Happy spring! Today's post is about flowers in Bulgarian folk music.
The rose is the national flower of Bulgaria. There is a big festival every year in early June in Kazlanuk, Bulgaria. Here is some old video from 2010 to give you an idea what the Rose Festival is about (horo dancing is a big part of it!)
Video #1 is Biala Roza (White Rose), a song warning a young man to watch out for those thorns! The dance to this is Devetorka (9/16).
Video #2 is Karamfil (Carnation) It is a Hajduk (rebel) song. The Hajduk (named "Karamfil") is a son of the Balkan Mountains and grew up in the Valley of the Roses. Karamfil is also a very popular dance. Rhythm is 7/8.
Video #3 is May Flowers by Diko Iliev. His specialty was horo (dance) music for wind instruments. He is much honored in Bulgaria, especially in the town of Oriahovo, where he spent his happiest and most productive years. His favorite season must have been springtime, because he wrote two other pieces with seasonal titles: Maisko Utro (May Morning) and Proletno (Springtime) Horo.
There are no dancers in this video. To me this sounds like a fast Pravo in 2/4. The band itself is worth watching.
If I look confused, it is because I am thinking.
Samuel Goldwyn
Let's start 2020 with one of my favorite topics: Balkan dances that are often confused. It is the series that never ends. If you are a regular, you had probably read the previous 18 posts on this fascinating topic.
Video #1 features a group from the Czech republic, from the city of Brno. Despite the "soubor Pirin" in the title of the video, this is not music from southwest Bulgaria (Pirin region) but from the northwest region. Are you confused yet?
They perform a medley of two dances: the first a Vlach dance (known as Krajdunavsko, or from the Danube region). Vlach dances are characterized with a lot of fast steps, crossovers and stamps. At 2:04 is the Dunavsko Daichovo Horo. Daichovo is also a dance popular in northern Bulgaria and there are several variations, with different choreographies and different music.
The original version of Dunavsko Daichovo was composed by someone in the group Orchestra Horo. They are from the city of Ruse, and their specialty is modern renditions of folk songs and dances from the northern region of Bulgaria. The ensemble celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012. I'm sure they will make it to their 60th in 2022. The album cover below is probably from one of their original albums. Remember when there were records instead of digitized music?
Things get to be even more confusing because there is a very famous piece by Diko Iliev, that he composed and introduced in 1937: Dunavsko Horo.
This piece has a martial motif because Diko Iliev was involved with military bands in a number of towns and cities in Bulgaria. Diko Iliev had also fought in the First Balkan War as well as World War I. He was also the bandmaster in the town of Oryahovo, where he composed numerous works.
Video # 3 combines an old war movie with Dunavsko Horo. The explosions seem to be in time with the music. The music begins at 0:19. The New Year fireworks in Bulgaria are also in synch with the music. (If you want to see those, check out the 2020 New Year Post).
There are different tunes used for Dunavsko Horo . The choreography is essentially the same no matter what music is used because you can hear the dance in the music. Here is an example of a more traditional version with dancers in folk costumes. The group is Ensemble Gotse Delchev.
Unity Makes Strength
-motto on Bulgarian coat of arms
This week's post features the regions of Severnjasko (northern) and Pirin (southwest).
Video #1 is an example of music from northwestern Bulgaria .The name of the piece is Vlashki Igri (Vlach Dances).
This piece is a dance in two parts: the first part in 5/8 (quick-slow) and the second in pravo rhythm. The instrumentation is in the Vlach style. The dominant instrument in the first piece is the gadulka; in the second dance (at 1:23) the dominant instrument is the kaval (at 2:27).
The musicians are instrumentalists from the folk ensemble Dunav from Vidin. You can see the costumes of the northern region in the video. The predominant colors are red and white, the colors of the Martenitsa.
Here's another way to recognize music from northwestern Bulgaria. If a song has Dunav in the title it is most likely from the northern region. Dunav means Danube in Bulgarian: the ensemble is named after the river, which forms the border with Romania.
Brass music is also very popular in northern Bulgaria due to the influence of composer Diko Iliev (1898-1984). His best known work is Dunavsko Horo, played at celebrations and especially during the New Year in Bulgaria.
