the old and at the same time create something unique, collaborating with artists with shared musical experience and sensitivity, such as Miroslav Tadić, Miroslav Tadić and Yvette Holzwarth.
“Bërbili” was recorded in 2018 on the island of Zlarin in collaboration with sound engineer Marin Fulgosi. The audio was mixed by Jan-Eric Persson, one of the leading sound experts in Europe, and published by Nota BENE, Croatia, in 2020.
This song brings the widest echoes of the Balkans, the spirit and melody of Italian songs between the war, the rhythms of children’s poems, festive melodies performed on the day dedicated to the patron saint of the community… The recording of “The Whistle” is partial a current heritage, but rather an expressed need to nurture the gift and talent of the mentioned heritage, to preserve and build on the extraordinary experiences of the Arbëresh world “, says the well-known Bosnian author Miljenko Jergović.
“It is really exciting to hear how Dina, Melita, Edin, Yvette and Miroslava complement and mark the Arbëresh musical experience, and how the existing free spaces and gray areas of forgetfulness are filled with their interpretation, aesthetic confidence and fascination. Their music is one of a lived experience, it is not about vague and supposed stories. It is engraved with mostly simple Arbëresh language words and forms.
Aside from being a true memorandum to the same small and gentle legacy that was brought to Zadar in May 1726, it also presents us all today with a double gift. “The Arbëresh of Croatia remind us how important it is to learn and know someone’s old language,” he concludes. / DiasporaShqiptare.al
