Macedonian Folk Music

Macedonian folk music is the traditional music of North Macedonia and the Macedonian people, famed for its asymmetric dance metres — 7/8, 9/8, 11/8 and beyond — counted in unequal beats and played for the oro circle dance. Village bands of gaida bagpipe, zurla, tapan drum, kaval and tambura gave way to radio orchestras and čalgija ensembles in which the clarinettist *Tale Ognenovski* became the emblematic virtuoso. Sung epic and lyric songs, the Romani repertoire carried by *Esma Redžepova*, and the state ensemble *Tanec* complete a tradition central to national identity.