Video #2 is an example of a rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria, a dance in 7/8 rhythm (apple-apple-pineapple). It is Svatbarska Rachenitsa, composed by Diko Iliev (1898-1984), and played by a brass orchestra. Diko Iliev created many pieces based on folk dances from the northern region: Daichovo, Elenino, and Gankino are some examples.
Svatba means "wedding" in Bulgarian. One of my daughters will be getting married next month.. Unfortunately, she won't allow any Bulgarian folk music at this gig.
Video #3 features the dissonant harmonies of the mountainous Pirin region in southwestern Bulgaria. The Bisserov sisters perform a traditional song from the village of Pirin. The two ladies on the left play tambourine and tarambuka, the one on the right plays a tambura, an instrument very popular in the Pirin region.
Here's another way to recognize music from the Pirin: many of their songs and dances are in 7/8 lesnoto rhythm (pineapple-apple-apple).
There is an introduction in English with a short description of the song. It is dedicated to the people who died for the freedom of Bulgaria during the Ottoman Occupation.
Author's note: There is someone out there who has stolen material from this blog. The link is http://traditionalmusicmostlyirish.blogspot.co.il/. Please make note of that and mention it on his Facebook plug in. Plagiarism will not be tolerated!
Music is the melody whose text is the world.
Arnold Schopenhauer
Today's post features several versions of Gankino Horo as interpreted by the composer Diko Iliev. He lived from 1898 - 1984 and is best known for the piece Dunavsko Horo, danced at just about every celebration in Bulgaria, especially during the New Year.
To get an idea about what the dance is about (since I couldn't find anything on YouTube with people dancing to Iliev's Gankino Horo) watch the video below. If you are familiar with The Alien Diaries, you will recognize the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel.
The rhythm is 11/16 ( quick-quick-slow-quick-quick). Gankino Horo is a dance in the kopanitsa family and there are many fancy versions of kopanitsa out there. The one in the video is the basic village dance. The slow beat is the "hiccup" in the middle.
The music arrangement is by Boris Karlov, an accordionist of Roma origin. (It is easy to confuse him with the movie actor with a similar name, Boris Karloff. If you're a fan of old movies, you may find this link of interest).
The melody is familiar to folk dancers around the world. Karlov made many recordings of Bulgarian folk dances for accordion and this one is extremely popular more than fifty years after his death in 1964.
Diko Iliev also used this melody in his Maisko Gankino Horo; there is a link to it at the end of this post.
Remember all Gankinos are kopanitsas, but not all kopanitsas are Gankino.
The next video is music by Diko Iliev: Dukovitsko Gankino Horo. My guess is that it's name after a village or town. Many Bulgarian dances are named after cities or towns. Some are named after people. Ganka is a female name in Bulgaria.
The CD cover pictured is from the album Spomeni (memories, not a fancy Italian ice cream called spumoni.) Confused? Look it up on Google Translate.
There is a picture of the composer, a score from one of his pieces and a bouquet of red flowers.It must be something connected with Diko Iliev. Does anyone out there know why?
This version of Gankino is actually named after a person named Gano. He is a winner (gano means "I win" in Spanish. Bad joke). In both Spanish and Bulgarian, female names usually end with the letter "a", male names with the letter "o".
If you like two for the price of one here is Rachenitsa followed by Gankino Horo. It is common in a horovod (medley of Bulgarian folk dances) to combine dances in different rhythms. Rachenitsa is in 7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed; say the words "apple-apple-pineapple" and you have rachenitsa.
This album cover is a view from the town of Oriahovo, where Diko Iliev lived for 42 years. The town square is named after him. The Bulgarian National Radio compiled this CD, and you can hear the music from it on YouTube.
This week The Alien Diaries has reached its 250th post and will go into its 6th year!
The I's have it, since today's dances begin with the letter "I".
The first is Izruchana, a moderately difficult Vlach dance from northwestern Bulgaria. Vlach dances have much in common with those from southern Romania. They are fast and accented with stamps and shouts.
In case you're wondering who the Vlachs are, they are people of Romanian ancestry who live outside Romania. Many of them were sheep herders and wandered from place to place to find good pastures. There are Vlach villages on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, River of Many Names.
