Traditional Albanian polyphonic music can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Ghegs of northern Albania and the Tosks and Labs living in the southern part of the country. The term iso is related to the ison of Byzantine church music and refers to the drone accompanying polyphonic singing. The drone is performed in two ways: among the Tosks, it is always continuous and sung on the syllable 'e', using staggered breathing, while among the Labs, the drone is sometimes sung as a rhythmic tone, performed to the text of the song. Rendered mainly by male singers, the music traditionally accompanies a wide range of social events, such as weddings, funerals, harvest feasts, religious celebrations and festivals such as the well-known Albanian folk festival in Gjirokastra.

I believe there is also a third variant that is found only in Diber and is performed nearly exclusively by women. This in my opinion shows signs of being older than the other 2.

The first is the most known and most popular

1. Albanian ISO-polyphony: UNESCO World Heritage Recognition as a intangible cultural heritage.

With exception of the Diber region, this is an almost exclusive Southern Polyphonic style. The South has richer variants with the Lab region having the more complex variants. It is found among the Vlach as well as the Macedonian communities around the Ohrid-Prespa lakes.







2. Northern Gheg Variant - Kenge Dyzanshe "Two Voiced/Toned Songs" / Kenge shumezanshe "Multi Voiced/Toned Songs"


Found mainly in the Polog, Kacanik in Kosoo, Diber-Struge, and Mirdite region. Although it has been noted and recorded as far as Southern Montenegro. I however have not heard variants from extreme Northern Albania or Southern Montenegro.







3. Dibra Variant - Performed nearly exclusively by women

I've only seen evidence of it being performed in Diber region. May be native in Kercove and Totova as well.





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