Ylli Daklani

In 1974, Jugoton–a record label in ex-Yugoslavia released a folk album performed by members of the Rugova Autochthonous Folk Ensemble, a Kosovo Albanian song and dance ensemble founded in 1947 which is still active today.

The album features some fascinating Rugova folk traditions such as Rugova’s sword dance, kënga e fytit e grave (women’s throat singing), kënga maje krahu (song over the shoulder), etc. However, the track that struck me the most was Duet Fleta (Leaf Duet) in which the performers use tree leaves to play music–an archaic tradition among shepherds. I was immediately captivated by this tradition and wanted to incorporate it in my piece, so I found a modern solution that resembles this tradition.

The ‘burning’ part comes from the experiences that my family and I had during the Kosovo War. I was just a baby when, in April 1999, my family was forcibly expelled from our hometown-Mitrovica and our house was burned down. My family spent the rest of the war as refugees in Albania. After the liberation, they returned and eventually rebuilt the house and their lives. So the burnt leaf in my piece represents the damage caused by the war, the great changes it brought, and the desire and will to heal and bloom again after everything has been burned down.

The text used in the piece also reflects this. It is taken from the opening song of ‘Lahuta e Malcís’, an Albanian epic poem written by Gjergj Fishta, which was banned in Yugoslavia. The words ‘Ndihmo, Zot, si m’ke ndihmue!’ translated as ‘Help me, God, as you once helped me’, are a call to God for assistance once more, this time in the rebuilding process.