This group of dancers is from Hong Kong. For some reason the Chinese love Balkan music and there are many Chinese folk dance videos on YouTube.I have also met a number of Chinese people at my folk dance group, including my daughter's high school home room teacher.
If you are a regular reader, you have seen this "Bonding Folkdance Class" from China. Here they perform the danceImate li Vino. The English translation of the song is "Do you have wine?" Since February is the month of Trifon Zarezan, the patron saint of vintners, I included it this week. The dance is a lesnoto variation in 7/8 rhythm (pineapple-apple-apple). Lesnoto is a popular dance in southwestern Bulgaria (Pirin) and in the Republic of Macedonia.
According to the lyrics, you can bring wine, money and young women, but no old ladies! I sense some age discrimination here.... For some reason the end of of the video was cut off. Someone needs to teach the Chinese some video editing skills :)
Although it's a little early, I'd like to wish my Chinese readers a Happy New Year, with health and happiness!
The bonus video for this week is a waltz by the Bulgarian composer Diko Iliev whose birthday falls on February 15. He is best known for the dance piece Dunavsko Horo. In keeping with the "I" theme (Iliev) and the wine theme, the name of this piece is In the Vineyards Over Ribine.
Are you looking forward to spring? It has been a long, hard winter here with plenty of cold and snow. Chase away the winter blues with some springtime music by Diko Iliev.
Since this week's dance has two c's instead of one, here's the Cookie Monster to tell you what the letter C is all about. Eating too many cookies results in weight gain, which is why Cookie Monster should take up Balkan dancing.
The featured dance is from the Sumadija region of Central Serbia, Cicino Kolo. Translated into English it means "Grandfather's Kolo" At first it looks like something your grandfather can easily do until it starts to speed up.. Cicino Kolo is not recommended for those who have arthritis in the knees or other mobility problems. No disrespect meant to grandfathers, some are very fit and active people.
Kolo means "circle"and it can also mean wheel. Not all kolos are danced in a circle, as you will see in the here, since there are only two people, not enough to form a circle. Circles and lines, by the way, are geometric figures, which are very prominent in folk dances from Eastern Europe.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you'll recognize the dancers. They are members of the Dunav group, from Jerusalem, Israel. By the way, Dunav means Danube in Serbian and Bulgarian.
Although I'm not quite ready to move to letter D I thought I'd include, as an added bonus, the Bulgarian New Year Dance: Diko Iliev's Dunavsko Horo. He composed it in honor of the Danube, River of Many Names. It was a big part of his life because he spent many years in the town of Oryahovo, along the river. The music and the dance are associated with Diko Iliev, even though he wrote many other compositions.
Play it at midnight and turn the volume loud enough to wake the dead. Get all your friends to line up behind you and dance around the living room instead of having a drunken Auld Lang Syne singalong. If you want to learn the dance, the first post on the list below will help.
Today's dance is the very popular Gankino Horo from the northwestern region of Bulgaria.
First, let's have a look at the dance. It's fairly easy once you get the feel of the 11/16 rhythm. That little "hiccup" in the middle takes some getting used to.
The 11/16 rhythm is also used in the dance kopanitsa.Gankino Horo is a kopanitsa, but not all kopanitsas are Gankino. Ganka is a female name in Bulgaria, and the dance may have been named after the woman who led it. This may or may not be true. There are a number of Bulgarian dances named after women or girls for example: Elenino Horo (Elena's Dance).
The dancers are from the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel (if you're a regular you have seen many of their videos on this blog). The music is from an old recording by Boris Karlov, a musician who died nearly 50 years ago. You can read more about him in one of the posts listed below. He created many arrangements of Bulgarian folk dances for accordion that are still used today.
Since the month of May is almost here, the next variation is Maisko Gankino Horo by Diko Iliev. You'll hear the same motif, but it sounds quite different played on brass instruments.
If you're not familiar with the name Diko Iliev, he was a composer from northwestern Bulgaria who composed many pieces based on folk dances. His most popular work is Dunavsko Horo, played during holidays and celebrations, and especially to welcome the New Year.
The next video of Gankino Horo uses different music. There is more than one tune associated with this dance, and I have found several versions on YouTube. In that respect it is like the dance Dunavsko Horo.
