Saturday, June 18, 2011

Bulgarian Folk Songs with a Hungarian Accent....

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_names



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.

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/06/bulgarian-folk-music-travels-abroad.html

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

For more on Bulgarian rachenitsa read:

http://katleyplanetbg.blogspot.com/2010/07/flavors-of-bulgarian-rachenitsa.html

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4 comments:

  1. Looks like a lot of fun; like these kinds of folk songs.

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  2. Even if you don't understand the words, these songs are fun. Oftentimes I'm dying to know what they mean; I use Google Translate a lot to find out. My friend is fluent in Hungarian, so I can get the translations of these songs from her. Thanks for stopping by Jeffrey!

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  3. i really would not know if a Bulgarian or Hungarian accent was influencing the songs..it's all 'arian'to me...and i respond to the rhythms with innate joy..it stirs the toes..and elevates the mood.

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  4. what's really great about these songs is that they mix two totally different cultural influences to create something unique and beautiful. And Nadine, music like this never fails to elevate my mood and make me want to dance.

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