Orchestra Horo: Modern Bulgarian Folk Songs, Traditional Rhythms

The reason that you dance and sing is to make the audience feel like they're dancing and singing. As long as you're having fun with it and giving it 100 percent, they're gonna feel that.

Heath Ledger 

Today's post features music performed by Orchestra Horo from Ruse (Rousse), Bulgaria.   Their specialty is modern renditions of folk songs and dances from the northern region of the country. The ensemble celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012. What I like most about them is how their repertoire displays the varied rhythms of Bulgarian folk music.  This band compels you to get up and dance. The songs are upbeat, catchy, and take up residence inside your head. Earworms!

Horo means "dance" in Bulgarian, and as you will see in video #1, there was a large crowd dancing Pravo, Daichovo and Devetorka  at the 50th anniversary party.



Video #2 shows a close-up of the musicians and their instruments: three accordions, a small kaval (shepherd's flute), a keyboard, tupan (double headed drum) and a vocalist. (The voice is also a musical instrument.)

Some people consider accordions  instruments of torture and use them for that purpose. I am the only one who likes accordion music at my house. My husband would rather hear the smoke detector go off  than listen to the accordion. Says it gives him a headache.

The accordion, which was invented in a German-speaking country,  was originally not part of the traditional Bulgarian folk ensemble. Boris Karlov, who arranged many folk dances for accordion, was partly responsible for its popularity in Bulgaria.

The song, Tri Vecheri Na Dunava, translates into English as Three Evenings on The Danube, which explains why there is so much blue in the video :) The rhythm for this song is rachenitsa, (apple-apple-pineapple).  It is the national dance of Bulgaria and the time signature for it is 7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed. The larger the number on the bottom of the time signature, the faster the music.

The city of Ruse is situated on the banks of the Danube, River of Many Names, and for over fifty years had the only bridge that connected Bulgaria and Romania until the Vidin-Calafat bridge was completed in 2013.



Video #3 is the song, Moma Draganka, (girl named Draganka) also in rachenitsa rhythm.  Notice the dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes, eye candy for those who love Bulgarian folklore. If you look closely, you can see a small red cloth on the tupan.  I own a cloth similar to the one in the video.  Mine has an evil eye pattern in several colors, but mostly red. Red is a lucky color in Bulgaria. The evil eye keeps the bad forces away from the person who wears it.



Next is Shirokata, with more eye candy :) The rhythm is 9/16 (devetorka).



Stari Dedo (Old Grandpa) is a folk song in 11/16 (kopanitsa) rhythm. Another dance from Northern Bulgaria, Gankino Horo, has the same rhythm. There are many tunes associated with Gankino Horo, the most famous being the version played by accordionist Boris Karlov.



If anyone out there can locate an English translation for the songs posted here this week, it would be very much appreciated!

If you enjoyed this you may also like

Folk Ensembles Named Horo

The Accordion in Bulgarian Folk Music

The "Flavors" of Bulgarian Rachenitsa Part One and Part Two

The Colors of Bulgarian Folk Songs

Crossing the River Part Four: Celebrating a New Bridge 

The Legacy of Boris Karlov, Bulgarian Folk Accordionist



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The River of Many Names Part 7: Music for Danube Day

Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.
M. Scott Peck

I like to start Alien Diaries posts with quotes, and this one is no exception. I especially like M. Scott Peck's quote because it is so true. 

What delights me the most about Balkan music is the asymmetrical rhythms, the sounds of unusual musical instruments such as the tambura, cimbalom, and kaval and the distinctness of each country's music.  What I have found, however, is despite the differences, music from different Balkan countries often crosses borders, with some interesting results. For example, the Bulgarian dance rachenitsa has a Romanian counterpart, geampara.

In honor of Danube Day 2013,  which takes place on June 29th, today's post features four songs from four different Balkan Danube countries: Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Croatia.  They share one thing in common: a river runs through them.

The first song is from Romania (we are working our way upstream here).  Balada Fetei Dunarene ("Ballad of the Danube Girl") is a poignant and beautiful song, with clarinet, violin and cimbalom accompaniment.  The video has some beautiful photos of the town of Cernavoda. Cernavoda is a Romanian town with a Bulgarian name, and it means "black water."

This song is from YouTube via the Cernavoda Blog, which you may find interesting if you can read Romanian.  I went there to find the lyrics for the song, but couldn't find them.

What I find disturbing is that the Cernavoda coat of arms has the symbol for nuclear energy. The town has a nuclear power plant, and those things don't have a very good reputation.  I would definitely sings the blues about something like that.  Do some of you readers remember Cherno
byl? It wasn't all that long ago.....



More music, scenery, and this time dancers with elaborate embroidered costumes, from Bulgaria.  This song is Dunave, Beli Dunave which means "White Danube." The River of Many Names is also the River of Many Colors.  From what I've seen it can be white (during fog), gray, blue, gold, green and even brown.

This feel-good song conveys a completely different mood than previous one. It's lively and upbeat and accompanied by a loud brass band.  According to the Bulgarian notes, the performers had to wait two hours for the fog to lift .  Here is a translated excerpt which describes the making of the video.

Video for Dunave is realized in Oryahovo and it involved local dance group "Spring" community center "Hope 1871" and the brass band from Lovech - birthplace of the singer. Much fog proved an obstacle to the pictures, but the participants patiently waited for 2 hours. The picture completely meets the elevated mood of the song. The presence of different age participants passing ships, fishermen and boatmen, visually complement the song.......

