Rice 1980

Aspects of Bulgarian Musical Thought
Author(s): Timothy Rice

Source: Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. 12 (1980), pp. 43-66
Published by: International Council for Traditional Music
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/767653
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ASPECTS OF BULGARIAN MUSICAL THOUGHT
by TimothyRice
Folk musiciansare generallyassumed to make musicbut not to think
verymuchabout it. Yet recentstudiesby Zemp (1978, 1979) and others
demonstratethe existenceof elaborate conceptual systemsrelated to
musicin cultureswithouta writtentradition.If thecomparisonbetween
Westernand a particularnon-Western musictheoryseemsinvidious,itis
partlybecause theWesthas a traditionofdiscourseabout music(musica
theoretica)thathas existedforover2000 yearsquiteapartfrompractical
musicmaking(musicapractica).
Were it not forthishumanistictraditionof musictheoryas an aspect
of generalphilosophyand science,themusiciansof theWest mightnot
be verysuccessfulverbalizersabout music.Even todaywhenmostof the
West's trainedmusiciansare squeezed reluctantlythrougha conserva-
toryprogramof music historyand theory,theyoftenemergevirtually
untouchedby the influenceof thisverbal tradition.In a culturewhere
music per se has never been the proper object of lengthyspeech
discourse,itshouldnotbe surprising to findless musictheorythanin the
West. The comparisonseemsinvidiousonlybecause it involvesthepro-
verbialapples and oranges:anotherculture'smusicianswiththe West's
philosopher-scientist.Seen in this light,comparison,especiallyvalue-
laden comparison,is clearlyfruitlessand culture-serving.
My purpose, then, is to delineate the folk taxonomies,terms,and
behaviorsrelevantto a studyof Bulgarianmusicalthought,gatheredin
the last few years from Bulgarian folk singersand instrumentalists.
Specificallythe reportdeals with how they talked and behaved with
respectto musicalsound perse. Materialcan be collectedfromthemon
theoriginsof music,on how thesongsare passed on and learned,on the
meaning of the texts,and on the uses and importanceof music in
everydaylife. But thisdiscussionfocuseson musicalsounds and their
structures and theway Bulgarianvillagersthinkabout them.
Three kinds of behavioral evidence advance the argument:verbal,
physical,and musical.By assumingthattheway people talkabout some-
thingreflectshow theythinkabout it, a verbalexpressioncan be linked
to an idea. Epistemologicallythisis extremelytricky,however,because
knowledgeof a label does not implyknowledgeof thefolkcategoryor
domain to whichit refers(Conklin1969: 96). To overcomeproblemsof
translatinglabels and categoriesfromone language and cultureto an-
other,cognitiveanthropologistshave developed formalsemanticpro-
ceduresthathelp to uncoverthe extentand structureof thesedomains
(Black 1969).
In thisstudyless formal,and hence presumablyless replicable,pro-
cedures were used which combined more or less simultaneousobser-
44 / 1980 YEARBOOK OF THE INTERNATIONAL FOLK MUSIC COUNCIL
vation of verbal, physical,and musical behavior. These observations