Finally, we have a duo of classical musicians. They play an rrangement of Gankino on piano and cello. This is the familiar melody you heard in the first two videos. Classical musicians can be sometimes intimidated by the unusual rhythms of Bulgarian folk music, but not these two. They do an excellent job with the piece and play it FAST.
It is my personality alone that has brought back the waltz and made it a global craze.
Andre Rieu
Music from the Balkans is best known for its uneven rhythms and odd time signatures.
Western classical and popular music, for the most part, has an even number in the time signature. A notable exception is the waltz, a dance in 3/4 time.
The waltz originated as an Austrian folk dance, the Ländler, native to southern Germany (Bavaria) and Austria. The most renowned composer of waltzes was Johann Strauss, Junior; although the Viennese waltz did not begin with him. His father Johann Senior and his friend Josef Lanner took Austrian folk tunes and dressed them up for the sophisticated audiences in Vienna and its environs. Their music became part of the classical music repertoire worldwide.
Here is an example of a waltz borrowed from folk music, the Styrian Dancesby Josef Lanner. Styria (Steiermark, in German) is a region in southeastern Austria; it shares a border with Slovenia, part of a country that no longer exists, Yugoslavia.
The fame of the waltz traveled far and wide throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire; it spread to Hungary, where Emmerich Kalman and Franz Lehar incorporated it into their operettas. It went further down the Danube, River of Many Names (Johann Strauss' most famous waltz was about it), into the Balkans, and even as far east as Russia.
The next waltz is from Croatia. The tamburitza orchestra gives it a distinctly Croatian sound. I don't know if this is a folk tune or a piece that was composed. The recording sounds quite old. By the way, much of the music at folk dances comes from vintage recordings.
Diko Iliev, Bulgarian composer (best known for Dunavsko Horo), has a birthday this month on the 15th. Although he composed many pieces based on Bulgarian folk dances such as daichovo, rachenitsa, elenino, and pravo, he wrote waltzes, too. The title of this one, translated from the Bulgarian is In the Vineyards Over Rabine. I have no idea where Rabine is, but it is probably somewhere in Bulgaria, which is a big wine producing country.
In Bulgaria, February is the month of St. Trifon the Pruner (Trifon Zarezan); it is the time when the vintners get to work pruning the vines to make them ready for the next growing season. It it is also celebrated with lots of wine!
And finally, here is a very famous waltz from Romania by a composer who is practically unknown nowadays. Pop culture buffs will recognize this piece because it has undergone several incarnations. One of them was The Anniversary Song performed by Al Jolson (of classic movie fame), in The Jolson Story. The other was a song popular in Korea titled In Praise of Death. The woman who sang it died tragically at a very young age.
This version is the original, by a composer of Serbian descent who lived in Romania. His name was Iosef Ivanovici and he was a bandmaster stationed in Galati. He had his first introduction to music when an elderly man gave him a flute.
He composed a number of pieces including hora, a dance based on Romanian folk tunes, and many other works, including waltzes, polkas, and marches. However, his best known composition was a waltz titled Waves of the Danube, also known under the German title Donauwellen.
By the way, the conductor in this video, Minseok Kang, ironically, is from Korea, and he conducts the Botosani Philharmonic Orchestra. He is quite the character, and an excellent dancer!
Announcement!
My new blog Light and Shadow has now been launched! If you enjoy humor and satire, photos and poetry, stop by to visit! I will be posting there about once a month. Eventually I plan to sell chapbooks of my poetry on this site, as well as feature anthologies where my work has been published.
photo from Wikipedia Commons, Danube Bridge 2, taken March 2013
We build too many walls and not enough bridges.
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton's words certainly ring true, both literally and figuratively, and here at The Alien Diaries building bridges between cultures is one of the main reasons for this blog.
I find bridges fascinating because I grew up in New York City, a city linked together by hundreds of bridges. One of my childhood nightmares involved a drawbridge that opened when I was halfway across, and one of my favorite memories was summer nights in one of New York's waterfront parks. We often stayed late enough to watch the bridge lights come on.
Many years ago I had won tickets to the 100th Anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful, festive ceremony that I will never forget.
Today's post celebrates the official opening of Danube Bridge 2, (Bulgarian: Дунав мост 2, Romanian: Podul Vidin-Calafat), connecting the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania.
