Sevdah Music
Emina, performed by our close friend, Arieb Azhar.
Â
Sevdah, and Sevdalinka, are a Bosnian lyrical song expressing deep human emotions of great love, lust, fiery passion and most usually great sadness for want or loss of one's soul mate or lover. The listener is musically and lyrically bonded to the song, drawn into the melody’s lullaby and the singer's heart, instilling into the listener deeper emotions than possible through his words alone.
The origins of the word Sevdah exemplify it meaning. Black bile, called "Sawda" in Arabic, was believed by the ancient Greek and Arabian medicine to be one of the four substances of which the human body is made. Too much black bile, "Sawda", was thought to cause melancholy, and as love also causes such deep emotion, the Turks adopted the word "sevda" to mean Love. During Ottoman occupation the Bosnians took the word adding the "-h" sound "Savdah" meaning deep love. But Sevdah music has something more special, its *karasewdah* - cleaner, deeper sadness, greater passion and love, as if raw Sawda of the human body were expressed in music and song.
Sevdalinka is not sung loudly. The narrator sings gently and leads the music, slowing and pacing the melody. In ancient time a stringed instrument called Saz accompanied the singing. After the Austrian occupation of 1878, the common instrument became the accordion, and modern Sevdalinka can be accompanied by a small orchestra of classical guitar, drums, violins and other instruments. Songs are distinctly written from a male or female perspective, however some of the most beautiful female broken heart songs are sung by men, and vice versa.
Sevdah has been strongly influenced by the East and especially Turkey. However influences come from as far as Spain brought by travelling Bosnian Sefards. In Sevdah you will also hear old Slavic, Mediterranean and Gipsy melodies, and in the last 50 years Balkan melodies have been introduced.
Authors of Sevdalinka were mostly unknown. Occasionally the inability to identify authorship gave songs an unreasonable guarantee of quality and originality of a song. Some of the most beautiful and best known Sevdalinka were written during the golden ear which ended after the 2nd World War, although some great songs have been composed after the war, sounding as if their origins stretch back across the millennia.
Sevdah is the child of the three distinct nationalities which living in Bosnia – Bosnjaci, Serbs and Croats. Sevdah has its origins before the Ottoman Empire but remains heavily influenced by it. In this manner Sevdah was given to Bosnian Muslims, but equally Serbs and Croats have equal stake. That is the beauty of Bosnia. No matter the wars, no matter the tragedies, Sevdah was sung in every part if Bosnia. And, after the wars Sevdah is still sung as it was before. Sevdah brings everyone together; they were all, and are all connected through Sevdah. You can feel their love for Bosnia, through Sevdah.