were then informallycross-correlatedin an attempt to understand
Bulgarian cognition with respect to music. For example, physical
behaviorssuch as thepositionof performers and musicalbehaviorsuch
as pitch manipulationare occasionallyused to inferthe ideas that lie
behindthem.Sometimessuchbehaviorsare used to confirmor deny the
existenceof categoriesalreadyheld by the investigator.However, their
best and most typical use here is to corroborateor validate verbal
evidencegivenby Bulgarianvillagers.
The discussionbeginswithan examinationof therangeof Bulgarian
behaviorslabelled "musical"in English,and it is demonstratedthatthe
structureof thisdomain in Bulgarianis different fromthe Englishdo-
main. The segregate(Frake1969: 31) labelled 'song' in Bulgarianis then
examinedand a folktaxonomyof song texturesis proposed. Finally,the
ideas that Bulgarianshave about the musical structureof one sub-
categoryof song textureare examinedin detail.
Music and Non-music
The boundarybetweenmusicand non-music,"one of themostimpor-
tant . . . concepts"accordingto Merriam(1964: 63), is extremelydiffi-
cultto determine withprecisionin any culture.Foran outsiderbeginning
a periodofethnomusicological fieldwork,theproblemoftenseemsto in-
volve findinglabels that correspondto 'musical' behaviors. There are
cultures,forexample,withouta label for the rangeof behaviorscalled
'musical'in English,and othercultureswitha label thatseemsto include
nearlythesame rangeofbehaviorsas ourword 'music.'The labels,how-
ever,are only thebeginningof theproblem;theethnomusicologist must
also understandtheextentand thestructureof thedomainsin question
(see Kay 1969 fora summaryof some basic structuraltypes).
The problemsof labellingand categorizationare usuallyencountered
earlyin any field-work experience.In Bulgarian-English
dictionaries,for
example,thewords muzikaand muzikantare glossedsimply,but some-
what misleadingly,as 'music' and 'musician,'respectively.Using these
words in conversationswith villagers, however, led to unexpected
behavioron theirpart-a suresign thattheinvestigator's categoriesdo
not matchthoseof theculture.Expressingan interestin thesetwo labels
invariablyled to playersof Westerninstruments such as clarinetand
trumpet.There may have been players of indigenous instruments
around, but questions about 'musicians'was not gettingme to them.
Finallytheadjective'traditional'(bitov)was added to 'music'and thisled
to playersof kaval, gtldulka,tambura,and gajda.I
Singers turnedup only by accident and my interestin them was
greetedwith, "we didn't know you were interestedin singers."How
could theynot understandthatsomeone interestedin musicianswould
also be interestedin singers?The misunderstanding was finallyresolved
throughanotherline of questioning.Whendescribingritualsor customs
no longerperformedor thatoccurredat a different timeof year,people
would frequently say, "thereis no music (muzika) for thisritual,only
RICE MUSICALTHOUGHT/45
ASPECTSOF BULGARIAN
songs (pesni)."Taken together,thisstatement,

repeatedby manypeople,
plus the previous misunderstanding demonstratesthat, for Bulgarian
villagers, singer (pevitsa) and musician (musikant) must be contrasting
categories,whereas from a Western or at least ethnomusicological
perspectiveit is possible to includesingerswithinthecategoryof musi-
cian. The labels 'music'and 'musician'mustmap onto different concep-
tualcategoriesin Bulgariathantheydo in America.Untilthiswas under-
stood, however,confusionreignedand fieldworkcoveringtherangeof
behaviorsdefinedas 'musical'in the West was considerablyhampered.
'Music' in Bulgarianis not an overarchingcategorythatincludesboth
vocal and instrumentalperformances.Muzika in Bulgarian denotes
instrumental music' in English,and additionally'musical instrument'
and especially'Westernmusicalinstrument.'
The word muzikaremaineda problem,however.In borrowingitfrom
theGreek,whereit once referred to nineartsand sciences,theBulgarians
had applied it even morenarrowlythanWesterners had to instrumental
performance alone. If thiswere a distinctcategoryof Bulgarianmusical
thought,thena Slavic word mustmean or have meantthesame thing.
Conversationswith instrumentalists eventuallyconfirmedthis hypo-
thesis.Svirnyais theSlavic word theyuse to meaninstrumental musicor
instrumental tuneand svirachmeans musicianor instrumentalist. They
had equated theborrowedGreekword,muzika,to svirnya(instrumental
tune),not to some largerart of combiningtones.
Eventually other words associated with the domain of 'musical'
behaviorsemerged,2and it became clear thatBulgariansuse at leastfive
separate verbs to describeactivitiespotentiallyrelatedto the Western
concept of music: plays (sviri), sings (pee), laments (taguva), beats
(tupa), and dances (igrae). (All theverbsare givenin thepresenttense,
third-person singularsince thereare no infinitivesin Bulgarian.)Each of
theseverbs is transitiveand linkeduniquelywithspecificcognatesub-
jects and objects: a 'tuner' 'tunes' a tune or a musician plays music
(svirach sviri svirnya or muzikant sviri muzika), a singer sings a song
(pevitsa pee pesen), a lamenter laments a lament (taguvashtiat taguva
ttga), a drummerdrumsa drum(tapandzhiya tupa tapan), and a dancer
dances a dance (igrachigraeigraor horo). In thisclassificationscheme,
'tune' (svirnya)is largelysynonymouswith 'music' (muzika) and both
directlycontrastwithsong (pesen); 'song' is not includedwithinmuzika.
AlthoughEnglishusage possessessome similarities, thereare some im-
portantdifferences. The Bulgariancategoriesare separateand cannotbe
intermixedas theyare in English.Where we mightsay, "He played a
waltz and thena love song,"at leastsome Bulgarianswould be carefulto
say thathe actuallyplayed the tune (svirnya,muzika) fora waltz and
thenthetunefora love song. Ironically,recordjacketnotesand concert
programsproducedtoday in Bulgariareflecttherelativeimprecisionof
modernWesternusage. They write,'he plays a weddingsong and a
straightdance' (toj sviri svadbarska pesen i pravo horo). But, according
to Kostadin Varimezov,Bulgaria'sleadingbagpiper,it would be more
correctto write,'he plays a weddingtuneand a straighttune'(toj sviri
svadbarska svirnya i prava svirnja). Traditionally in other words, Bul-
gariansdanced dances and sang songs; theyneverplayed them.
46 / 1980YEARBOOKOF THE INTERNATIONAL
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
Since no overarchingverbal categoryor label existsfor all of these

