Albanian Folk Music

Albanian folk music divides along the Shkumbin river into two great systems: the monophonic song of the northern Gheg lands, where epic narratives are sung to the single-stringed lahutë, and the polyphonic song of the southern Tosk lands, where soloists weave lines over a sustained drone in the iso-polyphony inscribed by UNESCO. Between them stand the saze instrumental ensembles of the south, led by clarinet and violin through the improvised, melancholic kaba, and a rich repertoire of wedding, lament and dance music sustained by singers such as *Vaçe Zela* and *Merita Halili*.