You can get information on Danube Bridge 2 from its official website: Click on one the flags to read about it in the language of your choice.
Until Danube Bridge 2 was completed in 2013, there was only one bridge crossing between Romania and Bulgaria; the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge, completed in 1954. This made things especially difficult for truck drivers and other commercial traffic; they had to deal with long waits at ferry crossings, since one bridge couldn't accommodate them all.
The Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge was also known as the "Friendship Bridge" during socialist days, a term used for propaganda purposes. There couldn't have been too much friendship going on between the two countries. The dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, had his country under lockdown. The situation in Romania became so bad under his regime that people risked their lives swimming across to Bulgaria to escape oppression.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, things have changed in Eastern Europe for the better. Hopefully.
Because The Alien Diaries is a music and dance blog (among other things), the first video is a dance piece, Sârba de la Calafat. The notes on the video a describe a course for accordion video lessons. (If you're interested click here:) The accordionist here does an excellent job, he has learned his lessons well.
Unfortunately, there is no dancing in this video, if you want to see some Sârba, click this link. It is a very energetic and lively dance, especially when it's done by people who've had a little too much booze.
This colorful group of costumed dancers performs Vidinsko Horo. Energetic dances like this are typical of the Severnjasko (northwest) region of Bulgaria.
Diko Iliev, a Bulgarian composer who lived from 1898 to 1984 wrote a very well-known piece which has almost become the second national anthem of Bulgaria. It's played during celebrations, especially at the start of the New Year. This is Iliev's Dunavsko Horo, which was most likely written while the composer lived in Oryahovo. If you look closely you can see a photo of Iliev at center stage.
And now we come to the water underneath that bridge. The composer of this waltz (yes, they play waltzes in the Balkans!) was of Serbian origin and he made his home in Romania. His name was Ion Iosef Ivanovici, and he was a bandmaster in the Romanian army who composed music in his spare time. He was quite prolific, having written over 350 dance pieces.
His compositions was quite popular at the end of the 19th century, but unfortunately he was pretty much forgotten after his death in 1902.
According to the article here, Ivanovici was influenced not only by the music of the Austro-Hungarian empire (they and the Ottomans held sway over this part of the world in the late 19th century), but also by Romanian traditional music. He wrote several hora pieces, hora being the national dance of Romania.
This is his best-known piece, Waves of the Danube. If you read the Wikipedia article, you'll find it has undergone several incarnations such as as The Anniversary Song in the United States and in Korea as the Psalm of Death (how morbid!) This is the original orchestration, and like many other pieces on The Alien Diaries, it has an odd time signature. This one is in 3/4, and played in true Romanian style. Note that the conductor is Korean, but the orchestra is from the town of Bostusani, in northern Romania.
By the way, the waltz is listed on the video under its German name, Donauwellen. There is also a cake with the same name!
If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy the rest of the series Crossing the River Parts 1, 2 and 3. Part 3 is where you'll find the links to the earlier posts.
The River of Many Names, parts 1 -6. (you can find the links from 1-5 in Part 6. If you like Close Encounters of the Danubian kind, you will love this series.
Today's cross-cultural adventure explores Bulgarian folk music played on instruments from Italy and Central America.
The first piece is by Diko Iliev, who composed music based on folk dances from northwestern Bulgaria. This dance is a Daichovo Horo titled Bilka. Daichovo has an odd rhythm: quick-quick-quick-slow. The accent is on the first beat, but the fourth is the longest. For you music theorists out there the top number in the time signature is a nine. Balkan music is well-known for its irregular rhythms with a combination of quick-slow beats.
Here's the traditional orchestration for brass band to use as a frame of reference:
The next video is the same piece played by the group Prima Visione, and arranged for mandolin orchestra. The mandolin is an instrument most commonly associated with Italian music; this is quite an unusual combination. This version of Bilka has a quieter, gentler sound than the brass band.
The marimba is a a percussion instrument related to the xylophone. It is commonly associated with the folk music of the indigenous Maya people of the Yucatan in Mexico and the country of Guatemala.
Now things really start to get interesting. This video is of the Via Nova Percussion Group playing Bulgarian horo on several marimbas. Horo is a generic name for a folk dance from Bulgaria, in this case this one is a Pravo Horo.
