Oj Ružice Rumena - Serbian Song

Vocals and arrangement by Farya Faraji. With this one, much like with Dzino Dzino, I wanted to capture the sound of the Balkans between the 16th to 19th centuries. During this period, the use of the Šargija was much more widespread; it is a family instrument closely related to the Saz family of Turkish music, and usually accepted as being descended from the latter. In this arrangement, I studied the sound of different Šargija instruments from Serbian and Bulgarian music, and settled on using my kopuz, which, I believe, produces a sound identical to many recordings, probably due to its very similar build and common roots. The other instrument accompanying the piece is the kaval, the ubiquitous flute of the Balkans. In terms of vocals, I used the typical forms of Balkan polyphony in which a second voice accompanies the main vocals by providing drone notes that are sustained for most of the melody, and only change at critical points of the melody. I also tried capturing the vocal techniques of Balkanic singing, such as the "goat vibrato" where singers rapidly vibrate their throats, a technique commonly used by Serbian guslars.

Lyrics in romanised Serbian:
Oj, ružice rumena,
što si se rano razvila?

Rano si se razvila,
što si mi glavu spustila?

Dragi mi je otiš'o,
otiš'o mi je daleko,

za tri gore visoke,
za tri vode duboke.

Neće mi se vratiti
za dve, za tri godine...

English translation:
Oh, rose ruddy
What are you so early blossomed?

You blossomed too early,
What are you, my rose, dropped your head?

My dear gone
He gone far away from me

For the three highest mountains
For three deep river

He will not come back to me
Nor after 2 or 3 years ...