behaviors,thequestionof theboundarybetween'music'and 'non-music'
becomesmeaningless.Otherkindsof behaviorare as distinctfromthese
fivecategoriesas theyare fromeach other.For whistling,theysay, 'he
plays withhis lips' (toj sviris usta). The intransitiveness
of thisexpres-
sion, contrastedwith 'he plays bagpipe' (toj svirigajda), suggeststhat
whistlingis close to playingbut not quite thesame. Similarly,humming
is referred to as 'he plays withoutmusic' (toj sviribez muzika); in other
words, he 'plays' something,but it is not 'music.'The sounds of nature
and ofanimalsare also linkedverballywithhumanbehavior,and yetno
Bulgarianwould confusethemwith thatbehavior. Birds,forexample,
sing (pile pee), but theynever sing a song. The wind blows (vyatar
duha), but it neverblows a flute(duha kaval).
To assertthatthequestionof theboundarybetweenmusicand non-
music is moot in Bulgarianculturebegs the questionof how thesefive
categoriesare structured.Do theyforma directcontrastiveset at one
level in some larger taxonomy that includes other 'non-musical'
behavior?Or can some of thembe groupedby inclusionwithinsome
such largertaxonomy?Unfortunately, givena prioriassumptionsabout
thenatureand limitsof thediscipline,inherentin itsname, thiswas not
investigatedin any systematicway. However,a numberof possibilities
can be suggestedand othersare certainlypossible.
First, these categories could form part of a taxonomy of adult
behaviorsgroupedby sex: (1) 'playing'and 'drumming'typicalof men;
(2) 'singing'and 'lamenting'typicalof women; and (3) 'dancing'typical
ofbothsexes. In thistaxonomy'playing'and 'drumming' contrastdirect-
ly withhousebuilding,herdinganimals,ridinghorsesand onlyindirectly
with 'singing' and 'lamenting' through the dominating taxon,
appropriatebehaviorsforeach sex.
Anotherpossibilityis thatthecategoriesbelong to a taxonomyof 'fun
behaviors' (veselba). In thistaxonomy'drumming,''singing,''playing,'
and 'dancing'would contrastdirectlywitheating,talking,drinking,and
laughing,whereas'lamenting'would probably,althoughnot surely,be
eliminatedaltogetherfromthe taxonomy.
Third, they could formpart of a taxonomybased on a first-level
distinctionbetween outsiderand insiderbehavior. In this taxonomy
'drumming' mightbe includedin outsiderbehaviormoretypicalof Gyp-
sies,whereastheotherbehaviorswould be typicalof insiders,thatis, the
villagersthemselves.In thiscase drumming would contrastdirectlywith
other Gypsy behaviors such as zurla (oboe) playing, belly-dancing,
tinkering,and begging,and only indirectlywith the other Bulgarian
behaviors.
These behaviors could be included in a domain labelled 'art'
(izkustvo),but the problemswith thisare comparableto theproblems
with'music.'No seriousattempthas yetbeen made to establishitsvalidi-
tyas a folkdomain apart fromtheliterarytraditionand its language.
In Bulgariaa new 'non-folk,'state-created domainhas recentlyemerg-
ed, namely,'amateurism'(samodejnosta). When 'singers,''drummers,
'players,' 'dancers,' and possibly even 'lamenters,'along with story-
ASPECTSOF BULGARIAN
tellers, ritual re-enactors,piano players, and choral and drama

