I bled from the dress to the music in six angles

"Critical observations from ethnomusicology" comes as a summary of many years of work by the ethnomusicologist Krenar Doli. It speaks of a large part of the cultural wealth of the city of Gjakova. It starts with a study of the traditional clothing of that area and ends with a detailed look at the career of the late singer from Gjakova, Ismet Peja

A part of the rich culture of the city of Gjakova is summarized in the book of the ethnomusicologist at the Albanian Institute of Pristina, Krenar Doli. Through the book "Critical observations from ethnomusicology, work, studies, notes" six research articles related to phenomena and issues of traditional Albanian music are revealed. These are all of Doli's scientific works published over the years in well-known magazines and summarized in a book that was recently published. It was the interest of the editor from the publishing house "Eliva Press" to publish the book.

"The beginnings of this work are related to these last two or three years, they are mainly works that have been published in international scientific journals and these last two works are related to the Old Bazaar of Gjakova and one of the most emblematic singers of our city, Ismet Peja, they caught the eye of an editor of a publishing house, Olga Sabazova, and she contacted me around the month of September and told me if you have the possibility to publish these", said Doli.

The first part of the book reflects the traditional clothing of the city of Gjakova, both for men and women. The second article examines the role of teqe in Albanian poetry and music, while the third deals with the role of the Bektashi tariqat in Kosovo and the characteristics of the tariqat in music and other arts. The next article deals with the Grand Bazaar of the city of Gjakova, with its role and weight over the years, the crafts that have disappeared and the few that are barely surviving the time.

Doli spoke more about the content of these studies, a large part of which were also presented at conferences and symposiums in different countries of the world.

"There are six papers in total in this collection that have seen the light of publication. The first paper is related to the clothes of the city of Gjakova, both for women and men. The second paper is related to the influence of Sufi music either in poetry or in music, which is a separate paper from the dissertation topic 'Tradition of Sufi music in Kosovo' that was defended in June 2021. Then another paper is related to the music of the Bektashi tariqat and with the influence it has had from the people, how those songs were taken and performed on occasions of joy, where as a comparison the songs of Isuf Myzyri were taken, which we know as songs, but they are Bektashi nefes. The other work is related to the Old Bazaar of the city of Gjakova, where I also had this work as a subject of my doctoral studies", said Doli.

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The fifth chapter and the last study by Doli is dedicated to the famous singer, now deceased, Ismet Peja. Through this work, the effort that Doli has made to reflect in detail the entire artistic career of one of the most emblematic singers, not only from Gjakova, is revealed.

"The last paper in this book is related to the figure of Ismet Peja. It is the last publication that was also published in 'Albanological Traces' where I have seen Ismet Peja from several angles. I have tried to analyze three of his emblematic songs, the first song that he recorded on Radio Kosova in 1953 under the care of Rexho Mulliq and Lorenc Antoni, then a song with the theme of exile and another song 'Sarajeva shehër i bukur "- song from 1935 created by Beqir Baraku", said Doli.

Also, to summarize the study about the singer Ismet Peja, Doli also told about the interviews he conducted with professionals in the field of music, who closely followed and got to know Peja's rich career.

"Then another dimension for Ismet Peja, since 2013 I have interviewed five people who have closely known Ismet Peja's contribution. I interviewed academician Pajazit Nushi when he was alive, the leader of the cultural-artistic society 'Hajdar Dushi', Zekri Çarkaxhiu, the sadly deceased composer of the city of Gjakova, Sabah Bytyqi, I conducted another interview with Kastriot Tuša, and as the fifth is Edi Furra, one of the most popular singers nowadays and who is following in Ismet Peja's footsteps", Doli announced.

"Critical observations from ethnomusicology, work, studies, notes" was published in English and for this Doli said that there is a reason: the disclosure of Albanian culture to other researchers and readers, outside the borders.

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"These are works done in the Albanian language, research papers, but in recent years I have made them accessible to international researchers so that we can reflect our culture to other researchers. Expectations are good, even though it has been a few days since the book came off the press. The first impact is positive and my desire is to translate the other works I have in the Albanian language into foreign languages, be it English, French or others", concluded Doli.

Krenar Doli was born in Gjakova in 1985. He completed primary and secondary school in his hometown. In 2007, he completed his basic studies at the Academy of Arts, Faculty of Music, Department of Musicology in Tirana. In 2014, Doli completed his master's degree at the Center for Albanological Studies at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Art Studies in the Department of Ethnology-Folklore, Ethnomusicology Specialty. In 2021, he completed his doctorate at Gaz University, at the Institute of Social Sciences, Turkish Folklore program, in Ankara. He works at the Albanological Institute in Pristina, Folklore Branch, Ethnomusicology Section. It deals with different musical practices of the Balkan space, with music and with multilateral connections in the artistic and social-cultural sphere. He presented scientific papers at sessions, conferences and scientific symposia at home and abroad.