Ramadan Sokoli, researcher of ethnomusicology and ethnoorganology, composer, professor, was born in Shkodër. He graduated from the state high school in his hometown. He studied flute and composition in Florence. In the years 1946-1953 he worked in various tasks in the field of culture and music; since 1953 he has been a lecturer at the “Jordan Misja” Artistic High School, where he founded the flute class, the folklore class and the cabinet of popular instruments, which became the basis of Albanian ethnomusicology. He conducted many expeditions and collected rich folkloric source material. In 1957, he participated in the complex expedition with the German researchers Doris and Errik Shtokman and Vilfrid Fidler; in 1958, he led the Albanian-Romanian expedition. Ramadan Sokoli has published a series of works from the field of ethnomusicology and musicology, such as: ” Les danses populaires et les instruments musicaux du peuple albanais “, 1958 (“Popular dances and musical instruments of the Albanian people”); ” Chansons populaires albanaises” , 1966 (“Albanian folk songs”); “Illuminated figures: Jan Kukuzeli and Andrea Aleksi”, 1965; “Albanian musical folklore (Morphology)”, 1965; “Dances and music of our ancestors” ( 1971); “Albanian Musical Folklore (Organography)”, 1975 (republished in 1984, 1987, 1991); “Figure of Skenderbeu in Music” (1978); “Folklore Traces” (1982); “Patriotic Song” (1985); “Musical instruments of the Albanian people” (co-author) (1991). Ramadan Sokoli has traced the figures of Albanian art and culture through the centuries and published the books “16 centuries” (1995) and “Orals of the Albanian world” (2000). regularly published articles from his musical studies and other art and national culture fields. Ramadan Sokoli has composed vocal-instrumental and symphonic musical works, especially many songs that have become popular. He has received the “World Oscar Folklorit” from IUFA (International Union of Folklore Associations); he was decorated with the “Grand Master of Work” Order. (In the photo: Ramadan Sokoli)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2369-2370.
Photo: © Sokoli family
Graphic processing: AHCF
