Europe’s leading publisher of locally produced city guide
ESSENTIAL CITY GUIDES
Free Download
Features
Links
- Blogs
- Albanian blogger
- Inside Albania
- Living in Shkodër
- Our Man in Tirana
- Our Man In Tirana
- Stepping Stones
- Travel & Tourism
- Balkanology Albania
- Berati Tours (Berat)
- Furgon & Bus schedule
- National Tourism Organisation
- Online hotel booking
- Outdoor Albania
- Outdoor Albania blog
- Sipatours (Sarande)
- News
- Albanian Daily News
- Inside Albania
- Tirana Times
- Tirana
- Tirana municipality
- Communication
- Albanian-English dictionary 1
- Albanian-English dictionary 2
- Golden Pages
- Phone book
- Yellow Pages
- History
- Library of Congress country study
- Politics
- The Enver Hoxha fan site
- Arts
- Albanian literature in translation
- General
- Aerial photos and films
- Albanians online
- Assorted Albania links
-
See all links »
« Hide links
More features:
-
Marubi Photo Collection
With 250,000 negatives covering every major event in Northern Albania between 1858 and 1959, this is one of Europe's most valuable photo collections.... -
Lake Koman ferry
Possibly the best trip you'll ever do in Albania is sail the Koman-Fierze ferry. Read all about it here.... -
Rozafa Castle
Crowning the 113m-high hill towering above the confluence of the Buna and Drini rivers, Shkodra's impressive top sight is the pride of the locals.... -
Shkodra poetry
As the centre of Albanian cultural life, Shkodra has attracted and inspired many writers and poets. The most famous local poet was Migjeni, although others include Filip Shiroka and Gazmend Krasniqi, all of whom are featured here with some poems.... -
Lake Shkodra
The massive lake just west of Shkodra, 60% of which is in Montenegro, is well worth a trip. Along the rugged western shore there are a few beaches and coves for swimming in fresh water, and the rustic villages of Shiroke and especially Zogaj still seem stuck in a different time.... -
Buna Delta
Nature lovers or those just looking for a pleasant walk in some cool forests can head straight from the beach into the Buna Delta reservation, between Velipoja and the Buna River which forms the Montenegrin border here.... -
Velipoja beach
On summer weekends it seems the whole city smacks on sunscreen and flops on the wide sandy beach at Velipoja, 34km west of Shkodra....
Shkodra City Songs
Shkodra has developed a special kind of music over the centuries that is quite different from anything else in Albania of the Balkans, somewhat clumsily called 'city', 'citizen' or 'urban' songs. Traditionally, the music made in the villages of the mountain regions consists of simple rhythms, with patriotic themes or talking of shepherd life, and was used at weddings and other ceremonies; less susceptible to change, this is still the most authentic music in Albania.
In Shkodra, altogether more sophisticated music was made, with lyrical, romantic texts, a restrained tempo and oriental-sounding scales. Uniquely, Shkodra's tradition of religious tolerance means that the songs were common and popular among all communities, Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox, and the songs were greatly influenced by this multicultural mentality combined with the beauty of the houses and gardens of this merchant city.
Until recently the songwriters craftily used symbols and metaphors to get around certain taboos that existed at the time, making odes to flowers rather than addressing the woman they had their eyes set on; nowadays songs are more direct but no less lyrical. The topics change a little with the times too, with some songs now addressing the pain of missing people who have migrated abroad. The two texts below are of the most popular songs.
When it comes to city songs, both men and women can play instruments and sing; there are group songs but also solo songs (called jare) which are very demanding of a singers talents. Instruments used include clarinets, violins, harmoniums, the def (a type of drum), the dajre (tambourine), and the saz, a sleek, long-necked lute with three strings. If you visit the Marubi photo collection you'll see beautiful shots of groups of musicians posing with their instruments, invariably seated around a plate of sweets and a few glasses of raki.
