„Playing and Singing of Five Bagpipers from Serbia” is a discographic release and documentary project of the World Music Association of Serbia, bearing witness to the contemporary life of the Serbian bagpipe tradition. The album brings together five bagpipers of different generations and regional styles: Slavko Cvetković (Šumane/Lebane), Slobodan Gale Dimitrijević (Taskovići/Gadžin Han), Bokan Stanković (Zaječar), Vanja Ilijev (Zrenjanin), and Filip Savić (Svrljig). The recording presents several variants of the instrument – the three-voiced Svrljig bagpipes, the South Moravian two-voiced bagpipes, and the large Banat bagpipes – thus illuminating the richness of regional styles and harmonic structures developed across Serbia. From the plains of Vojvodina toward the east stretched the area of three-voiced bagpipes, while two-voiced types dominate in the south and along the eastern borders of the country, clearly reflected in the diverse soundscape of this release. In Serbian tradition, the bagpipe is primarily a wedding and community gathering instrument. Its repertoire includes wedding tunes, procession melodies, pieces associated with key ritual moments, as well as dance music – kolo circle dances and other regionally specific forms. The instrument’s continuous sound, deep drone, and powerful resonance created a distinctive dramaturgy for ceremonial and festive occasions. Bagpipers were not only musicians, but also entertainers and improvisers; in certain regions they were singer-instrumentalists who shaped social atmosphere through improvised verses and humorous bećarac songs. During the second half of the twentieth century, bagpipes nearly disappeared from musical practice, pushed aside by more popular and practical instruments. A stronger revitalization began only in the early twenty-first century through scholarly research, festivals, and the education of young players. In 2012, bagpipe playing was among the first elements inscribed in the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia. This album stands as a valuable testimony to a living heritage and the continuity of tradition, as well as to the artists whose work contributes to preserving one of the most powerful sonic symbols of Serbian traditional culture.

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