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Music of Bulgaria

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Bulgarian music is part of the Balkan tradition, which stretches across Southeastern Europe, and has its own distinctive sound. Traditional Bulgarian music has had more international success than its neighbors due to the breakout international success of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, a female choir that has topped world music charts across Europe and even farther abroad.

  • NOTE: Bulgarian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet, so transliterations into the Roman alphabet will result in minor variations of spelling (e.g., Paidushko and Padushka).

Bulgarian vocals are said to be "open-throated", though this is actually a misnomer. Singers actually constrict their throats to amplify the voice's focus and strength, giving it a distinctive sound.

Folk music

Regional styles abound in Bulgaria. Dobrudzha, Sofia, Rodopi, Thrace and the northwestern Danube shore all have distinctive sounds. Folk music revolved around holidays like Christmas, New Year's Day and the Feast of St. Lazarus, as well as the unusual Nestinarstvo rites from Strandzha, where villagers fell into a trance and danced on hot coals as part of the feast of Sts Konstantin and Elena. Music was also a part of more personal celebrations, accompanying weddings and the departure of young men for military service.

The most important state-supported orchestra of this era was the Sofia-based State Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances, led by Philip Koutev. Koutev has become perhaps the most influential musician of 20th century Bulgaria, and updated rural music with more accessible harmonies to great domestic acclaim.

The distinctive sounds of women choirs of Bulgarian folk music is partly because of their unique harmony and polyphony, where a singer appears to be singing two notes at the same time. In addition to Koutev, who pioneered many of the harmonies, and composed several songs that were covered by other groups, (especially Tedora), various women's vocal groups gained popularity, including Trio Bulgarka, consisting of Yanka Roupkina, Eva Georgieva, and Stoyanka Boneva, some of whom were included in the "Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices" tours.

During the Communist era, some musicians lived outside the state-supported music scene. Without official support, wedding bands were also without official limitations on their music, leading to fusions with foreign styles and instruments. Thrace was an important center of this music, which was entirely underground until 1986, when a festival of this music, which became a biennial event, was inaugurated in the town of Stambolovo, and artists like Sever, Trakiîski Solisti, Shoumen and Juzhni Vetar became popular, especially clarinetist Ivo Papasov.

Instruments Used in Bulgarian music

Bulgarian music uses a wide range of instruments. Many folk instruments are varients of traditional Turkish instruments such as the "Saz". More modern style instruments are often used in the more modern dance music that was an offshoot of traditional village music.

Folk instruments

Bands frequently use instruments that commonly include:

  • The Gaida: a traditional goat-skin bagpipe
  • The Kaval: an end-blown flute that is very close to the Arabic "Ney" as well as the [Turkish] [kaval]
  • The Gadulka: a Bulgarian-style bowed string instrument close to the "rebec".
  • The tǔpan: a bass frame drum that is hit with a beater ("Kiyak") on one side and a thin stick ("Osier") on the other
  • The tambura: a long-necked lute used for rhythmic accompaniment as well as melodic solos
  • The tarabuka: An hourglass-shaped finger-drum. It is very similar to the Turkish and North African "darbooka" and the Greek "doumbeleki".

Dance instruments (modern "Bulgarian Wedding Music")

The new professional musicians of traditional Bulgarian instruments soon reached new heights of innovation, expanding the capacities of the gaida (Kostadin Varimezov and Nikola Atanasov), gadulka (Mihail Marinov, Atanas Vulchev) and kaval (Nikola Ganchev, Stoyan Velichkov). Other, factory-made instruments had arrived in Bulgaria in the 19th century, and included the accordion. Bulgarian accordion music was defined by Boris Karlov and later Gypsy musicians including Kosta Kolev and Ibro Lolov. In 1965, the Ministry of Culture founded the Koprivshtitsa National Music Festival, which has become an important event, held once every five years, showcasing Bulgarian music. The next festival is in August of 2005.

Folk Dances

Main article: Bulgarian dances.

The most distinctive feature of Balkan folk music is the rhythms, which are built using combinations of 2/16 and 3/16 notes, forming various combinations of 'quick' and 'slow' beats. A number of basic folk dances use a distinct combination of these notes, similar to how the waltz in western music consists of 3/4 rhythm. However, due to the ability to combine 2/16 and 3/16 notes in various combinations and permutations, a wide variety of different rhythms can be obtained. For example, 8/16 can be built using 2-3-3, 3-2-3, or 3-3-2, as well as 2-2-2-2, 2-2-4, 2-4-2, 4-2-2, or even 4-4.

Selected discography

This is a sample of recordings. There are many other recordings available.

  • Music of Bulgaria Original 1955 Recording (Nonesuch 9 72011) Early recordings of Philip Koutev and the Ensemble of the Bulgarian Republic.
  • Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares (Nonesuch 9 79165 in the U.S., 4AD CAD603CD in the U.K.) The Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Choir, directed by Philip Koutev and Krasimir Kyurkchiyski. This was the world hit that introduced many to Bulgarian music. It was actually a collection of recordings by various artists and groups. A group that included some of these singers (and others) toured under this name.
  • Village Music of Bulgaria (Elektra/Nonesuch 9 79195) Two albums of field recordings on one CD (A Harvest, a Shepherd, a Bride, and In the Shadow of the Mountain)
  • Balkana The Music of Bulgaria (Hannibal HNCD 1335) Many of the songs are by Trio Bulgarka or one of its members.
  • The Forest is Crying (Lament for Indje Voivoda) by The Trio Bulgarka (Hannibal HNCD 1342)
  • Two Girls Started to Sing ... Bulgarian Village Singing (Rounder CD 1055) Field recordings

Pop and rock

Rock and metal

Pop

Classical

See also

Music of Thrace

References

  • Burton, Kim. "The Mystery Voice". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 36-45. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
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