'collectives'appear on stage in state-sponsoredfestivalsand competi-
tions,theperformers are called 'amateurs'(samodejtsi).In thistaxonomy
the five categories probably contrast directlywith other kinds of
non-musical,'folkand non-folkperformances.
Finally, perhaps they could be included in a taxonomy of
'communications.'Butthereis no evidencethatthiswould be meaningful
in Bulgarianculture.'Communications'would seemto have thesame etic
statusin folklorestudiesas 'music'has in musicology.
Thus it is likely that thesefive behaviors exist withinmultipletax-
onomies in Bulgarianculture.None of thesetaxonomiesis isomorphic
withtheWesterncategory,'music.'Each is structured uniquelyand thus
the taxa contrastin different ways dependingon the taxonomy. If,
because of the preoccupationsof the disciplineused to study these
behaviors,theyare crammedinto theWesterndomain labelled 'music,'
they all contrastdirectlywith no possibilitiesfor inclusion of, say,
'drumming' within 'playing' or 'lamenting' within 'singing.' The
behavioralvalidityof thisformulationis examinedin thenextsection.
Music and Song

Music/tune,song, lament,drummingand dance are not just separate
verbal categoriesin Bulgaria; theyare distinctbehavioralor functional
categoriesas well. Dance, for example, is a communal occasion and
possiblya place where bodily movementand physicalcontactare the
means forsocial interaction.It may be accompaniedby eithermusicor
song. Lament,as Sachs (1976) pointsout, is stronglycontrastedto music
and song because itsprimaryfunctionis a personal,catharticcommuni-
cation between the living and the dead, whereas song involves com-
munal sharingof emotionamong the living.Drummingseems to have
been largelya peripheral,professional,musicalactivitybroughtintothe
villageby Gypsies,whereasplayingwas a crucial,amateuror semi-pro-
fessionalactivityperformedby local villagers.
The distinctionbetweenmusic/tuneand song in Bulgariais perhaps
themostinteresting forWesterners because theyare so thoroughly link-
ed in our own thought.Even in theWest,however,some verbalevidence
suggeststhattheymay be latentlyseparatecategories.Zemp (1978: 63)
gives a few Frenchexamples,and thereis plentyof Englishanecdotal
evidence.A musicteacheronce toldme, forexample,"All musicianscan
sing,but not all singersare musicians."While any attemptto separate
song frommusic in the West would have to be based on fragmentary,
humorous,or vestigialreferences, theirseparationin Bulgarianthinking
is vividand behaviorallyvalid. Realizingthattheymaybe separatecate-
gories in Bulgarian thoughtleads naturally to a re-examinationof
behaviorsfroma new perspective.In fact,much verbal, physicaland
'musical'behaviorconfirmstherealityof thisdivision.
Part of the reason for the divisionresidesin the natureof the sound
eventsthemselves:song is word-bearing,while music/tuneis not. Song
is capable of makingdirectand unambiguousstatementsin a way that
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
music cannot. The major functionsof song in Bulgaria are: (1) to

