Demir Vlonjati (c. 1780–1845) born Demir Mystehaku and also known as Demir Aga Vlonjakasi was an Albanian folk singer, composer and poet.[1]

Demir Mystehaku was born in Matogjin, southern Albania around 1780 and died there in 1845.[1] He became a famous singer and created a new genre of Albanian polyphonic music named demirçe after him.[1] This genre influenced the works of another famous composer from the same region, Qazim Ademi.[1] In 1845 he wrote an octosyllabic poem in nineteen quatrains condemning a massacre in Vlorë region committed by Ottoman Turkish forces that year and the negative effects of the Tanzimat on Albania.[2]

Sources

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  1. ^ a b c d Tole, Vasil. "Inventory of performers on iso-polyphony" (PDF). UNESCO. p. 5. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  2. ^ Sellheim, R; Elsie, Robert (1992). Oriens. BRILL. p. 304. ISBN 90-04-09651-5.