The album “Izvika Singing – Field Recordings” presents a documentary record of one of the most powerful forms of traditional singing in Serbia. Following the release featuring songs performed by the women’s traditional group Ribaševke (2014), the World Music Association of Serbia issued this disc based on field recordings made during the summer of the same year at the folk creativity gathering “Bez izvora nema vode” in Rožanstvo, as well as during a visit to the Society for the Preservation of Izvika Singing in Nova Varoš. The disc includes 25 izvika songs performed by male, female and mixed vocal pairs, as well as children’s performers, along with five excerpts from interviews with singers and tradition bearers. The recordings convey the authentic energy and powerful expression of this distinctive vocal style, transmitted through oral tradition and preserved in the communities of western Serbia. The accompanying booklet features photographs of the performers and essays by ethnomusicologists Marija Vitas and Marija Raković. Reflecting on her field experience, Marija Vitas writes that encountering izvika singing is “something that cannot be forgotten,” emphasizing the striking contrast between the rugged mountain landscape and the intense emotional energy of this form of singing. In her essay, Marija Raković offers a scholarly insight into the structure and characteristics of this vocal expression, explaining that izvika singing is based on a strong two-part vocal texture, in which the voices are set in a tense relationship between a leading and a accompanying voice, creating a distinctive sonic character. Since 2012, izvika singing has been included on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia, and this album stands as a valuable testimony to the vitality of this tradition and its bearers. Listening to these recordings, the audience can experience the full strength, energy and expressive power of izvika singing–one of the most authentic forms of Serbian traditional vocal music.

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