describetheactivityit accompanies,implicitly statingthatthisis thecor-
rectway to do things,(2) to recordeventsthathave importantimplica-
tionsfortheculture,(3) to statepublicallyand communallythevalues of
the society, and (4) to entertainthroughverbal humor and choice
description.Withtheexceptionof entertainment, thesefunctionsdo not
reside in instrumental music in Bulgarianculture.Music, on the con-
trary,has fewerand different functions:primarilypersonaldiversionas
when a shepherdplays flutewhilewatchinghis flock,and publicrecrea-
tionas an accompanimentto eatingand dancing.Finally,musicin Bul-
garianculturecarriesno specificverbalor even generalreferential mean-
ing,althoughin certaincontextsithas a signallingfunction.Itbringssen-
sual pleasurewithoutethical,historical,or descriptiveimplications.
The functionaland verbal divisionbetweenmusic and song is rein-
forcedby a behavioraldivisionof labor based on sex. Men are almost
exclusivelythe instrumentalists (svirachi) and women are the main
bearersof the song (pesen) tradition.The exceptionsare the type that
ultimatelyconfirmthe rule. Only a handfulof femaleinstrumentalists
were reportedin the literaturebeforethe recentadvent of state-spon-
sored schools of folk music. The strangenessof women players is
reflectedin the unflattering names such as masculineMaria (mashka
Maria) thatpeople called them(Katsarova 1952: 44). Similarly,while
women singon everyimportantritualoccasion and to accompanyfield
and house work,men typicallysingonlyin tavernsor whencelebrating
and drinkingin someone'shome or at a weddingor religiousholiday.In
thesecases theyare morecommonlycalled drunks(pianitsi)thansingers
(pevtsi). While women sing when perfectlysober as a natural and
necessaryadjunct to ritual and work, men sing mostlyunder the in-
fluenceof alcohol. Song is expectedof women, inducedin men.
The koleda ritualis theotherexceptionto therulethatwomenare the
singers.Duringkoleda, a mid-winter ritualnow held on December24th
in Bulgaria,theadolescentboys of thevillagego fromhouse to house in
groupsof six to tenwishingeach familyhealth,happinessand fertility.
That men,ratherthanwomen,performthisritualwould seemto be one
of thosecharacteristic reversalsof formthatstudentsof ritualbehavior
have taughtus to expect(Turner1969). At all othertimesof theyearand
in all othercontextsthewomenof thevillagetakeprimaryresponsibility
fornurturing bothsymbolicallyand physicallythehealthand well-being
of thevillage,its people, animals,and crops. But on thisone occasion,
koleda, themenassumea rolemorecharacteristic of thewomenand sing
(The questionofwhy thereversaloccursdur-
songs of luck and fertility.
ing koleda mustbe leftto anotherstudy.)
Anotherreason forbelievingthatmusic and song are conceptually,
verbally,functionallyand behaviorallydistinctcategoriesis that they
rarelyco-occur.A male instrumentalist accompanyinga femalevocalist
is an exceptionratherthantherulein Bulgariantraditionalmusicallife.
Instrumentally accompaniedsongis so takenforgrantedin theWestthat
we hardlythinkof it as evidencethatinstrumental and vocal musicare
thoughtof as sisterarts,different sides of a singlecoin. Yet in Bulgaria
theabsence of instrumentally accompaniedsongsand theproblemsBul-
RICE ASPECTSOF BULGARIAN
MUSICALTHOUGHT/49
garianshave withthemprovideimportantclues to theirthinking. During

a weddingprocession,forexample,a bagpiperwill play a dance tunefor
dancerswhile singersfollowbehindthebrideand groomsingingthema
song witha tuneand set of pitchesunrelatedto thebagpiper's.Although
playingand singingoccursimultaneously, thereis no sensein whichone
accompanies the other.At Sunday and holiday dances in thepast, the
women began thedancingafterchurchin thevillagesquare and created
theirown accompanimentby singingdance songs. When a bagpiperled
themenout of thetavernlaterin theafternoon,he oftentookup thetune
of thewomen'ssong. They thenstoppedsingingimmediately and instru-
mentalmusiccontinuedthroughoutthe restof theday.
The instrumentalist who accompanieshis own singingis theone tradi-
tionalexceptionto thisrule.The bowed-luteplayerwho singsand plays
Krali Marko ballads in the Shop region of WesternBulgaria is ubi-
quitous, and plucked-luteplayersand occasionallyeven bagpipersalso
accompany theirown singing.All of theseexamples occur primarily,
however,in the contextof male tavernor home entertainment singing
and perhapsfitbest into thatalreadyexceptionalcategory.Male musi-
cians accompanyingfemalesingersremained,untilrecently,a rareor, in
some areas of thecountry,non-existent occurrence.
In recentyears, however, radios, phonographs,and now television
have penetratedeven the most remoteBulgarianvillages,exposingthe
people to all kindsof popular, classical,and folkmusic. Given theubi-
quityofinstrumentally accompaniedsongin mostofthesetraditions,the
idea that accompanied song is preferableto unaccompaniedsong has
firmlyentered the performancepractice traditionin most parts of
Bulgaria. Today at music festivals,competitions,and radio and tele-
visionstations,individualsingersand choirsare accompaniedby a single
traditionalinstrument, by a small ensembleof theseor Westerninstru-
ments,or by thelargeorchestrasof folkinstruments at Radio Sofia or in
the National Ensembleof Folk Song and Dance.
In the Shop regionof WesternBulgaria,however,musicalbehavior
suggeststhat the idea of accompanied song is still not yet well-estab-
lished.The mainevidenceforthisis musicalbehavior.At musicfestivals
and competitionsin the Shop region,women who know Krali Marko
epic songs are occasionallyasked by theorganizersto singthemaccom-
panied by gajda or gadulka. In thesecases, the singeroftensingsat a
pitch totallyunrelatedto the instrument's pitch. Elena Stoin (personal
communication),a notedBulgarianethnomusicologist, explainedthisas
a functionof theunfamiliarity of thesingerwiththeinstrumentalist. The
singerhad a comfortablepitchat whichshe sang hersongsand could not
adjust to his pitch. Subsequentfieldwork, however,showed thatun-
familiarityis not the only problemat work here. These musiciansand
singers do not completelysharetheWesternconceptof accompaniment.
Accompaniedsong in theShop regionalso occurswithsimilarresults
on less highly-structuredoccasionsbetweenmenand womenwell known
to each other.In one case a brotheraccompaniedhissisteron clarinet,in
anothera husbandaccompaniedhis wifeon thegajda, and in thethirda
gajda playeraccompanieda groupofwomenfromhisvillage. In none of
thesesituationswas unfamiliarity a problem.In the firsttwo cases the
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
couplesenjoyedperforming in thisfashionand indicatedthattheydid it

