Album Notes

Mediterranean Sounds - Croatia's Mystic Voices

This is a sound that is unafraid of its own silence

Mysterious beauty from beyond the boundaries of human knowledge

It is as if this sound emerged from the very bowels of the Earth, only to rise up and reveal the heavens. This sound sings of a timeless age when the beauty of the landscape and the trials of history combined to beget music, not unlike the symphony of human voices that celebrated the birth of harmony. But these mystical voices need neither instruments nor written music to summon the forgotten language, to commence reciting the songs to the souls of those yet unborn and to the speechless heads of stone that populate the facades of our churches. This is a sound that is unafraid of its own silences, courageous enough to test fate as its harmonies ascend the walls of the stone cities along the sea. It is a sound that embodies the promise of a new, undiscovered, mysterious beauty from beyond the boundaries of human knowledge, a beauty that hails from the cradle of creation. That is the song that is uncovering the threads of myth on the immemorial face of the earth in order to make an offering on the altar of history: the sound of verse and the beauty of Our Beautiful *

Jakov Dukic

'Our Beautiful' are the first two words of the Croatian national anthem, and Croatians throughout the world refer to their homeland as Our Beautiful.

Produced by Nenad Bach www.nenadbach.com
Engineered by John Holbrook www.johnholbrook.net
Cover Design by Andrej Urem www.andrejurem.com

Klapa Sinj


For over twenty years now Klapa Sinj has been one of the most revered singing ensembles in Dalmatia. Founded in 1982 in order to carry on and promote Croatia's musical legacy, its success has continued due to the extraordinary musical talent of its members who developed a wholly distinct performance style and even contributed a number of new compositions to the existing canon of the Klapa music. Klapa Sinj's resume includes numerous albums and frequent concert appearances across the European continent. Their crowning achievement came during the recent festivals of a cappella music in Verona, Bolzano and Prague where Klapa Sinj won top prizes. Their repertory consists of a remarkable variety of traditional tunes and songs, and the joy with which they still approach each performance is audible in the beauty of the harmony created by so many disparate and singular voices. Klapa Sinj's accomplishments are a standing testament to the fact that the magic of music can still, even if for a moment, change the world for the better.





Klapa Sinj

Stipe Breko First tenor

Ivan Klapez Second Tenor

Mario Simic Second Tenor

Ivo Breko Second Tenor

Boris Zanko Baritone

Mario Đidara Baritone

Mojimir Cacija Baritone

Mladen Sirinic Bass

Ivica Mastelic Bass

Pjero Filipovic-Grcic Bass

Ante Milun Bass

Ensemble leader - Mojimir Cacija



The Draw of the Landscape

The singers from Sinj cannot avoid the canyon of Cetina when approaching the town of Omis. With the northern wind at their backs and a bit of wonder still about them from their most recent musical pilgrimage, it is precisely here at the estuary, where the Adriatic quiets the eddies of Cetina amidst the islands, the coastline and the backlands, that the Sinj singers made their long-lasting pact with the beautiful land and the music, a pact that has paid off many times over.

A memory of a particular moment and a specific space lingers on among the many reminiscences of those hot July evenings during their numerous pilgrimages to the festival in Omis. There in the small town square beneath the rock where the streets end and the mountain looms, the Klapa singers find a bit of shade away from the curious onlookers and they commence warming up before their performance. Neighbors offer them food and drink; they in turn soothe their souls with nourishment and song. And so the singers from Sinj continue their pilgrimages to Omis, enjoying the music and savoring the competition at this nearly four-decades-old celebration of Croatia's many musical traditions. It is an occasion where ensembles from Istria and Međimurje, from Zagorje and Slavonia gather to honor their native land.