In addition to the 3500 aluminum disks of recordings of South Slavic heroic songmaking that Parry and Lord collected in the years 1934-35, and the wealth of transcripts, there was also this one short "kino" recording of Avdo Mededovic, whom Parry considered the "most talented" of all the singers he worked with.

Notice how quickly Avdo moves from line to line. His song is not memorized. He is composing it as he performs, using traditional techniques.

The Milman Parry Collection of Oral Literature is the largest single repository of South Slavic heroic song in the world. It is currently currently housed in Widener Library at Harvard University. Visit their website to learn more about the history of the Collection and the work of Parry and Lord.

For more about the composition and performance of Homeric Poetry (as understood by a study of the Soyuth Slavic epic tradition), visit "Performance and Performer: The Role of Tradition in Oral Epic Song." It contains video clips excerpted from two lectures given by Professor Albert B. Lord.