For Damir Imamovi\u0107, king of sevdah music, the tradition of Balkan music culture runs deep.<\/p>\n
Imamovi\u0107\u2019s father and grandfather were renowned sevdah musicians. But as an adolescent during the siege of Sarajevo he wanted to play anything but sevdah. Then as a philosophy student, he began forging intellectual connections with the music, developing into both a performer and historian.<\/p>\n
Sixteen years into his career, he interprets traditional sevdahs alongside writing new ones, his exquisite tenor ensuring listeners who speak no Slavic languages can engage with the music.<\/p>\n
Sevdah is a specific genre of music in the south Slavic region that is concentrated in Bosnia, but also performed in Croatia and Serbia. The Balkans had 500 years of Turkish rule so this explains its Turkish influences, but sevdah has never been sung in Turkish \u2013 it\u2019s always been sung in Slavic languages as a form of oral poetry.<\/p>\n
Sevdah is mournful yet beautiful \u2013 commentators have also labeled it \u201cthe Balkan blues\u201d \u2013 with songs focusing on the anguish of love alongside older ballads that tell stories of life on the border, rebellions, family relationships, and more. After Yugoslavia\u2019s brutal dissolution, young performers have started to renew the genre and continue to grow and expand the components of Sevdah.<\/p>\n
Watch: Damir Imamovic – O bosanske gore snje\u017ene<\/a><\/p>\n