quite often. In both cases, however, the instrumentand the voice per-
formedat completelyunrelatedpitchlevels. The bagpipereven had two
instruments about a fourthapart, and one would probablyhave been
close to therangeofhiswife.In neithercase, however,did she attemptto
singthesame pitchesthatherhusbandplayed. Othervillagersresponded
favorablyto recordingsof thispair, suggestingthattheywereattractive
performances. This was not out of merepoliteness,fortheycriticizedthe
recordingtechnique,feelingthatthegaida was too prominentcompared
to the singer.In the thirdcase a bagpiperwas presentat a table (na
trapeza)ofwomenand began to play a KraliMarlo tune(svirnja).In the
midstof one of his phrases,a woman began to singa Krali Marko song
(pesen) but at an unrelatedpitchand not in rhythmicunison with the
bagpipe. Aftershe finishedherverseof thesong, a second women took
up thesong at yeta new pitchand so it continued,thesongpassingfrom
woman to woman witheach verse. The bagpipe continuedto play, but
neithertherhythmnor thepitchwas synchronized withthesingers.The
resultwas not accompaniedsong in theWesternsense,but simultaneous
musicand song, theformerapparentlysuggesting,reinforcing, and in-
spiring the latter.
These threeexamplessuggestthatonlypartof theidea ofaccompanied
song has made itsway intoShop musicalthoughtand practice-thepart
thatsuggeststhatsong and instrumental tunecan be performedsimul-
taneously. The otherpart of the idea, thatrhythmicand pitchunisonis a
desirablegoal, is neitherwidelyrecognizednorpracticed.Althoughsuch
performances sound bizarreand humorousto theWesternlistenerand to
Bulgarianlistenersfromotherregions,theyclearlyare appropriateand
satisfactory performances in theShop region,wheretheyreflect concrete
but different ideas about the possible relationshipbetweenmusic and
song. In fact,theyseem rathercloselyrelatedto thetraditionalwedding
practice,where the bagpipe played for dancers at the same time as
singerssangsongsfortheweddingparty.Simultaneity ofmusicand song
was possibletraditionally and is now practicedoccasionallyin homesor
on stage. But theidea of instrumentally accompaniedsong,withall of its
attendantconcepts,has not been adopted fullyin thisregion.
In sum, theseverbal,physical,and musicalbehaviors,takentogether,
suggestthatBulgarianvillagerstraditionallyconceivedof song (pesen)
and instrumental music (muzika,svirnya)as quite separatecategories.
Each categoryhad its distinctfunctions,its appropriatesex, and was
musicallyimmisciblewith the other.The ways of thinkingand talking
about each categorymay have been distinctas well.
Song
The restof thispaper focuses,as promised,on just one categoryof
Bulgarian'musical'behavior: theideas and taxonomiestheyhave in the
domain labelled 'song.' The discussioncenterson the Shop regionas
before,an area notable for its unique style of multi-partsingingthat
emphasizesalmostcontinuouslysoundingsimultaneousseconds.Mono-
phonic songs also exist,sung in unison or by soloists.
MUSICALTHOUGHT/51
To classifysong types,Shop villagers,like all Bulgariansand most

