Traditional from Serbia

Sung epic poetry has been an integral part of Serbs and Balkan music for centuries. In Montenegro, these long poems are typically accompanied on a one-string fiddle called the gusle, and concern themselves with subjects such as the life under the Ottoman occupation or various battles such as the Battle of Kosovo against the Turks. In Croatia (Serbian Krajina), the poems are about the life and feeling of the Serbs under Austro-Hungarian rule and oppression.