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.
We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables - the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers - to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences.
Jane Elliot
The quote above could have been said about a regional dish in Bulgaria: the Shopska Salad, as well as about regional differences in Bulgarian folk music.
Today's post is about how to recognize regional differences in Bulgarian folk music. After many years of listening to and dancing to Bulgarian folk music, I've learned how to recognize subtle regional differences.
The first example is a song from the Rhodope region, often accompanied by a large bagpipe, the kaba gaida. It has a distinctive sound. The songs have an otherworldly quality about them.
The song, Bela Sum Bela Junace is about a shepherd who finds a blonde girl in the fog. He asks her to marry him.
Songs from the Shope region can be distinguished by the "whooping" sound. The harmony in this is amazing. This song was featured on the Bulgarian National Radio's website in Musicbox Bulgaria for the month of July. It takes true musical ability to sing like these women do.
Chichovite Konje translates to Uncle's Horses. Anyone know where I can find the lyrics and a translation?
The next folklore region is Dobrudja. The example in Video #3 is Tervelska Tropanka. You can hear the stamps in the music even without looking at the dancers. The main instruments in this piece are the accordion accompanied by a bagpipe.
There are a number of dances unique to Dobrudja: Tropanka, Sborenka and Opas (Dobrudjan Pravo Horo). All of them are punctuated with stamps. Tropanka is accented with strong arm movements (see video below)..
If you are a frequent reader of The Alien Diaries, you will recognize the Chinese "Bonding Folkdance Class."
The Bulgarian Thracians love clarinet music and the dance Pravo Horo. There are many variations of the Pravo; and many regional differences in style. Bachkovsko Horo is an example of a Pravo from Thrace.
Notice that the music is played by a brass orchestra, which is more typical for northwestern Bulgaria than Thrace. The clarinet comes in loud and clear at about 2:14.
A nation that keeps its millennial history, did not come by chance in this world.
Lyubka Rondova
Today we celebrate the life and music of Lyubka Rondova, Bulgarian folk singer who was born in 1936 in Greece. She is especially well known for her performances of folk songs from the Pirin region. She passed away on March 15, 2016 after a long illness.
Video #1 is a performance with Lyubka Rondova and Ilia Lykov of the song Цъфнало цвеке шарено ("Bright Flower Blowing" according to the webpage). I think they were referring to blooming flowers, not blowing ones, but translations from Bulgarian can be a little strange sometimes. Or it could have been a typo.
Lyubka Rondova was also fond of songs from Aegean (Greek) Macedonia. Dimitrula Mou (My Dimitrula) is in Greek, from a recording done many years ago.
It is a happy song about going to the taverna to drink retsina (wine made from pine resin). To me, retsina smells and tastes like turpentine, but since the Greeks have been drinking it for over 2000 years, it is obviously an acquired taste.
Video #3 is a song that tells a story: Belomorie, made for a documentary about Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia, Thrace and Dobrudja. You can find the translation here.
Lyubka Rondova was a refugee child uprooted from her village during the Civil War in Greece. Most of the victims were children of Slavic language speakers who lived in the Greek province of Macedonia, and many of them died, along with their caretakers, during their journey out of the country. They were resettled in refugee camps all over Eastern Europe. Lyubka Rondova was sent to Poland, and later moved to Czechoslovakia before she rejoined her family in Bulgaria in 1960.
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Voices from the Past: Classic Bulgarian Folk Songs, Part One and Two
For me dancing is not just moving your arms and legs but basically it's a very spiritual experience. It's part of me and a second nature to me. You can say it is in my blood.
Madhuri Dixit
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a post about different variations of the Bulgarian folk dance Rachenitsa na Horo.
Rachenitsa is the national dance of Bulgaria and can be done solo, as a couple, or in a group. The group version, performed in a line, is "na horo." The time signature (many Bulgarian dances are in odd rhythms) can be either 7/8 or 7/16, depending on the speed of the music.