The second set features three Bulgarian folk dances: Lesnoto, Kopanitsa, and Pravo. The first two have odd time signatures; Lesnoto is in 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple) and Kopanitsa in 11/8 (quick-quick-slow-quick quick). The Pravo can either be in 2/4 or 6/8, this version is in 6/8. If you look off to the side, you'll see the tupan player. The tupan is a double-headed drum used throughout the Balkans. He is the all-important rhythm section and keeps everyone else in line :)
Variations on a Theme by Petko Stainov (a contemporary of Diko Iliev who also used folk motifs in his music). In this post, you'll hear different versions of his piece, Rachenitsa, along with some folk music from Guatemala.
Today's post has a springtime theme with music by the Bulgarian composer Diko Iliev (1898-1984).
His works were based on folk dances from northwestern Bulgaria and arranged for brass orchestras.
Although many people are familiar with his most famous piece, Dunavsko Horo, he wrote numerous other compositions which are not as well known.
The first is titled Пробуждане на Пролетта (Springtime Awakening.) Although I like the scenery in this video, however, the "please purchase" annotation is a distraction. My guess is that although many YouTubers are looking to make money from their videos, they are a bit more discreet about it.
By the way, I find commercials very annoying, and always skip though them when I can. The advertising business would go bankrupt the if the world were made up of people like me.
The next piece is Proletno Horo (Springtime Dance). After a long, hard winter, everyone wants to dance outside. The artwork is very appealing as well, it captures the essence of a Bulgarian village scene. If anyone knows who the artist is, please let me know in the "comments" section!
Same artwork, but a different piece of music this time, Maisko Utro, or May Morning. Iliev might have been inspired by a quote from William Shakespeare when he composed this piece: No doubt they rose up early to observe The rite of May; and, hearing our intent, Came here in grace of our solemnity.
I like spring because it's so colorful, and after the cold and dreariness of winter, it's good to see the trees dressed with beautiful blossoms and everything in brilliant hues.
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Dreaming of Spring in the Middle of Winter (a blog post written during the cold, snowy and harsh winter of 2010-2011). If you like Bulgarian folk songs about flowers, this is for you!
Now that we've survived the end of the world and the craziness that is the Christmas holiday it's time to celebrate the New Year, Bulgarian style. Today's post will feature party videos from different countries with Bulgarian folk dancing.
The first one takes place in Tampa, Florida in the United States, and this really exuberant group dances a rachenitsa, accompanied with lots of noise (presumably to drive away the evil spirits). Maybe they've had a little too much wine, the room seems to turn sideways :) I know it isn't me...
There are many versions of Dunavsko Horo around, and this dance always ushers in the New Year in Bulgaria; the one shown here is played on traditional folk instruments. This group of young people is from Bulgaria.
The next group hails from Toronto, Canada. Check out the cute little girl in the center of the room (somehow they manage not to run over her). The dance is Bachkovsko Horo, which looks very similar to Dunavsko, with a few more steps. It is a very energetic dance which should be done only by people in excellent physical condition :)
The music most often used for Dunavsko Horo on New Year's is by Diko Iliev; this father with his little boy are having fun with it. They're pretending that they're shooting off fireworks while the little one blows the whistle and keeps time with the forks. They're wishing everyone a Happy New Year all the way from California.
All that gloom and doom predicted for 2012 is now just a memory. Here is last year's New Year post. You can look back on 2012 and be glad it's almost over. What will 2013 bring? More of the same, I'm sure.
Where words fail, music speaks.
Hans Christian Andersen
Today's post features the music of one of Bulgaria's favorite composers, Diko Iliev, whose birthday falls on February 15th. He was born in 1898 in Karlukovo, Bulgaria.
Although he died in 1984, his music is very much alive especially during celebrations in Bulgaria. Many of his compositions are based on folk dances and are arranged for brass and woodwind instruments. Unfortunately, he is virtually unknown here in the States.
Let's start with a rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria, composed by Diko Iliev. This is a short and powerful piece played by the Velingrad Brass Band. Turn up the volume, this will blast you right out of your chair.