Shkodra's long relationship with music lead to a number of Albanian firsts. The first brassband was formed here in 1878 – and there are still occasional brass band festivals, the last held in April 2006. In the 1930s the first public concerts took place, with music presented as something to enjoy rather than merely as the backdrop to an event, with both men and women performing. The Catholic cardinal of Shkodra was involved in setting up the first public music house shows in 1936. Early shows staged there included topics such as the legend of Rozafa, the brutal Turkish siege of Shkodra, the Turkish invasion, and the Albanian flag. In 1913 Franciscan monks wrote Albania's first opera, though never performed it – the first opera premiere was here in 1968.
Under the repressive post-war regime, songwriters had it difficult, with obligatory nationalistic texts being sung and some old religious-themed songs changed for political reasons – but even at the time these changes were disliked.
Albania has changed immensely since the early days of citizen songs, with modern communications and mass emigration both influencing songs and bringing competition in the form of foreign pop, but there's strong proof that the tradition will survive, with new and newly interpreted songs regularly hummed on the streets.
If you're interested in hearing the typical citizen songs, ask CD and cassette vendors for music by artists such as Shygyri Alushi, Xhevdet Hafizi, Luçija Miloti, Bik Ndoja (famed for his jare), and Bujar Qamili. Better still, head for the Vivaldi restaurant near the Cathedral, or set out to the Taverna Shkodrana restaurant on the lakeshore between Shiroke and Zogaj, both of which have live music every weekend.
True fans can buy the book Albanian Urban Lyric Song in the 1930s by Eno Koco (Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810848899), for sale at Amazon for $78 (includes CDs).
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lule Bore
Tuj prek lulet gjith me dore
Veç n’nji kopesht te vogel n’Shkoder
Ty te gjeta lulebore
Ty t’kerkoj une tash sa mot
Tash sa mot une ty t’kerkoj
N’gezim me ty jeten ta shkoj
Eja, eja lule bore
Une me ty do thur kunor
Pashe mretneshen drandofill
Mos t’ja falish kujt ti eren
Se per mu vetem ke çile
Snow flower (Lule Bore)
Touching all the flowers, did I
Find you in a Shkodra garden,
My snow flower, evermore.
Tiny yet you’re full in blossom,
I have sought you all my life,
All my life been looking for you,
To be with me, be my joy.
Come along now, my snow flower,
Let me make of you a crown.
I have seen the fair spring seasons,
I have seen the roses royal,
Give to no one your sweet fragrance
For you blossomed but for me.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dhe bylbyli nisë me k’ndue;
Njajo drandofillja e bardhë,
Del n’dritare me ndigjue.
O shpirt sa të due,
S’bashku jetën me e kalue.
Lule m’lule tue shetitë;
Ndër ma t’buk’rat ty t’kam zgjedhë,
Porsi hylli i bukurisë.
O shpirt sa të due,
S’bashku jetën me e kalue.
S’mundet kuj me i diftue,
Se bylbyli asht i pari,
Edhe unë i kam besue,
O shpirt sa të due,
S’bashku jetën me e kalue.
Springtime is Approaching
Springtime is approaching,
And the nightingale is singing,
The white rose is appearing
At the window and is harking,
Oh sweetheart, how I love you,
Let us live our lives together.
I’ve been all ‘round Shkodra,
Strolling through the flowers,
You I chose, the fairest,
You are like the star of beauty,
Oh sweetheart, how I love you,
Let us live our lives together.
The canary is in longing,
Can tell no one of its suff’ring,
For the nightingale’s before it,
And my trust I’ve given to it,
Oh sweetheart, how I love you,
Let us live our lives together.
Both songs kindly translated by Robert Elsie, www.albanianliterature.net.
Hi i think my grand grand father maybe 100 years back came from shkodra,i would lov to go there to visit and to see if i have any family.
Shkodra is my home city, it is beautiful and there is loads to visit and to do. I miss the people and everything in it, unfortunately I am married to an English man and I am living in the UK. Shkodra is surrounded by the Lake Shkodra and Drini River, lovely alps, a castle and also a lovely beach. You should visit yourself and see what I mean.
I love shkodra people my boyfriend is from shkodra but he leaves in greece i am from greece and i am trying to learn albanian language thank