Raspukala Šar Planina (Lesnoto/Pravoto)[Macedonia] dance history & background

Thanks to Dennis Boxell for sharing his knowledge.

Raspukala Šar Planina is a modern rendition of an old song from Kavadarci about what happens to three shepherds on the Šar Planina mountain range just NW of Skopje. It has become one of the “classic” tunes for the dance Lesnoto/Pravoto.

The original version was sung by Makedonka Nedeva from Kavadarci in 1936 and published in 1964 in Soborski Narodni Pesni by Vasil Hadjimanov. Somewhat later, the rendition on page one was made by Radio Skopje that made the song popular throughout Macedonia. The original words vary slightly from the modern version. In the original, the mountain “poured or spread out” and “took under” the three shepherds. And instead of a wife, the first shepherd has a lover who mourns until noon. Again, it is the mother who mourns “as long as she lives”.