At the age of 13, his parents sent him to study music with a military brass band. The bandmaster recognized his talent early on, and at 19 he composed his first piece, Iskarsko Horo.
Diko Iliev saw time on the battlefield during the Balkan Wars and World War I, as well as World War II, where he was a military bandmaster for the Bulgarian army. He was stationed for a long time in Oryahovo, a town on the Danube, the River of Many Names, where he composed his most famous and popular piece, Dunavsko Horo. You will hear it in this video and see what inspired the music.
The name of the video translates to Bulgaria, Where are We? The narration (in Bulgarian, no English subtitles) describes the town of Oryahovo, in part, though the eyes of a child. It is very well presented, with beautiful scenery, especially along the river. Even if you don't understand the language, it's a pleasure to watch. It is a bit of summertime in the middle of winter, which has been especially bad in Europe this year (so cold that the Danube froze over in Bulgaria.)
Although Diko Iliev's music is associated with celebrations, his life was marked by tragedy. His first child died of tuberculosis at the age of 14, and near the end of his life, he went blind and had to leave Oryahovo to live with his daughter. He wasn't officially recognized by the Union of Bulgarian Composers until a year before his death, partly because he was primarily a self-taught musician.
Diko Iliev is remembered as the soul of a nation and and in his music you hear the voice of Bulgaria, loud and clear. Happy Birthday!
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Having a Blast With Diko Iliev a post with lots of music and dancing.
Diko Iliev had an interest in music from Latin America, especially the tango and the rumba. From what I've seen on the Universe of YouTube, Bulgarians have a fascination with Latin dancing. Read more here:
Today's post is about one of the most popular dances in Bulgaria, Dunavsko Horo (Danubian Horo).
Although there are other versions of Dunavsko with different music (you can find them on my blog and on the Universe of YouTube), the one everyone knows and loves was written by Diko Iliev, a Bulgarian composer who lived from 1898 to 1984. Although the lighting isn't so good, you can see a picture of the composer in the background, and costumed dancers in the foreground. This is the original brass arrangement.
The next Dunavsko is an arrangement for accordion and played by an American musician who does a phenomenal job with Bulgarian folk music. A number of folk dances are posted on his channel, plus a tutorial on how to play Elenino Horo (Eleno Mome), another very popular Bulgarian dance. You can find links to the sheet music on his YouTube profile if you're feeling ambitious. And is that a Martenitsa I see on his wall?
There are some people, however, who consider the accordion an instrument of torture, like my husband. One day he returned home from work while I played the previous video and the first words out of his mouth were "Turn that damned accordion off!"
If you enjoy accordion music, or are interested in using it for pain and torture purposes, this post is a must read:
The Bulgarian Police Band is a fine group of musicians. When they're not out in the streets keeping order and arresting the riffraff, they're playing some really good stuff. They have a varied repertoire, which includes American big band music, military marches, and Bulgarian folk dances. This piece is Memorial For Diko Iliev, based on his Dunavsko Horo. It's a modern version which took some getting used to, but now I really like it.
For more about Diko Iliev, his life and his music read:
You can find other variations of Dunavsko Horo (not by Diko Iliev) in the following posts. The first one is played on traditional Bulgarian folk instruments:
There are a number of songs and dances written about this legendary river. It is mentioned in the Bulgarian national anthem and frequently in folk songs. The composer Diko Iliev wrote a dance piece, well known and loved in Bulgaria, and played on festive occasions. It's called Dunavsko Horo, and is considered by some to be the second national anthem of Bulgaria:) For more on Diko Iliev, along with some of his delightful music, click the link below:
Now it's time to check out the Universe of YouTube, where you can find almost everything :) The first video features a folklore group from the city of Vidin. The ensemble is named after the river, which in Bulgarian is called Dunav. You can see them in performing in the first 2 1/2 minutes (the rest is worth looking at as well, with dances from different folklore regions of Bulgaria). By the way this is beautifully done, especially the introduction with the dancers superimposed on the water, accompanied by a kaval solo. That ship behind the dancers is a bit of a distraction, though....
The next video features a folk ensemble performing two dances from northwestern Bulgaria, which borders Serbia and Romania. The first is Krajdunavsko Horo, the second is Dunavsko Daichovo Horo (at 2.04). Daichovo is lively and spirited dance native to this region. It has an odd number in the time signature, which is 9/8. The rhythm is quick quick quick slow, with the accent on the first beat.