There are a number of variations of this dance posted on YouTube. This particular variation of Rachenitsa na Horo is from the Bulgarian region of Thrace. To me this looks like a dance group practicing with the teacher in the front, much like the workshops I've been to in the past.
Rachenitsa is all about getting the arms and hands moving, even when dancing it "na horo", because the origin of the name comes from the Bulgarian word for "hand" or "forearm." Notice how the woman at the front of the line waves her right arm. Sometimes the leader twirls a handkerchief.
The dance after the rachenitsa is Graovsko Horo, from the Shope region. The steps are similar to another Bulgarian dance, Kyustendilska Rachenitsa, except that the rhythm is 2/4 instead of 7/8.
Here's another version of Graovsko, where it is easier to see the feet:
The next video features a spirited Rachenitsa na Horo, also from Thrace. Too bad the video is only a minute and a half long. The dancers are a pleasure to watch. They obviously enjoy what they do.
I'll refer to my music in color, like "This song needs to be bright red."
Janelle Monae
In Bulgarian folklore, red is considered a lucky color. Bulgarian folk costumes often have red in them, especially those from the northern region. It is also the color of wine, and with white, one of the colors of the Martenitsa, a good luck amulet worn to hasten the coming of spring.
During the last weekend of May I had the pleasure of dancing to the group Cherven Traktor from New York City. The name of the group is Bulgarian for "Red Tractor."
The performers are Michael Ginsburg (tupan), Belle Birchfeld (tambura), Nikolai Kolev (gadulka) and Donka Koleva (vocals).
Michael Ginsburg teaches Balkan dance. He is one of the original members of Zlatne Uste, a band very popular in the New York City area. They play high octane Balkan brass music from Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, and Bulgaria. His wife, Belle Birchfeld, also plays in the band.
Nikolai Kolev and his wife Donka were born in Bulgaria (Thracian region) and were members of the band Kabile, which played at weddings and festivals in Bulgaria for 17 years before the Kolevs emigrated to the United States in 1995.
Kabile also toured the United States in 2008, 2010, and 2012.
The Kolevs have also performed with as Bulgarika with musicians Vasil Bebelekov, gaida and Dragni Dragnev who plays gaida, keyboard and tupan (just not all at the same time!) and that ensemble toured the United States in 2014.
What was really cool was that Nikolai Kolev, master of the gadulka, gave us a demonstration of his instrument and explained how he plays it. Unfortunately, I didn't get that on video, but in one of the links below you can see him in action playing a solo on the gadulka. He really makes it sing :)
Today's music is a medley of tunes from northeastern Bulgaria; the dance is Dobrudjanska Rŭka, named after the hand and arm movements.
Music is very spiritual, it has the power to bring people together.
Edgar Winter
I couldn't find any Balkan dances for this week's post that begin with the letter "X" (although I did find a song from Albania with the totally unpronounceable name of Xhimixhi) The name is a real tongue twister.
Today's theme will be traditional and modern versions of a Bulgarian folk song from the Rhodope region of Bulgaria: Sabrali sa se Sabrali. Judging from what I've seen on the Universe of YouTube, it is quite popular.
Version one is the one we dance to, the beautiful traditional version performed by the Rhodopea Kaba Trio. The song is about three young women who fall asleep under a tree. They each wake up to find something missing: a necklace, a belt, and an apron. Someone has been engaging in petty theft under the stars.
Version two features a modern Sabrali performed by the singer Neli Andreeva and a group of dancers from the Bulgarian TV show Ide Nashenskata Muzika (here comes our music). The Bulgarian National Television uploads a new show online each week, which features folk artists from past and present.
Version three is performed by Rositsa Peycheva, this time featuring dancers in traditional Bulgarian elaborate embroidered costumes with some beautiful scenery in the background. The large bagpipe is a kaba gaida, native to the Rhodope region.
The bonus video is of a band from Western Massachusetts whose specialty is music from the Balkans. Their name begins with the letter "X" and they and their fans pronounce it zo-po. The group is Xopo and to make things even more confusing, "X" in Bulgarian is pronounced like our letter "H." Xopo is the Bulgarian word for "horo."
