On a summer evening in Pogradec, if you are in the right place at the right time — perhaps at a village gathering, a wedding in the hills, or one of the festivals that take place around the lake in July and August — you may hear something that stops you in your tracks. A group of men singing together, their voices weaving in and out of each other in a way that seems to defy ordinary musical logic. One voice holds a long, sustained drone. Others carry the melody above and around it. The sound is ancient, modal, and deeply affecting in a way that is hard to explain without having heard it.
What you are hearing is iso-polyphony: one of Europe's most distinctive and endangered musical traditions, and one that has deep roots in Pogradec and the surrounding region.
What is iso-polyphony?
Iso-polyphony is a form of traditional Albanian folk music in which multiple voices sing simultaneously, each carrying a distinct part. The word iso comes from the Greek ison, a term from Byzantine church music meaning drone — a sustained note or tone that underlies the other voices. In Albanian polyphony, this drone gives the music its characteristic resonance: a low, humming foundation over which the melody moves.
The tradition is found across the southern half of Albania, and it varies significantly from region to region. Broadly, it can be divided into two main styles: that of the Tosks of south-central Albania and that of the Labs of the far south. In Tosk polyphony — the form most associated with the Pogradec and Korçë region — the drone is continuous, sung on the vowel sound "e" using staggered breathing so that it never breaks. In Lab polyphony, the drone is sometimes rhythmic, sung to the syllables of the text.
A typical iso-polyphonic ensemble has three to four voice parts: the marrësi (the one who "takes" the melody, singing the lead), the hedhësi (who "throws" a countermelody), the kthyesi (who "turns" or returns the melody), and the iso itself — the drone group. The interplay between these parts, improvised within traditional frameworks passed down across generations, is what gives the music its extraordinary texture.
UNESCO Recognition
In 2005, Albanian iso-polyphony was proclaimed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. When UNESCO's intangible heritage list was formally established in 2008, it was inscribed on the Representative List, where it remains today. The designation recognised not only the music's aesthetic and cultural value but also its precariousness — the tradition was already under significant threat from modernisation, rural migration, and the disruption of the social structures that had sustained it for centuries.
Albanian folk iso-polyphony was proclaimed a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005, and formally inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Albania was one of the first countries to receive this recognition.
Iso-Polyphony in Pogradec
The Pogradec and Korçë region is one of the heartlands of Tosk iso-polyphony. The tradition here was historically embedded in the rhythms of agricultural and pastoral life: it was sung at weddings and funerals, during harvests, at religious celebrations, and at the informal gatherings that structured village social life before the disruptions of the communist period and subsequent emigration.
The communist government of Enver Hoxha (1944–1991) had a paradoxical relationship with the tradition. State folk ensembles were formed and performances were standardised for stage presentation — which helped preserve some repertoire but also formalised and partially froze a living, improvised tradition. When communism fell and much of rural Albania emigrated to the cities or abroad, the informal transmission of iso-polyphony — from older singers to younger, in the context of actual social occasions — was severely disrupted.
Today, groups practising the tradition continue to perform in and around Pogradec and Korçë. Summer festivals in the region regularly feature iso-polyphonic performances, and the tradition maintains a presence in cultural life even as the number of skilled practitioners who can sing it in its fullest improvisational form continues to decline.
Where to Hear It in Pogradec
The summer months offer the best chance of hearing live iso-polyphony. The Korçë Folk Festival, held annually in Korçë (45 minutes from Pogradec), is one of the most important gatherings for traditional music in southeastern Albania and consistently features iso-polyphonic groups. Local cultural events and weddings in the villages around Pogradec can also be occasions for live performances, though these are by nature unpredictable.
For visitors specifically seeking the tradition, it is worth asking at the local cultural centre (Qendra Kulturore) or at hotels in Pogradec, as staff may know of upcoming performances or community events where music will be sung. Approaching the tradition with genuine interest and respect — rather than as a tourist spectacle — is appreciated and tends to open doors.
Why It Matters
Iso-polyphony is not a relic. It is a living system of musical knowledge — an approach to collective singing that encodes something about Albanian social life, aesthetics, and the relationship between individual voice and communal sound that cannot be replicated or substituted. When a group of singers finds the drone together, settles into it, and begins to weave the melody above it, they are doing something that requires years of practice, deep listening, and a kind of trust in the group that is almost physical.
UNESCO's recognition brought international attention and some additional support, but the real transmission of the tradition depends on whether younger people in places like Pogradec choose to learn it — and whether the social occasions that make it meaningful continue to exist. That is an open question. But the music, when you hear it, makes the answer feel urgent.