Traditional music
Traditional and folk music are the cement of Bulgarian identity and are real national treasures that each generation contributes to preserve. Bulgarian traditional music is not a complete stranger to the ears of the whole world since it was popularized by "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices" in the 1980s and 1990s. Also known as the "Female Vocal Choir of the Bulgarian State Television", this state ensemble founded in 1952 has enjoyed worldwide success performing traditional Bulgarian repertoire, even winning a Grammy Award in 1989 and featuring some of its members on an album by Kate Bush.
But it was first the pianist and composer Béla Bartók who, during his ethnomusicological collections in the 1930s, was struck by the rhythmic singularity of the local music. Characterized by their asymmetry, we find echoes of these "Bulgarian rhythms" in some of the Hungarian's compositions such as Mikrokosmos. Although these rhythmic characteristics are common to the whole country, the Bulgarian musical tradition varies enormously from region to region. The most famous practice, polyphonic singing, is mainly from the southwest, in the region around the capital Sofia and the region of Pirin (in Bulgarian Macedonia).
To obtain a clearer vision of Bulgarian music, some artists and albums are excellent entry points, such as the compilation Music of Bulgaria published by Nonesuch in 1955, a little treasure. Recorded by Philip Koutev (founder of the "Mystery of Bulgarian Voices"), legend has it that the album influenced Frank Zappa, as well as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The Bulgarka trio, a spin-off of the "Mystery of Bulgarian Voices", also produced a traditional Bulgarian music classic, The Forest Is Crying (released by Hannibal in 1988). Let's also mention Valya Balkanska, famous for her song Izlelye Delyo Haydutin sent into space during the Voyager program in 1977, or Ivo Papazov, a virtuoso clarinetist with spectacular vivacity and a great specialist in Bulgarian folklore. These works and artists are all opportunities to hear traditional Bulgarian instruments such as the gaïda (traditional goatskin bagpipes), the kaval (a flute very similar to the Arab ney), the doudouk (a pipe), the tamboura (a long-necked lute, a cousin of the Greek bouzouki), the gadoulka (a kind of viol) or the tapan (a large drum carried on the shoulder).
In 1965, the Ministry of Culture founded the National Music Festival of Koprivshtitsa, which has become an important meeting place for the promotion of Bulgarian music and dance. It takes place every five years in August and brings together thousands of Bulgarians of all generations. Among the other notable folk festivals of the country, let us quote the international folk festival of Plovdiv, a good part of which takes place in the very beautiful Roman amphitheatre of the city, or the festival of Smolyan, more modest, ideally located in the capital of the Rhodopes. Also, it is common to hear folk music in the mehanas - traditional Bulgarian taverns.
Popular Music
A typical Bulgarian music? If you ask a young or not so young person, chances are that they will answer chalga. A distant relative of Serbian turbofolk, this hectic and frenzied music combines local folklore, electronic music and Balkan or Turkish rhythms. A rather simple formula where one is often satisfied to add an electronic beat to a vaguely traditional melody and to heighten the whole with a little bling and provocative imagery. The genre is so popular here that chalga has almost become a lifestyle, a subculture in its own right with its own fashion, brands and values - often centered around the body (prominent muscles, breast implants, etc.) and excessive consumption.
The superstar of the chalga is also its most controversial figure: Azis. Bisexual and of Roma origin, with a weakness for studded Perfecto's, rhinestone heels and red wigs, Azis' huge success is a bit out of place in a rather conservative and homophobic country. Used to multiplying hits, his song Sen Trope (which means Saint-Tropez) is without doubt the biggest of them, as well as an excellent entry point to discover the artist. Less iconic but equally adored by Bulgarians, other notable performers of the genre are Preslava, a must in Bulgarian music, Anelia, who very often tops the charts, or Fiki, one of the male references of the genre.
In Bulgaria, no need to look for the chalga, it comes to you. You listen to it on car radios and in bars, you watch its crazy clips on music channels. That said, many places in Bulgaria dedicate their scene to the genre like the Folk Club Revue in Sofia and its 100% chalga programming or Molerite in Bansko, a mehana that turns into a club after 11pm.
Classical music
Interest in music other than folk or religious songs only appeared in the middle of the 19th century in the city of Shumen. Favored by the Hungarian and Polish emigration, as well as by the French troops immobilized during the Crimean War, this interest grew from then on without weakening. Solfeggio was introduced for the first time at school, and student choirs and orchestras proliferated. Dobri Voïnikov composed the first Bulgarian pieces, followed by many musicians, the most famous of whom came from the Shumen school: Pantcho Vladiguérov (1889-1978). Probably the greatest Bulgarian composer, his work is extremely complex, varied and imbued with national character. He is close to the realist traditions of European classical music with a great originality inspired by Bulgarian folklore. His famous rhapsody, Vardar, the most famous outside the country, is familiar to every Bulgarian. A great teacher, he counted among his students some of the country's great names in composition, such as the prolific Stefan Remenkov, characterized by his luminous, lively music steeped in folklore, or Alexis Weissenberg, a great pianist (naturalized French) whom Karajan considered one of the best of his time.