If you are familiar with Bulgarian folk music, you will recognize the dance Devetorka. It is in an odd rhythm; the top number on the time signature is a nine. Devet means "nine" in Bulgarian.  By the way, Devetorka is popular in Macedonia and Serbia as well as Bulgaria.



In the next song from Serbia Oj Dunave Plavi, the Danube is blue!  You can see it here, through the viewfinder of a cellphone camera.  According to the translation I found, this is a song about a lost love.  If there is such a thing as blues music in Serbia, this is it.  Instead of guitars and saxophones, Serbs sing the blues accompanied by an accordion or two. If they don't have an accordion, a keyboard will do. Some people consider accordions instruments of torture, that is not the case in Serbia.



The last song is from Croatia, and the singer is accompanied by a tamburitza orchestra.  Tamburitza ensembles are extremely popular in Croatia and they have a unique and distinctive sound. When Croatians emigrated abroad, especially to the United States they brought tamburitza music with them, so they wouldn't be so homesick.

The song  U selu pokraj Dunava  is about the dark-eyed girl who lives in a village by the river. The singer is (supposedly) in love with her. She must be a damned good cook.



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The River of Many Names Parts 1-6

Part 1: A Musical Journey

Part 2: The Danube in Bulgarian Folk Music

Part 3: Folk Ensembles Named Dunav

Part 4: The Danube in Bulgarian Folk Songs

Part 5: The Danube in Serbian Folk Music (lots of accordion music, this is also known as the "Strudel" post!)

Part 6:  The Danube in Croatian Folk Songs

Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs Part 1  (two more versions of Dunave, Beli Dunave.  The Bulgarians must really like this song, I have found so many different versions of it on YouTube.)


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

If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.
Loren Eiseley

To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music? ―
Michael Jackson

World Water Day is tomorrow, so this post will be about Bulgarian folk songs related to a body of water, the Danube, the river which forms the boundary between Bulgaria and Romania.

For information on World Water Day, click on the following link:

http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/

There is definitely something a little bit magic about the Danube, the River of Many Names. Judging from the number of songs and instrumental pieces written about this river, it is an important source of inspiration for musicians (as well as artists in general).

Today's post features two Bulgarian folk songs that I found during one of my forays in the Universe of YouTube.

The first song (and dance) is a lively, feel-good piece from northern Bulgaria, accompanied by a brass ensemble, and sung by Ilian Mihov. Brass music is very popular in this part of Bulgaria (composer Diko Iliev was also a native of this region and he wrote some very well-known pieces for brass, the most well-known being Dunavsko Horo.)

According to a review I read (via translation) on signal.bg, this performance took place in Oryahovo, a town where Diko Iliev lived for many years and where he found the inspiration for Dunavsko. Here's a excerpt from the website. A little is lost in translation, but not much.

Video for Dunave is realized in Oryahovo and it involved local dance group "Spring" community center "Hope 1871" and the brass band from Lovech - birthplace of the singer. Much fog proved an obstacle to the pictures, but the participants patiently waited for 2 hours. The picture completely meets the elevated mood of the song. The presence of different age participants passing ships, fishermen and boatmen, visually complement the song.......

Dunave is entirely a piece of copyright Ilian Mihov the rhythm of the White Rose. (note: the song White Rose бяла роза is a popular Bulgarian pop-folk song, in the rhythm of the dance Devetorka). Song is a typical sound of the Danube region. Idea of ​​text are pleasant feelings and childhood memories near the majestic river and its strong attraction. "I think the Danube is our river and we have to sing, like all peoples who live along it. tried to make contemporary Bulgarian song in the spirit of folk music that is respectful to the population of the Danube region, which I think the authors are obligors. I hope it becomes part of the celebrations of the people and the dance attracts young and old....."

The original Bulgarian writeup can be read here:

http://signal.bg/view_article.php?article_id=18118&order=asc

Anyway, this video is a delight to watch with the scenery, the music (the band is very good!), and the dancers in colorful folk costumes. By the way, the dance is a Devetorka, very popular in the Balkans, with an odd time signature, 9/8.



If you're interested in complex Balkan and Middle Eastern rhythms, check out this website.

http://www.ethnicdance.net/rhythm_gallery/left-e_rhythm_gallery_index.html

The next song, Dunave, Beli Dunave caught my attention because it's also in an asymmetric rhythm, the Pajduško. By the way there are other Bulgarian folk songs with this title, and you will find them on this blog (see one of the links listed at the end of this post). Pajduško is a dance very popular in the Balkans and has an odd time signature, 5/16. (quick-slow).

I couldn't find a writeup or the lyrics of this song. The title means "White Danube" and from what I've seen on the Internet (as well as personal observations) the Danube is a river of many colors as well as many names. Go figure out this one. I can understand blue, green, gold or even gray, but white? If you have an answer for me, please post it in the "comments" section. Inquiring minds want to know :)

Since I understand only a few words of Bulgarian, from what I could gather, this is probably a love song and something in a completely different mood than the previous video. The slideshow is very well put together, and some of the photos look like they were taken during flood season, when Dunav goes wild, destroying everything in its path.



If you enjoyed this you may also like The Travels of Pajduško Horo:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/09/travels-of-pajdusko-horo.html

More Danube music from Bulgaria in The River of Many Names Part 2, with lots of dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes and some beautiful scenery.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/10/river-of-many-names-part-2-danube-in.html

You can find a traditional as well as a modern version of Dunave beli Dunave here. One of them is a dance tune in the techno style...very catchy.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2011/06/modern-versions-of-traditional.html

If you like brass music, read about Diko Iliev, whose compositions were based on folk dances from northern Bulgaria.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/06/having-blast-with-diko-iliev.html


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