Beli Dunav Part Three: Modern Bulgarian Danube Songs

I have no plan. I will leave it to the good things and good times to find me.
Nimrat Kaur

The third and final post in the series Danube Songs From Bulgaria features some modern, happy folk songs with amusing videos.

The first video is of the Ensemble Plam from Ruse. According to Google Translate, the word "Plam" translates to enthusiasm or passion.  They certainly express it here!

Plam reminds me of another band from Ruse: Orchestra Horo.  There is a link about them and their music at the bottom of this post.

Plam is into modern instrumentation (except for the tupan.)  There are two guys on accordion, one on saxophone, one on a keyboard and one on a clarinet; you don't see evidence of a gaida or gadulka here.

The song is Kray Dunava (from the Danube region); the music and the dance are another variation of Kraj Dunavsko Horo.  It's lively and fast, and there's some eye candy for the guys (two attractive female singers with bright purple dresses, which alternate with quasi-folk costumes). The dancers get silly with brooms and a bottle of booze. It's fun to watch.



Harry Bend is another group that plays modern versions of traditional Bulgarian folk tunes. The next video is another "White Danube" song (Dunave Beli Dunave).

The instrumentation is similar to Plam except that the drummer plays a modern set of drums instead of a tupan.  This is another fun video with dancers, a man and a woman in a rowboat, and a woman in a swing (all wearing elaborate embroidered costumes.)  I have no idea what's in the two white bags, it could be contraband for all I know :) The guy in the boat also has a kaval,  but you can't hear him play it.

You will recognize the rhythm of this song if you are familiar with the dance Padjusko Horo.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Orchestra Horo: Modern Bulgarian Folk Songs, Traditional Rhythms

The Travels of Padjusko Horo

Two Variations on a Bulgarian Folk Dance: Kraj Dunavsko Horo

If you missed the first two posts in this series you can find them here:

Beli Dunav Part One

Beli Dunav Part Two


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