The majesty of Zadar's Morske Orgulje, and the musical history of Croatia.
In 2014, I went to Zadar, Croatia, as a part of a family trip to Europe. My mother’s parents lived in Zadar for most of their lives, and it is where most of the extended family tree live. I don’t remember much from my travels in Zadar, I was 12 and too busy with my Nintendo DS and newly acquired touch screen phone, listening to the sounds of bad chiptune rock and the barks of my Nintendogs.
However, there was one moment in my short trip that stood out to me. We had just come back from the markets, which were loud and brash and colourful. An assault on almost all senses. To calm down from the energy of the tourist-y markets, my family decided to go next to the sea. I'm walking down the pier with my close and extended family as the sun sets, and all of a sudden I hear this:
However, there was one moment in my short trip that stood out to me. We had just come back from the markets, which were loud and brash and colourful. An assault on almost all senses. To calm down from the energy of the tourist-y markets, my family decided to go next to the sea. I'm walking down the pier with my close and extended family as the sun sets, and all of a sudden I hear this:
This is the Morske Orgulje, also known as the Zadar Sea Organ. It's been open since 2005 and was built off of a hastily put-together concrete wall dividing the town and the ocean after the original foundations were destroyed in World War II. The organ was built in order to bring tourism to Zadar and a place for cruise ships to dock. This project was helmed by Nikola Basic, a Croatian architect who is best known for is two works on this pier, Monument to the Sun and the organ. It is comprised of white marble steps that conceal 35 tubes and a large resonant cavity. Through the motions of the waves and wind, air is pushed through the tubes into the cavity, and out of little holes on the top of the pier and slits on the side of the top set of stairs comes music.
The music that comes out of the organ is very interesting. The order of the notes played are random and up to nature, but the notes themselves are extremely diatonic. From the diagram below, the notes are C, D, E, G, A and B (shown in the diagram below as h because of European countries calling Bb just B).
The music that comes out of the organ is very interesting. The order of the notes played are random and up to nature, but the notes themselves are extremely diatonic. From the diagram below, the notes are C, D, E, G, A and B (shown in the diagram below as h because of European countries calling Bb just B).
The reason for this note change is that almost all the notes will sound relatively nice next to each other. If another note was added, there would be a nasty interval, also known as a tritone (example). In order to understand reason why it has to all the notes need to sound together, you need to examine the musical history of Croatia.
Like every human culture, Croatia has a musical tradition and a very unique sound and history. Any country that romantisies the bagpipes will always be labelled as interesting until the uprising of bagpipe fans inevitably happens. However, the three main musical traditions that make up the Croatian musical identity are Ojkanje singing, the Istrain scale and and Klapa singing. Ojkanje, which translates to "atonement", is a form of two part singing that is characterised by the shaking of the voice caused by the throat. It can traverse a number of issues, from love to current political problems. The Istrain scale is a non-equal-tempered scale used by Croatian folk music which is usually paired with improvised singing and instruments such as shawm, flute and the aforementioned bagpipes.
However, if you listen Ojkanje singing or the Istrain scale, it doesn't sound like the calming diatonic sounds of Morske Orgulje. This is because the sea organ bases it's sound off of the Croatian tradition of Klapa singing. It is, by design, simple and lovely. It sounds pleasing to the modern ear, and is the most prevalent feature of Croatian folk music in the modern era. Traditionally, it's built off of a group of men (or women, but they don't typically mix) singing and improvising. Typically, there is a leader who sings an improvised melody, and the rest of the group sing in intervals of thirds in order to make the music sound pleasing. It's meant to be fun and simple, because the idea of Klapa singing was just to have fun with a group of friends, singing and dancing somewhat spontaneously down the street. It's no surprise that "Klapa" translates to "a group of friends". However, finding Klapa in the modern world as it originally was is somewhat hard. Most Klapa groups nowadays rely on composed Klapa, removing the improvisational part of the tradition, but thankfully most of the compositions are from the 19th century, and are still in some way about preserving the culture of Croatia. Josko Caleta writes more about Klapa singing in depth with a personal touch in his paper found here.