Another great Bulgarian composer, Parashkev Hadjiev (1912-1992) is among the most prolific of the 20th century with his twenty-one operas, six operettas, three musicals and numerous symphonic works and chamber music. His contemporary Marin Goleminov (1908-2000) is also one of the most respected composers with works strongly influenced by traditional rhythms and folk melodic motifs. In the contemporary field, Georgi Tutev (1924-1994) remains as one of the main representatives of Bulgarian modernism and, more recently, Dobrinka Tabakova has established herself as one of the most prominent Bulgarian composers (she was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014).
Most of the great Bulgarian composers are performed by the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the oldest symphony ensemble in Bulgaria (1928) and resident of the splendid Bulgaria Hall. Today under the direction of Nayden Todorov, great national conductors have led the ensemble in the past, such as Atanas Margaritov in 1945 (he was also director of the Ghent Opera and then of the Dijon Opera) or Dobrin Petkov, who led the ensemble in the 1960s. They are the great names of Bulgarian conducting, along with Emil Tchakarov (1948-1991), who was conductor of the Flanders Symphony Orchestra between 1983 and 1986, Rossen Milanov (1965), director of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, or Rossen Gergov (1981), formerly director of the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra (at the origin of numerous recordings).
If it has good orchestras, the country also enjoys very good soloists recognized internationally such as Anatoli Kratsev (1947), eminent cellist, widely considered as one of the most important Bulgarian musicians, Vasko Vassilev, star violinist who worked as well with Placido Domingo as Sting or the Rolling Stones, Svetlin Roussev (1976), another remarkable violinist, Plamena Mangova (1980), a great pianist who regularly performs with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra, and among the younger generation, the virtuoso violinist Liya Petrova (1990) and Vassilena Serafimova (1985), a percussionist and marimbist who actively participates in the renown of the marimba throughout the world.
As a country in love with the voice, Bulgaria has unsurprisingly seen an increasing number of stars in the field of lyrical arts for more than a century. Among them are the eminent Raina Kabaivanska (1934), one of the leading lirico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini, Ghena Dimitrova, one of the greatest Verdian sopranos of the XXᵉ century who performed extensively in Paris, Milan or New York, as well as the basses Boris Hristov, Nicolai Ghiaurov and Nicolai Ghiuselev. The first, Boris Hristov (1914-1993), is without doubt the most famous Bulgarian bass, he sang in the greatest halls in the world and remains eternally associated with Boris Godunov, his favorite role. The second, Nicolaï Ghiaurov (1929-2004), put his powerful voice at the service of the most beautiful roles of Mussorgsky and Verdi, and the third, Nicolaï Ghiuselev (1936-2014), knew the greatest stages in the world, officiating mainly in the Italian and Russian repertoires. More recently, the sopranos Alexandrina Pendatchanska (1970) and Sonya Yoncheva (1981) have made their mark on the great opera stages of the world.
It should be noted that in Bulgaria, several sites offer opera programming. Apart from the Sofia National Opera - which offers a quality repertoire - there is a National Opera of similar prestige in Plovdiv (the famous Plovdiv Philharmonic performs there regularly). As for the Rousse Opera, it is considered one of the best halls in Bulgaria, while the Varna Opera also offers a good program in a superb building. The Varna International Music Festival was the first music festival in Bulgaria in 1926 and remains an internationally renowned event.
The dance
Naturally, the rhythmic specificities of folk music - asymmetries, combinations of short and long beats - are found in Bulgarian dances. The most popular of them is undoubtedly the horo, in which everyone holds hands or shoulders, in line or in a circle, like a bourrée from Auvergne. If it finds variants in the whole of the Balkans, the horo is also expressed differently according to the Bulgarian regions. Many other popular dances are performed in line, such as the tropanka, which is characterized by a heavy and telluric style, or the tritepati, which links fast and slow steps.
Let us also mention the Nestinarstvo rite, one of the oldest in Bulgaria, which traditionally sees nestinars dancing in trance, barefoot, on the embers to the sound of a bass drum or a bagpipe. In some traditional restaurants, one can see ember dance performances, but they cannot match the real rite. The latter is usually held on May 21. Otherwise, the Rose Festival, the first week of June, is an excellent opportunity to see traditional dances and authentic costumes and rites throughout the country.
