"Albanian Urban Lyric Song in the 1930s introduces Western audiences to what is perhaps the least known, heard, and discussed urban folk music in Europe. Although this music - urban song - is the most prominent of Albanian musical genres, it has continuously been overlooked by musicologists in favor of rural folk music. Some commentators have implied that Albanian urban music is not as genuinely Albanian as the music of its mountains and countryside. However, it is no less a part of the country's musical history, particularly in the twentieth century, and is an equally pure expression of Albanian spirit and culture." "Eno Koco examines the indigenous diatonic and chromatic modes of Albanian urban music and classifies them both under traditional headings and as part of a newly established grouping, here termed southwestern Balkan modes. When these songs began to enter the classical repertoire, the pioneers of the 1930s suggested that, based on the Albanian urban songs, the new genre should be developed into urban lyric song. Whatever the origin, the composer-arrangers and the singers of Albanian urban lyric song in the 1930s conceived these songs on the whole as Western vocal and instrumental products." "Albanian Urban Lyric Song in the 1930s provides musicologists, students of Balkan music, and curious readers with a discussion of a much overlooked but rewarding musical tradition."--BOOK JACKET.