Gusle

Gusle
Stylistic origins	Central Asia
Cultural origins	5th Century Serbia
Typical instruments	Gusle

Gusle (Serbian Cyrillic: гусле), some times referred to as the fiddle, is a genre of music in which a player or "guslar" recites epic poetry with the instrument it is named after. Although recognized as a part of Serbia's culture and intangible heritage by UNESCO, gusle is also performed in other areas of the Balkans such as parts of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, and Albania.

Characteristics

The gusle itself is a single-stringed lyre played by a bow. Double stringed gusle exist though are typically relegated to parts of the Dalmatian region and Bosanska Krajina. Animals such as horses, goats, and eagles may be adorned on the top of the gusle. Carved portraits of historical, biblical, or mythological figures, places, or national symbols such as a šahovnica (checkerboard) or a 4S may also be on the gusle, usually placed at the base of the neck. The gusle plays five notes and the peg on the neck is used to tune the instrument to match the performer's vocal range. Topics typical for the genre are historical events and/or figures, though following the breakup of Yugoslavia, current events such as political arrests or assassinations are also covered.

Gusle in Serbia

Historically, the art of singing with the gusle in Serbia and can be traced as far back as the 5th century. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the gusle was Serbia's instrument while Bosnia would assign itself the saz and Croatia the tamburica.

Gusle in Croatia

In Croatia, gusle was present in the 16th century. Gusle originates in Dalmatia and the coastal areas of the Dinaric region. It is thought to have been either brought by South Slavs during migration or given to Slavs by Illyrians. Aside from the Dalmatian double-stringed guslars, Croatia has the "Dubrovnik style" of gusle; a gusle with a low and longer string. Guslars from Konavle, a place situated in a Dalmatian sub-region within the Dubrovnik county had long, improvised performances similar to Bosnian guslars. These guslars would also incorporate facial expressions and gestures for immersion purposes. Much like Serbia, Croatia has and valued blind guslars. Unfortunately it is an art that is dying out due to political and ideological reasons, with most of the Croat Guslar population and conservation efforts being abroad within Hercegovina. Other styles, namely Tamburica and Klapa would take its place.

Gusle in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Bosnia, like Croatia, is said to have epic poetry as far back as the 16th century. Despite this, epic poetry in Bosnia would not be properly documented until the late 19th century. Interestingly, gusle was important in the night life during Ramazan (Ramadan) as Bosnians would gather as a community kafanas where guslars would frequent. Guslars were expected to perform the entire night which is why their performances are longer than usual. Unlike Serbia and Montenegro where performances were mostly private, Bosnian guslars would be more prominent as Turkish and Muslim officials would also appoint Muslim guslars in courts. By the 20th Century, most guslars were from residential or rural areas and in present day parts of Hercegovina and Republika Srpska still have a prominent gusle scene. Bosnian guslars are relatively rare with one of the more notable performers living in Montenegro. It largely fell out of popularity due to ideological and cultural differences over time.

Within Hercegovina, guslars would emigrate to Croatia to escape Ottoman rule and subsequent persecution. Ironically in present day, most of the Croat guslar population reside within the region.

Releases of gusle on home mediaMost releases are singles as they only contain one track that typically lasts about 30 minutes. On cassette format, these are usually split into 15-minute segments.