Kaleš bre Angjo
Encyclopedia
Kaleš bre Angjo is a Macedonian
patriotic folk song dating from the times of the Ottoman Empire.
. It has four verses of which the first three are performed by the male vocalist (in case of a duet).
, the former Yugoslavia
and the whole Balkan region. Pop
, Rock
, Jazz
, and even Classical
cover versions also exist (incl. versions by Esma Redžepova
, Goran Bregović
, Toše Proeski
, Azra
, Laza Ristovski from Bijelo Dugme
and many others).
's Arizona Dream
and Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, although it has no connection to the music of Kazakhstan
. The song is not included on the soundtrack CD for this movie.
s and Turkish loanwords.
It is a story about an Ottoman Turkish man playing and singing a serenade
with tambura
to a young olive skinned (kalesh) Macedonian girl named Angja (Анѓа). He is asking her to become his wife and he promises her rich and easy life with lots of gold (жолтици, žoltici) and pearls (бисери, biseri) only if she would change her nationality
and religion
and become an anama (Анама да бидиш, Anama da bidiš), in Turkish
: Hanim, to be his obedient Ottoman Turkish and muslim
wife in his harem
At the end of the song the girl is proudly refusing his offers saying that she would never become an anama (анама не бивам, anama ne bivam). She would never sacrifice her freedom, nationality and faith for the gifts he offers.
.
Ајде слушај, слушај, калеш бре Анѓо,
што тамбура свири.
Тамбурата свири, калеш бре Анѓо,
анама да бидиш.
Анама да бидиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на чардак да седиш.
На чардак да седиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
жолтици да броиш.
Жолтици да броиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
бисери да нижиш.
Бисери да нижиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на грло да редиш.
Ајде, слушај, слушај клето бре Турче,
анама не бивам.
Анама не бивам, клето бре Турче,
турски не разбирам.
in Macedonia says that the song was based on true historical events in the region of Mariovo
: After failing to seduce her with his power and fortune, the furious man wanted to abduct
her and to force her into islamization
. Refusing to accept this Kaleš Angja committed suicide
by jumping off a cliff
.
Music of the Republic of Macedonia
Music of the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonians has many things in common with the music of neighbouring Balkan countries, but maintains its own distinctive sound.-Folk music:...
patriotic folk song dating from the times of the Ottoman Empire.
The song structure
It is often performed by a male / female duet, but not necessarily. It is structured in a form of a dialogueDialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
. It has four verses of which the first three are performed by the male vocalist (in case of a duet).
Performances and recordings
It has been performed and recorded by many popular folk singers from the Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
, the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and the whole Balkan region. Pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and even Classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
cover versions also exist (incl. versions by Esma Redžepova
Esma Redzepova
Esma Redžepova is a Macedonian vocalist, songwriter, and humanitarian. During her life she has performed in more than 9000 concerts in 30 countries, with her late husband Stevo Teodosievski she has fostered forty-seven children, and she has received numerous accolades for her humanitarian work. By...
, Goran Bregović
Goran Bregovic
Goran Bregović is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Balkans. He currently splits his time between Paris and Belgrade, where he settled down during the Yugoslav Wars.Bregović has composed for such varied artists as Iggy Pop and Cesária Évora...
, Toše Proeski
Toše Proeski
Todor Toše Proeski was a Macedonian multi-genre singer, songwriter and actor. He was popular across the entire Balkan area and all around Eastern Europe, and locally he was considered a top act of the Macedonian music scene...
, Azra
Azra
Azra was a rock band from Zagreb that was popular across Yugoslavia in the 1980s. Azra was formed in 1977 by its frontman Branimir "Johnny" Štulić. The other two members of the original line-up were Mišo Hrnjak and Boris Leiner . The band is named after a verse from "Der Asra" by Heinrich Heine...
, Laza Ristovski from Bijelo Dugme
Bijelo dugme
Bijelo dugme was a highly influential former Yugoslav rock band, based in Sarajevo. Active between 1974 and 1989, it is widely considered to have been the most popular band ever to exist in former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and one of the most important acts of the Yugoslav rock...
and many others).
Soundtracks
The song was used for the movies: Emir KusturicaEmir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
's Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream is a 1993 film directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway.-Plot:Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a rare halibut and brings it back to his family in an igloo...
and Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, although it has no connection to the music of Kazakhstan
Music of Kazakhstan
The modern state of Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kazakh National Opera and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra. The folk instrument orchestra was named after Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly, a famous composer and...
. The song is not included on the soundtrack CD for this movie.
Explanation of the lyrics
The lyrics are in Macedonian language with some archaismArchaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
s and Turkish loanwords.
It is a story about an Ottoman Turkish man playing and singing a serenade
Serenade
In music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
with tambura
Tambura
The tambura, tanpura, or tambora is a long-necked plucked lute . The body shape of the tambura somewhat resembles that of the sitar, but it has no frets – only the open strings are played to accompany other musicians...
to a young olive skinned (kalesh) Macedonian girl named Angja (Анѓа). He is asking her to become his wife and he promises her rich and easy life with lots of gold (жолтици, žoltici) and pearls (бисери, biseri) only if she would change her nationality
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
and religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and become an anama (Анама да бидиш, Anama da bidiš), in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
: Hanim, to be his obedient Ottoman Turkish and muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
wife in his harem
Harem
Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...
At the end of the song the girl is proudly refusing his offers saying that she would never become an anama (анама не бивам, anama ne bivam). She would never sacrifice her freedom, nationality and faith for the gifts he offers.
Lyrics
In Macedonian language, Macedonian alphabetMacedonian alphabet
The orthography of Macedonian includes an alphabet , which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation....
.
Ајде слушај, слушај, калеш бре Анѓо,
што тамбура свири.
Тамбурата свири, калеш бре Анѓо,
анама да бидиш.
Анама да бидиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на чардак да седиш.
На чардак да седиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
жолтици да броиш.
Жолтици да броиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
бисери да нижиш.
Бисери да нижиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на грло да редиш.
Ајде, слушај, слушај клето бре Турче,
анама не бивам.
Анама не бивам, клето бре Турче,
турски не разбирам.
The real Kaleš Angja
The oral traditionOral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
in Macedonia says that the song was based on true historical events in the region of Mariovo
Mariovo
Mariovo is a region in the southern part of Macedonia , situated between the mountains Selechka on the west, Nidze and Kozhuf on the south, Kozjak on the east and Dren...
: After failing to seduce her with his power and fortune, the furious man wanted to abduct
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
her and to force her into islamization
Islamization
Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
. Refusing to accept this Kaleš Angja committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by jumping off a cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
.
The book
Inspired by this story the Macedonian writer Stale Popov wrote the book Kaleš Angja in 1958.Audio samples
- Version by the Macedonian folk singer Violeta Tomovska
- Version by the Macedonian pop singer Toše Proeski
Video
See also
- Music of the Republic of MacedoniaMusic of the Republic of MacedoniaMusic of the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonians has many things in common with the music of neighbouring Balkan countries, but maintains its own distinctive sound.-Folk music:...
- Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of MacedoniaMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...