The video was taken at a party in Wethersfield, Connecticut and the dance is a tropanka from the Bulgarian region of Dobrudja.
If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs: Part One and Part Two
Several years ago I wrote a post about Nestinari (fire dancers) who dance on hot coals for the feast day of Saints Constantine and Helen. Their feast day falls on May 21. There is also a MythBusters video that explains the science of walking on hot coals.
Today's music features different versions of the music for the Bulgarian folk dance Dospatsko Horo. Like many Bulgarian dances, it's named after a town, Dospat, in the Rhodope region of southern Bulgaria. Dospatsko was originally a men's dance.
The video below is from the Chinese "Bonding Folk Dance Class" and uses the music familiar to recreational folk dancers.
Here is the entire piece; the artist listed is the orchestra of Anastas Naumov. The dominant instrument here is the gadulka, a Bulgarian version of a fiddle, with the gaida and kaval in the background. You get to watch some beautiful scenery at the same time. You can even dance to it if you want.
Version two is a modern and mellow Dospatsko, from a Bulgarian dance music album. The dominant instrument here is the kaval.
I have heard many different renditions of Dospatsko on YouTube. Some are good and some are just awful, like version #3, which sounds like elevator music. I know art is subjective, but this album cover is ugly!
It took some time for me to warm up to version # 4, which is the most unusual Dospatsko I've heard. It was recorded in a synogogue in Poland with excellent acoustics, and played on a cello, accordion, organ and a kaval. The music alternates between being slow and fast, solemn and dramatic. This version isn't meant for dancing but it's definitely worth a listen.
When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance.
― Freddie Mercury
Today's post features several memorable performances of Georgi Petrov, a musician who played the gadulka, the Bulgarian version of a fiddle. He died of a brain tumor in February 2014 at the age of 52. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about this musician or his music until shortly after he had passed on, when I found this article (in Bulgarian) on the Vidin affiliate of the Bulgarian National Radio.
I read the article (via Google Translate)and listened to the audio file.
Georgi Petrov was from Northwestern Bulgaria, Vidin region, and he is best known for playing music from that area. On video #1 you'll hear Sinagovsko Horo, named after the village, Sinagovtsi, where Petrov lived. It is also known as Dunavsko Horo, the dance done to this music.
Video #2 is a performance of Georgi Petrov from 2003. Here he's accompanied by a group of folk musicians on tambura, kaval, and tupan. The piece is Dzanguritsa, a tune from the Pirin region.
Video #3 is from a Bulgarian TV show back in 1995 (can you believe that was almost 20 years ago?) of Georgi Petrov playing Kraĭdunavska prikazka; the English translation is A Danubean Tale. It is a beautiful piece and one for which he is best known. Here, he's accompanied by the folk music orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio.The radio station celebrates its 80th anniversary in January 2015.
Video #4 is from a concert in Morocco.. It's a half hour long but worth a listen It starts with Petrov playing a solo on gadulka, to be accompanied by musicians on kaval and tambura. Two vocalists join in at 19:00. You'll also hear the music from video #1 (at 14:54) and video #2 (21:45) If you watch closely, you'll also see an artist painting Bulgarian musical instruments. The eye candy is there if you know where to look :)
Music happens to be an art form that transcends language.
Herbie Hancock
Although I understand very little Bulgarian, their folk music speaks to me, and to many other fans of it as well. When a Bulgarian folk ensemble comes to play, few people sit down (except perhaps to rest for the next dance). The rhythms are compelling and sometimes hypnotic; it is easy to get into a trance while dancing.
Bulgarika is a folk ensemble that played last month in Amherst, Massachusetts, and I was at their dance party in early September. Right now they are on tour in the United States.If you do a Google search on them, you can find a performance somewhere near you.
Nikolai Kolev and his wife Donka, originally from Bulgaria, now reside in New York City, and a number of years ago played in the Kabile Bulgarian Band.
