Klapa music is a form of traditional

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

singing with origins in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, Croatia. The word ''klapa'' translates as "a group of friends" and traces its roots to littoral church singing. The motifs in general celebrate love, wine (grapes), country (homeland) and sea. Main elements of the music are harmony and melody, with rhythm very rarely being very important. In 2012 klapa was inscribed in UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Description

A klapa group consists of a first tenor, a second tenor, a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

, and a bass. It is possible to double all the voices apart from the first tenor. It is usually composed of up to a dozen male singers. In recent times, female vocal groups have been quite popular, but in general male and female groups do not mix. Although klapa is a cappella music, on occasion it is possible to add a gentle guitar and a mandolin (instrument similar in appearance and sound to tamburitzas). Klapa can also be accompanied with synthesizer keyboards, usually simulating percussion instruments.

Modern day

The klapa tradition is still very much alive, with new songs composed and festivals held.Festival of the Dalmatian Klapa in Omis
/ref> The Festival of the Dalmatian Klapas in

Omiš Omiš (, Latin and it, Almissa) is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is wh ...

is the best known music festival and has a long tradition in Klapa music. One of the most successful groups there in recent times is

Klapa Šufit Klapa Šufit is a musical group from Split, Croatia. Klapa Šufit is a group of male singers who perform klapa music, a cappella multi-part singing, in a traditional way typical of Dalmatia, Croatia. They also perform modern klapa music featur ...

, who won the festival for three years in a row 2006–2008. Many young people from Dalmatia treasure klapa and sing it regularly when going out eating or drinking. It is not unusual to hear amateur klapa singing on the streets in the evenings over some food and wine. In 2013, Croatia chose a klapa group to represent the country at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013. The klapa group was called Klapa s Mora, with the entry "

Mižerja Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Mižerja" written by Goran Topolovac. The song was performed by the group Klapa s Mora, which was selected internally by the Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT ...

". Klapa s Mora is a "super klapa ensemble" of six performers chosen by Maestro Mojmir Čačija from five existing klapa groups, namely two from Kampanel, and one each from Sinj, Crikvenica, Šibenik and Grdelin.

References

{{UNESCO Oral and Intangible music Croatian folk music A cappella Dalmatia Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Four-part harmony

Description

Modern day

See also

References