Episodes
| Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian Urban Music | 20111030 | Heading off in the footsteps of folklorist AL Lloyd, Lucy Duran visits Albania to record the little known urban music of a country that was closed to the outside world for almost 50 years. Lucy attends a garden party in the capital Tirana, where some of the city's best musicians get together over a glass of the local tipple, raki. She visits the Skanderberg castle in the town of Kruja, where the long standing vocal ensemble The Old Men of Kruja reflect on how life has changed since the fall of communism. Back in Tirana at a bar in the Bloku area, once home to the Party oligarchs but now the party capital of the city, she meets the Folk-Hip Hop group Westside Family, who are bringing traditional music up to date. Finally she heads to the town of Korca in the South of the country to attend a rehearsal of Grupi Lira, a choir that sings the patriotic serenades that are the trademark sound of the most cultured city in Albania. Lucy Duran visist Albania to record the urban music of this once-isolated country. Programme exploring music from around the world |
| Iso-polyphony In Southern Albania | 20111106 | Continuing her journey around Albania, Lucy Duran heads south to hear the unique Albanian Iso-Polyphony. She drinks raki and eats spring-onions with a group of singers in the ancient city of Gjirokaster, explores the concrete bunkers left by the regime of Enver Hoxha, and hears how the old songs of emigration are as relevant today as they were in Ottoman times. Lucy Duran explores the distinctive sound of iso-polyphony in Southern Albania. Programme exploring music from around the world |
| Northern Albanian And Kosovan Music | 20120212 | Lucy Duran heads to the mountainous north of Albania to a folk festival in the remote town of Bajram Curri to hear musicians from across northern Albania and neighbouring Kosovo. Surrounded by mountains, and only really accessible by ferry across Lake Koman, or by road via Kosovo, Bajram Curri is a town on the Valbona River, where every year a festival celebrating Albania folk traditions is held in a run down outdoor sports arena. Families and local dignitaries crowd the stadium to hear bands singing songs in praise of Albanian honour and hospitality, as well as epic ballads about the country's past heroes. Having spent its history fighting occupations from the Ottoman Empire, and its Slavic neighbours, in the North of the country where the borders of Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia meet, the musical identity is a key part in proclaiming Albania national pride. Lucy meets bands of Albanian musicians from around the Tropoje region, as well as neighbouring Kosovo, and heads up in to the mountains to an isolated village to record some of the old domestic songs of the region, and hear about arranged marriages. She also meets a Maje Krahu singer, a man who has walked 3 hours from his village to meet her and sing in the old style used to communicate the threat of invasion to the remote villages. Produced by Peter Meanwell. Lucy Duran travels to the north of Albania for a folk festival in Bajram Curri. Programme exploring music from around the world |