The Bulgarika ensemble on tour this year consists of four musicians: Nikolai Kolev, gadulka, Donka Koleva, vocals, Vasil Bebelekov, gaida and Dragni Dragnev, who plays several instruments: gaida, keyboard, kaval and tupan. He just doesn't play them all at the same time :)
Although it was very hot and humid, and the hall had no air conditioning (for cooling we had the windows wide open and fans running at full blast) everyone had a great time dancing and sweating to Bulgarian folk tunes. I felt bad for the musicians who wore long pants and long sleeve embroidered shirts because performing in the heat is hard work. They absolutely love what they do, and played for us (with a short break) for about three hours.
Here is a sample from that evening that I captured in video: the dance is a slow pravo.
This was another dance event with Bulgarika which took place recently in Pennsylvania. The music is a medley of songs from the Rhodope region of southern Bulgaria; the dance is Pravo Rhodopsko Horo.
And finally, an older video of Bulgarika from 2011 with Ivan Milev on accordion, and Donka Koleva's daughter Maria (vocals). It took place at an outdoor festival in Indiana. The dances are Pravo Trakiisko Horo, Devetorka, and Trite Puti.
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!
The Chinese Zodiac assigns one animal per year (unlike the Western zodiac which assigns one animal or symbol per month). The Chinese New Year goes by the moon instead of the sun and it falls on a different day each year when the sun and the moon are conjunct in the sign of Aquarius.
The horse also has significance in Bulgarian folklore; and it is also one of the symbols on the Ancient Bulgarian Calendar. The Ancient Bulgarian Calendar uses the same symbols as the Chinese Zodiac.
Today's post features a piece titled Horses of Fire Rachenitsa. Rachenitsa is a Bulgarian folk dance in 7/8 (slower) or 7/16 rhythm; it is the national dance of Bulgaria. This rendition is performed on a violin and an accordion, and it's very fast.
How many readers remember Mr. Ed, the talking horse from American TV during the 1960's? Those of you who are regular visitors to this blog know that I'm a fan of pop culture, and the old TV programs were so much better than the garbage being broadcast nowadays.
Just for fun, I'm including the theme song for the show. (Don't mind the lion at the beginning of the video, he's just trying to get some attention. He was born under the sign of Leo, anyway, and he's a big show-off.) The song is in 6/8, which just happens to be pravo rhythm. By the way, if anyone out there is inspired enough to create a Mr. Ed dance, please be sure to send me the video!
Musicians tend to get bored playing the same thing over and over, so I think it's natural to experiment.
Dimebag Darrell
WQXR has been New York City's classical music station since 1936. I began listening to WQXR when I was about 12 years old. If you like classical music, you can listen to this radio station anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection.
Today's post features two videos from the WQXR Cafe Concerts. You don't often find classical musicians playing music from the Balkans (probably because of the unusual rhythms), but there are some adventurous people out there.....
I found the first video by accident when I was searching for different versions of Gankino Horo, a Bulgarian dance tune.
The Canellakis-Brown duo plays it on piano and cello.I was pleasantly surprised since I'm so used to the accordion arrangement by Boris Karlov. They do an amazing job, especially since this is a difficult meter (11/16) for non-Bulgarians to master, and they play it FAST. (I wonder if they're folk dancers?)
The next piece is much slower. Although there is no one singing here, a doina is a Romanian folk song, rather melancholy in nature. This one was arranged by Grigoras Dinicu. He wrote a number of pieces based on Romanian folk tunes, the most famous being Hora Staccato, a favorite among classical violinists.
All tragedies are finished by a death, all comedies by a marriage.
Lord Byron
Today's post features wedding dances and bloopers from Romania and Bulgaria. You will get your daily dose of Vitamin C (for comedy) here, and lots of dancing, some of it performed by people in elaborate embroidered costumes.
The first video is Svatbarsko Horo (Wedding Dance). Where are the wedding guests? I see a group of people in folk dress, and a guy singing. (Maybe the people in the park are the wedding crashers. No, it's that bird hopping around on the walkway in front of the bridal party!)