I couldn't resist yet another version of Dunavsko Horo, since it's so popular in Bulgaria.
The Danube is often mentioned in love songs. Here is a particularly lovely solo by Nelly Andreeva, accompanied by the Filip Kutev choir. The song, Malka Moma, describes a young girl, praying to God, asking him to help her find a boy she can love. (See English translation below).
"Please god give me eyes of a dove,
please god give me wings of a falcon,
so I can fly over Dunav river,
so I can find a boy that I love.
And god gave her wings of a falcon.
And she found a boy that she loves."
Radio Bulgaria (BNR) had an article recently about Danube cruises, and also about a bike path along the river from the source to the end. Something I would like to do one day is combine the two. It would be a very interesting journey indeed.
Today we're going to have a blast with the music of Diko Iliev, a Bulgarian composer of dance music for brass bands, who lived from 1898 to 1984.
The first time I heard a piece by Diko Iliev, I was blown away (literally) by this fiery and passionate music. While exploring the Balkanfolk website, I heard some samples of his work and decided this CD was something I absolutely had to have. http://www.balkanfolk.com/.
It so happened that the CD took nearly two months to get here because I ordered it during the festive season in Bulgaria. Everyone there must have been celebrating Diko Iliev's 110th birth anniversary. In the photo above it reads (translated into English, for the Cyrillically challenged): "Masters of Bulgarian Folklore, Diko Iliev, Dunavsko Horo."
Who was Diko Iliev and why is he the soul of modern Bulgarian folk music? Not many people in the United States have heard of him, but everyone in Bulgaria knows who he is, and holidays and festivities would be unthinkable without the lively and vibrant music of this composer.
Brass band music is a common element in many cultures; for example: Germany (Bavaria), Serbia, Macedonia, Turkey, Romania, and even in the United States and Latin America.
First of all, here's his most famous piece: Dunavsko Horo (Danubian Horo) which has become the unofficial national anthem of Bulgaria. Both are in this New Year in Sofia 2007 video. After the countdown they play Mila Rodina (the official Bulgarian anthem), and right after, Dunavsko Horo. (note: this was a very special event celebrating the admission of Bulgaria to the European Union, the fireworks are in perfect time with the music!)
And here is the actual dance:
A celebration in Bulgaria would be unthinkable without a group of people getting together to dance horo and rachenitsa. Horo is a dance done in an open circle or a line, and means "chain dance" in English. The dancers hold hands or each other's belts and are linked like a chain.
This group dances Svatbarska (wedding) rachenitsa,composed by Diko Iliev, (as part of a medley of several dances, including kopanitsa and pravo, the first one is the rachenitsa).
Diko Iliev had an interest in music and dance from a very early age, especially the brass band music popular in northwestern Bulgaria, where he grew up. At the age of 13,he left home to study music with a military brass band. He composed his first piece at the age of 19, the Iskarsko Horo.
Diko Iliev lived in Oryahovo, a town on the Danube, for many years. He was the bandmaster of a regiment in nearby Kozloduy. Aside from that he composed music for various events, and taught music to the children of the town. The people of Oryahovo thought so highly of him that they named a square in the center of town in his honor, and his house is now a museum.
Here is the river that inspired him, at sunset, as seen from Oryahovo, from a site called "Bulgaria in 360." What is amazing about it is that you can zoom and rotate the picture, and almost get inside it. The view is magnificent!
Diko Iliev composed about 70 works. Most of his music is based on Northern Bulgarian motifs such as the elenino, the daichovo, and the pravo. The majority of his work consists of marches and Bulgarian folk dances. He did, however, experiment with other genres, such as waltzes and tangos but his real love was horo and rachenitsa.
This is why the people of Bulgaria love his music, and it became the soul of a nation.
If you love Balkan music and dance you have come to the right place! The Alien Diaries began in February 2010 and is updated at least twice a month.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my cat Fatso (see avatar), who passed away on April 9, 2011 from congestive heart failure. He was the inspiration for several of my early posts.
Don't forget to check out my second blog, Light and Shadow, for some humor, satire, photos and poetry!
