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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Beli Dunav, Part Two: More Songs from Bulgaria: Danube Blues

It's fun to sing sad songs. And it's fun to listen to sad songs. Enjoyable. Satisfying. Something.
Richard Thompson

Singing and listening to sad songs is a universal thing, especially when people have been drinking a little too much alcohol. This tends to bring out the maudlin streak. Songs about tragedy and lost love are common to many cultures, and today's post features four folk songs from Bulgaria. They mention the Danube, River of Many Names in the lyrics.

The first song is Dunave, Beli, Dunave,  (White Danube) performed by Lyuben Zahariev.  I couldn't find the lyrics or a translation of the song.  The overall impression that I get is that there is a loss, maybe someone traveling far away leaving a girlfriend behind. If anyone out there has a translation, please post it in the comments section.



Lyuben Zahariev's singing style has often been compared to Kaicho Kamenov, who lived from 1923-1983.  Both men were from northwestern Bulgaria, Vidin region.

This song is about about a man watching the fog and dreaming about his lost love: It is titled Kolko sa mŭgli po Dunava (What is the Fog on the Danube? Unfortunately Google Translate is not always 100% accurate, this is the best translation I could find.)  Kamenov recorded most of his songs before the advent of color TV.  The video is in black and white and shades of gray  (fortunately not the Fifty Shades of Gray from that bondage and domination movie that was so popular recently.)  Fog is a common phenomenon around large bodies of water, especially during spring and fall. It is white and obscures visibility. Many accidents (both on land and water) occur on foggy days.

The text (in Bulgarian) includes a brief bio of Kamenov, mentions his most popular songs, and shows the album cover.  Back in the old days records (anyone remember those?) were 10" in diameter, had one song per side, and the rotational speed was 78 revolutions per minute.  The average recording was about three minutes long. We have come a long way since then.



In the next video you get to watch a slideshow while listening to Radka Krai Dunav Stoeshe (Radka Stood Along the Danube).  Is she waiting for someone from far away?  Was she in love with a fisherman who never returned? This is another song with lyrics that could not be found, but the overall mood of the song is pure blues with accordion, clarinet, and lament. If you watch closely, you can see an ancient photo; most likely this is Radka. What color is the Danube here?  The same color as the song.



The video for Oj Dunave Beli is even more colorful, featuring people on a steamboat dressed in period costumes from the early twentieth century. The singer is Daniel Spassov, and is an excerpt from a longer video titled Ide Duhovata Muzika (Here Comes the Brass Band).

I was able to pick up some of the song's meaning, which has to do with nostalgia for the past and one's lost youth.



If you liked this you may also enjoy:

Beli Dunav Part One: Danube Songs from Bulgaria

The River of Many Names Part Five:  (Nostalgic songs from Serbia)

The Colors of Bulgarian Folk Songs


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Beli Dunav Part One: Danube Songs from Bulgaria

We forget just how painfully dim the world was before electricity. A candle, a good candle, provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt light bulb.
Bill Bryson

You may be wondering why I used a quote about candles.  Read on and you'll find out.

Today's post is first in a series featuring Danube songs from Bulgaria. The title for this one is Dunave, Beli Dunave. In English it translates to "White Danube."  In Bulgaria, the color white is associated with "joy, grandeur and beauty," among other things. There are a number of arrangements and different versions of this song, and I have written about them in previous posts (see links below)

Songs like this are the reason people are so enchanted with arrangements of Bulgarian choral music.

Back in the late 80's people in the States took notice of vocal music from Eastern Europe.  Marcel Cellier had put together an album called the "Mystery of Bulgarian Voices." It became extremely popular in the United States, and Americans were amazed at the beauty and harmony of Bulgarian folk songs.  One was even used in the TV series Xena, Warrior Princess.

The name of the group in the video is Rosalitsa and this performance took place in the community center (chitalishte) in the town of Svishtov , Bulgaria.  Svishtov has been settled since the time of the Romans, who called it Novae. The Bulgarian name of the town is derived from the word "candle."  There was once a lighthouse there to aid night time navigation, back in the days when there was no electricity.

The song is performed a capella and there are two distinct, yet harmonious melodies blended together. It sounds like something you'd hear in a church or a concert hall.  This is Bulgarian folk song at its best.



If anyone out there can find the lyrics of this beautiful song, please post them in the "comments" section.  It would be much appreciated!

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Bulgarian Singing Demystified

The River of Many Names Part 4: The Danube in Bulgarian Folk Songs

Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs Part One

For more on Bulgarian singing click this link: 


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