And Google, please lay off the ads, it's annoying to close out of them while I'm watching YouTube. You have to find a way to bring in the cash without driving people nuts.
The next video is a group of five Romanian wedding bloopers. A little too much booze combined with the inclination to show off while dancing is a recipe for laughter, and sometimes, disaster. This is the kind of stuff that people talk about for years afterwards. They don't remember the church ceremony, or the beautiful couple; they remember the relatives who drank too much and made total fools of themselves!
What is really cool about weddings in Eastern Europe is how they combine traditional and modern music. The Penguin Dance (no. 3 in this group), seems to be a staple at Romanian weddings. I can listen to it for about a minute, then it starts to get annoying. It's the kind of music that's best tolerated in a drunken stupor. Check out the guy at the back of the line, he can barely stand up!
No. 1 shows a bride with black nails and missing teeth. Did the groom escape at the last minute? I sure hope so :)
The fine art of folk dancing is taken to new heights when done with cake and pastries. The rachenitsa, national dance of Bulgaria, is a form of flirtation. It is made more challenging when there are poles in the way and cake in the hand. Amazingly, there is no damage to the cake, and the men do some amazing deep knee bends. I wonder if they could dance with wine bottles on top of their heads?
Esma would have plenty to say. She has done quite a bit of traveling in Bulgaria and the United States.
Giving names to inanimate objects is not unusual. People give names to cars and boats. It gives them personality, and even power. If you speak or understand an language other than English, which ascribes genders to nouns, this naming thing starts to make sense. For example, Spanish has masculine and feminine nouns. Things get even more complex in languages like German and Bulgarian, which have masculine, feminine and neuter nouns.
But this post isn't about the complexities of grammar and language, it's about music.
In this case, Esma is a very important part of her band. She's very colorful and loves keeping time (with a little help from her friends). What's unusual is that although she belongs to a Bulgarian band, the writing on her is in the Roman, not Cyrillic, alphabet.
Esma belongs to Kabile, a band from the Thracian region of Bulgaria, which is making yet another tour of the United States (the previous ones were in 2008 and 2010). She is a tupan, a double-headed drum who likes odd rhythms like 7/8 and 11/16.
Esma especially likes rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria, which is in 7/8 time. Check out the video here:
Several of us watched a demonstration of a Bulgarian gaida (bagpipe), by one of the musicians, Dzhenko Andreev. There were musical instruments and CD's for sale on the table. If I had the time and the money, I wouldn't mind taking up kaval (an open ended flute). I don't have the lung power for playing the gaida.
Later in the evening,we danced to a kaval solo performed by Nikolay Doktorov. This is a tropanka (stamping dance) from Dobrudja, northeastern Bulgaria.
Kabile will be performing all over the United States between August and November of this year, with Esma in tow. If you would like to find the venue nearest you, click the link below:
Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect, as well as for the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper. ― Albert Einstein
In our little folk world, everyone seems to know everyone else. Most of us know each other by sight, if not by name, we are constantly meeting at dances and workshops. We know the names of the workshop leaders as well as their specialties.
One name well known in folk dance circles in North America and Europe is Yves Moreau. A French Canadian from Montreal, he got into folk dancing in the most unusual way; as a member of a boy scout troop. You can read a short bio of him here:
For Moreau, folklore became a destiny. He was especially bewitched by the music of Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government invited him to visit the country when he was still a college student.
During the Communist days of the 1960's and '70's Moreau did field work in Bulgaria with a tape recorder and a microphone. He visited villages all over the country (some of them quite remote, the government had discouraged him from going to some of these places, but he went anyway). His recordings featured folk songs and musicians from different regions. This collection became a series of CD's titled "Beyond the Mystery." It is Bulgarian folklore in its purest form; music unsullied by commercialism, simple and beautiful; much of what would have been lost without these recordings.