The comparison between the tradition of Klapa singing and Morske Orgulje is undenyable, and yet it's barely mentioned anywhere, and when it is mentioned, it just says it's a "musical tradition" without specifying. Unlike almost all other musical traditions of Croatia, it's diatonic and built off the equal tempered system, it's fully improvised, and the sound even has a breathy timbre to it. I think that the choice for this centrepiece for tourism in Zadar to represent Croatian heritage is an amazing idea by Basic, as it subconsciously allows us to experience another side of Croatian culture in the medieval town of Zadar.
I've been to Zadar twice in my 18 years of life, once when I was 3 (pictured above) and again when I was 12. I remember looking over the pier, seeing the ocean sway calmly and the waves tumble gently into the steps of the organ, the small light show behind me and the disjointed multilingual mumbles of the tourists, as all the while the Morske Orgulje, the Sea Organ, hummed gently.
References
Meanderbug. "Zadar Sea Organ". YouTube video, 1:17. March 10, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n86pF-wQKrw
OddMusic. “Sea Organ - Musical Instrument Played by the Sea,”. April 24, 2007. http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om24550.html.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Zadar,” March 10, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/place/Zadar.
Pearl Howie. "Zadar's Monument To The Sun - at night". YouTube video, 0:38. October 26, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzg3sMrVJMM
Ashish Xiangyi Kumar. "Liszt: Dante Sonata / Fantasia Quasi Sonata (Pletnev)". YouTube video, 17:34. June 12, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB59i99Wxc4
Stepan Veckovic. "Bagpipes in Croatia". World Bagpipe Union. 2013. http://www.bagpipeunion.eu/?page_id=69
UNESCO. "Okanje singing". December 15, 2018. https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/ojkanje-singing-00320
UNESCO. "Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale". December 15, 2009. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/two-part-singing-and-playing-in-the-istrian-scale-00231
UNESCO. "Klapa multipart singing of Dalmatia, southern Croatia". December 15, 2012. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/klapa-multipart-singing-of-dalmatia-southern-croatia-00746
Josko Caleta. "Klapa singing, a traditional folk phenomenon of Dalmatia". Narodna umjetnost : hrvatski časopis za etnologiju i folkloristiku 34, no. 1 (1997). 127-145. https://hrcak.srce.hr/43689
Meanderbug. "Zadar Sea Organ". YouTube video, 1:17. March 10, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n86pF-wQKrw
OddMusic. “Sea Organ - Musical Instrument Played by the Sea,”. April 24, 2007. http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om24550.html.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Zadar,” March 10, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/place/Zadar.
Pearl Howie. "Zadar's Monument To The Sun - at night". YouTube video, 0:38. October 26, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzg3sMrVJMM
Ashish Xiangyi Kumar. "Liszt: Dante Sonata / Fantasia Quasi Sonata (Pletnev)". YouTube video, 17:34. June 12, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB59i99Wxc4
Stepan Veckovic. "Bagpipes in Croatia". World Bagpipe Union. 2013. http://www.bagpipeunion.eu/?page_id=69
UNESCO. "Okanje singing". December 15, 2018. https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/ojkanje-singing-00320
UNESCO. "Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale". December 15, 2009. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/two-part-singing-and-playing-in-the-istrian-scale-00231
UNESCO. "Klapa multipart singing of Dalmatia, southern Croatia". December 15, 2012. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/klapa-multipart-singing-of-dalmatia-southern-croatia-00746
Josko Caleta. "Klapa singing, a traditional folk phenomenon of Dalmatia". Narodna umjetnost : hrvatski časopis za etnologiju i folkloristiku 34, no. 1 (1997). 127-145. https://hrcak.srce.hr/43689