Europeans,use a dual, overlappingsyste-mi based on usage and content.
Not surprisinglyforan agriculturalsociety,a largenumberof songsare
associatedwithfieldwork: songsforgoingto thefield,at thesunrise,at
mid-morning when the sun gets hot, at noon when the sun casts no
shadow, at theafternoonrest,whentheafternoonbreezesbeginto cool,
at sunset,and for returningto the village. There are also indoor work
songs,weddingsongs,dance songs,saints'day songs,and songsforthe
major calendar rituals: koleda (mid-winter),St. Lazar's Day (spring),
and peperuda (summerdrought). In addition some songs are sung
'anytime,''wheneverguests gather together,'or 'at table.' Simultane-
ously, Bulgariansdescribethesesongs accordingto theirsubjectmatter:
love, history,humor,luck, fertility,and religion.
How Bulgarianvillagerstalk about and presumablythinkabout the
musical dimensionsof song is the focus here, based on conversations
withabout thirtyfemalesingersin thisregion.It is an attemptto present
an emic analysis of the songs, one that illustratesthe extentto which
thesesingersare capable of verbalizingthedetailsof theirsingingstyle.
Two-VoicedSong
Bulgarianmusicologists,led by Nikolaj Kaufman (1968), follow the
Russian practice in the classificationof song textures,shunningthe
Greek-derivedmonofonia/polifonia in favor of words based on Slavic
roots: ednoglasie/mnogoglasie,'onevoicedness/twovoicedness.' Since
threeor more parts are the exceptionin Bulgaria,the most important
distinctionis betweenone-partand two-parttextures:ednoglasnopeene
(one-partsinging),dvuglasnipesni (two-partsongs), dvuglasna oblast
(two-partregion,thatis, Southwestern Bulgaria). It is ironic,then,that
theirdecisionto use Slavic wordsresultsin confusionwhen thosewords
are used in conversationswith thesingersthemselves.
The singersdo not typicallyunderstanddvuglasnapesen to mean two-
part song, as do theBulgarianmusicologists.The singersseem to inter-
pretglas in thiscase to mean quite literally'voice' and understanddvu-
glasna pesen to mean that two women with two voices sing the song.
There is no implicationthattwo different musicalpartsare present,but
simplythatchoral and specificallyduet singingis occurringratherthan
solo singing.Thus, fromthepointofview ofthebearersofthistradition,
the word constructedby musicologiststo mean polyphonyactually
refersto thetimbralcontrastbetweensolo and choralsinging.Perhapsit
is here,in fact,thattheborderlinebetweenmonophonyand polyphony
should be drawn forthisculture.
Observationsduringa briefstudy of the mid-wintercarolingritual
(koleda) providean independentconfirmation of thisview. Men perform
koleda songs in antiphonalchoral unison-an etic descriptionof their
performance style.But themendistinguishbetweentherole or function
of each singerin theduet withwords. To achieve thepreciseand effec-
tive unison the men seek, one singerstands slightlybehindand to the
rightof theother.The man who standsbehindis said to trailor follow
(vlachi) and singsrelativelyquietlyand withindistinct pronunciationin-
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
to theear of his partner.This man, who standsin front(po napred),is

said to cry out (izvikva) and sings louder and pronouncesthe words
moredistinctly thanhis partner,whiletakingresponsibility forblending
as closelyas possiblewiththismate's voice.
The femalesingersof two-partsongsuse exactlythesame terminology
to distinguishthe differences betweentheirvoices. In theircase, how-
ever,thedifferences betweenthetwo partsextendbeyondloudness,care
in pronunciation,and therelativepositionof thesingersto a difference
in thepitchcontentof thetwo parts.Thus, Bulgarianvillagersuse iden-
ticalterminology forsongsthatare eticallydistinguishable
as polyphonic
and monophonic.This suggeststhatemically,and at one levelin theBul-
garian taxonomy of song textures,all choral songs belong to one
category.They call the category'two-voicedsongs,' referring to the
numberof singers,not to thenumberof different musicallines.
The desireto distinguishvocal functionin an eticallyunisonsinging
traditionsuch as koleda songs suggeststhatthesesingersrecognizethe
impossibilityofa trueunisonin choralperformances. Whentwo or more
singersattemptto singthesame musicallinetogether, theymustproduce
some simultaneously sounds (polyphony)throughrhythmic,
contrasting
pitchor timbraldifferences. WhileWesterntheorists emphasizeintentor
what linguistsmightcall competencein choosingto call thestylemono-
phonic,theBulgariansingersseemto emphasizewhatbothmusicologists
and linguistscall performance by employinga terminology thatsuggests
thepolyphoniccharacterof any choral,even unison,performance.
The implicationsof this view for the structureof taxonomiesof
musicaltextureare summarizedin Figure1.
Figure1
Taxonomiesof Musical Texture
a) Proposed WesternTaxonomy
vocal music
monophonic polyphonic
solo unison octaves parallel oblique contrary