You can check out some samples, and order CD's and DVD's here:
Oftentimes he was in the middle of a wedding or a celebration when he captured musicians for posterity on his tape recorder; he didn't have the sophisticated equipment that we take for granted nowadays; nowdays people (like myself) record amateur videos on inexpensive digital cameras.
While doing fieldwork in Bulgaria, Moreau also learned the folk dances; he introduced many of them in workshops in North America and Europe.
The first one, from the Pirin region in southwestern Bulgaria (near the Macedonian border) is Bicak, performed by a group from the United States.
This lively dance from northwestern Bulgaria is Kulska Shira. Each set of steps gets progessively more difficult; they build on each other.
One of my favorites (and one that I sometimes lead) is Dospatsko Horo from the Rhodope region of southern Bulgaria. You can see it has travelled a long way; this "Bonding Folkdance Class" is from China.
This dance Varnenska Tropanka, from Dobrudja (northeastern Bulgaria) is extremely popular. Just about every group does it.
If you want to see Yves Moreau in action, check out this video of him teaching and leading Žensko Kapansko Horo during a workshop in Toronto, Canada. Although this is technically a women's dance The Alien Diaries is an Equal Opportunity Blog, so men are allowed to lead :)
If you didn't get enough Bulgarian folk music here, you can listen to this interview that Yves Moreau gave on KDHX in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, in March of 2012. The music is wonderful, and the interview itself is quite interesting. The broadcast is almost two hours long, make sure you have plenty of time.
“A writer doesn't dream of riches and fame, though those things are nice. A true writer longs to leave behind a piece of themselves, something that withstands the test of time and is passed down for generations.”
― C.K. Webb
Writers as well as musicians want to be remembered after they die; although material success is important it won't follow you into the afterlife :)
If you came here looking for Boris Karloff, the actor who played Frankenstein's monster in vintage movies, you've just been hijacked to a blog about Balkan folk music. The Boris Karlov mentioned here is a musician, and even if that wasn't exactly what you were looking for, read on, you may enjoy this post.
Boris Karlov, the musician, was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on August 11, 1924 to a family of Roma (Gypsy) musicians. His passion was the accordion, and he and his music became famous well beyond his homeland. During his short 40 years on this earth, he created pieces for this instrument that are played at folk dances to this very day.
Here is an example of classic Karlov; the dance is Gankino Horo from the northwestern region of Bulgaria, the dancers are the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel. By the way Gankino Horo is a kopanitsa, a dance in 11/16 meter (11 beats to the measure; the 16th note gets the beat); odd rhythms are par for the course in the Balkans, but in Bulgaria especially.
Another Karlov rendition of a popular Bulgarian folk dance is Elenino Horo; most of us know it better as Eleno Mome. This is another dance in an uneven rhythm, try tapping your foot out to this one. It's in 13/16.
Here's the dance, the music was "borrowed" from Boris Karlov!
An accordionist from the United States, who goes by the YouTube handle, GrigPit, is an admirer of Karlov's music, this piece is Graovsko Horo. GrigPit has a number of Bulgarian folk dances as well as music scores linked to his YouTube site; if you're a musician, check him out.
Some see the accordion as an instrument of torture; it is not considered one in neither Bulgaria nor Serbia (where it is the national instrument of that country.) Karlov often performed on Yugoslav radio (yes, in those days there was a Yugoslavia!) The next piece is a Serbian kolo, Niska Banja, and if you listen carefully it's the same rhythm as the Bulgarian dance Daichovo Horo. Was that Karlov's intent?
And check out another composer of Bulgarian folk music, Diko Iliev, whose works for brass orchestra are played during celebrations in his native country. By the way, this post was also written on the composer's birthday.
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:
I love many kinds of music: world music, jazz, classical, pop. Anita Diament
Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I have a fascination with folklore and pop culture, especially that related to music from the Balkans. Today's post gives you both with music from Greece, Bulgaria and Macedonia.
The Muppets are extremely popular; a new Muppet movie was released recently. There was also The Muppet Show which was broadcast on TV in the 1970's and 80's. Everyone knows them from the show Sesame Street. The Muppets have even ventured into Greek folk music as you will see in the first video.
A friend sent me this excerpt from a 1978 episode of The Muppet Show. Miss Piggy sings Never on Sunday, accompanied by dancing pigs, a Greek folk ensemble, explosions, and plate breaking. This is the wildest crowd of Muppets that I've seen :)
There are bottles of Ouzo on the table, a liqueur similar to anisette; it has a strong licorice taste. It's the national drink of Greece.
Part of the Balkan cultural experience involves booze. This is a Bulgarian commmercial for rakia (brandy) with men in kilts performing a folk dance, accompanied by a Scottish pipe band (playing Bulgarian music). It's very cleverly done.
The final video in this post is a rap song with a Jamaican accent and a Romani beat. The performers are Ras Tweed from Jamaica and Esma Redzepova from Macedonia. This delightful and eclectic mix of folklore and pop culture is Raise Up Your Hands.
If you enjoyed this you may also like: Bulgarian Folklore and Pop Culture:
One of my longtime friends, a folklore fan born in Budapest, Hungary, visits the Universe of YouTube when she has a few minutes to spare. She is an avid dancer, like myself, and we have gone to dances and festivals together many times over the years.
She enjoys music from the Balkans and knows that I'm fond of unusual folklore videos. One of the signs of a good friendship is that she knows my taste in music, and she has emailed me some really good stuff. Judging by what she's sent, the Hungarians admire Bulgarian folk music.
The first song is Young Girl at the Spinning House, and the rhythm here is 7/8 (apple-apple-pineapple). This is the rhythm for rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria.
The performer is Szilvia Bognar, who sings this delightful and lively song in Hungarian. Note: Hungarians use the last name first. This article on Wikidpedia explains why.
This high energy song Meggyujtom a Pipam (I light my pipe), is performed by the Hungarian group Besh O Drom. Those who are familiar with Bulgarian folk music will recognize it as the dance Graovsko Horo. It has English subtitles, so I didn't have to resort to Google Translate :)
Bulgarian folklore fans will also recognize the next song, the Hungarian version of Dilmano Dilbero. It has been renamed Falcon Song and it's based on a poem by László Nagy. Márta Sebestyén is a well known performer of Hungarian folk music, and here she's accompanied by Szilvia Bognár, Palya Beáta, and the Sebő Ensemble.
The original song, performed by the Mystery of Bulgarian Voices, is the one most people know.
If you enjoyed this you may also like Bulgarian Folkore Travels Abroad and Modern Versions of Traditional Bulgarian Folk Songs.
The expression "days of wine and roses" was originally used by Ernest Dawson, a British writer of the 19th century. It's from a stanza in his poem Vitae Summa Brevis:
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
There was also a movie from the 1960's Days of Wine and Roses, a drama about alcoholism. I don't watch depressing films like these but here's the link if you're interested.
Since The Alien Diaries is about fun, there will be nothing on this blog of a sobering nature. Here the Days of Wine and Roses will be entertaining and enjoyable. You can even drink a toast to me while you read this :)
Wine and roses are popular themes in Balkan folk music, as you will see here.
The first video is of a Bulgarian song set to Greek music. These men are ready for a serious evening of wine and dancing; the song is Give Us Some Wine. Notice the women dancing the Hasapiko, which was originally the dance of the butcher's guild in Greece during the Middle Ages.
For more on the Hasapiko and other butcher's dances from the Balkans read:
Roses are beautiful flowers, and they are everywhere during late spring and early summer. The rose is the symbol of Bulgaria, and rose oil is a very important export for this country; it's used as an essential ingredient in perfumes. The next song is A Bulgarian Rose. The lyrics are included, so you can sing along :)
The Days of Wine and Roses would not be complete without a short film clip of the Rose Festival which takes place every June in the town of Kazanluk, Bulgaria. The celebration includes dancing Pravo Horo in the town square, it's a simple dance that everyone can do.
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!