motion motion motion
b) Proposed BulgarianTaxonomy
song
solo 'two-voiced'(choral)
with without
'bellowing' 'bellowing'
(see below)
MUSICALTHOUGHT/53
One of the strikingdifferences between these two taxonomiesis the

relative emphasis on musical versus social factors. In the proposed
Westerntaxonomy,admittedlythatof an educated layman or profes-
sional, theprimaryemphasisis on a musicalfeature-thenumberofdif-
ferentmusical lines presentand theirrelationship.In the Bulgarian
village taxonomytheprimaryemphasisis social-the numberof singers
present.
This differencedirectlyreflectsthe different functionsin Bulgarian
cultureof unisonand choralsinging.Solo singingeitheroccurswhen the
individualis by himself,or when the singeris cast in the role of enter-
tainer,usuallyperforming in a tavernor forguestsat a social gathering.
Choral singing,on theotherhand, occursin communalsituationswhere
theperformer-audience distinctionis less important.Not only do more
people participatein theactual processof makingmusic,but thesetting
forgroup singingusually involveseveryonepresentin otheraspects of
the situationsuch as dancing, participatingin ritual observances,or
waitingtheirturnto singwhilechattingor working.Thus, thesocial and
timbralpolyphony of supposedly unison choral singingrepresentsa
culturallymeaningful extensionoftheWesterncategoryofpolyphony.If
the categoriesof monophonyand polyphonyare to be retained,they
mustbe applied in thisslightlydifferent sense to be meaningfulin the
Bulgariancontext.
Songs with 'Bellowing'

Having establishedin theprevioussectionthatthephrase,two-voiced
songs, refersto choral performanceand not to the numberof musical
lines,thediscussionmoves to thenextlevel of discriminationof texture
and specificallyto choral songs performedwith two or more musical
lines. The generictermthesesingersuse to label two-partsongs is pesni
na buchene(songswithbellowing)or pesnina vlachene(songswithtrail-
ing). No phrase distinguisheschoral one-partsongs. They belong to a
largelyunnamed category,although if pressed the singersmightcall
thempesni bez buchene(songs withoutbellowing).
Within the category of songs with bellowing-in Western termi-
nology,polyphonicsongs-the singersare able to describewithsome ac-
curacythedifferences betweenthetwo musicallines. Vasil Stoin (1925:
25) firstmentionedthatBulgariansingersof two-partsongs distinguish
verballybetween the musical functionsof the two voices. Discussing
songs fromnear the town of Razlog in the Pirinregion,he pointedout
that the higher,melodic voice 'leads' while the accompanyingsingers
'walk.' Since that firstobservation,othercollectorshave assiduously
reportedhow thesingersdescribethe two partsof theirsongs. Some of
themostcommonwordsforthebehaviorof thehigher-pitched part-in
Westernterms,themelody-are izvikva(criesout), trese(shakes,referr-
ing to theplethoraof ornamentsin thestyle),otiva po napred (goes in
front,referringboth to leading thesingingand to a positionslightlyin
frontof the accompanyingsingers).The singersof the lower-pitched,
accompanyingpartare said to vlachat(trailor follow),buchat(bellow),
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
tresat(shake, referring to glottalstops) and otivatpo nazad (go behind,

referring both to musicalfunctionand position).
This abilityto distinguishand talkabout thedifferentvoicesin thetex-
tureactuallyfacilitateda moreaccuratemusicalanalysisofsome of these
songs thanhad heretofore been achievedby Bulgarianmusicologists.In
fourvillagesaround Sofia, thecapitol of Bulgariaand thecenterof the
Shop region, the extraordinaryharmonicpower of the singingis im-
pressive,perhapsresulting fromsome narrow,especiallydissonant,har-
monic interval;perhaps the singersfromothervillages were less sdic-
cessfulin producingthiseffect.
Conversationwiththesingersrevealedthatthissuppositionwas total-
ly wrong.The cause of thepowerfulharmoniceffects was thepresenceof
a three-parttexture,not just two parts as experienceand all previous
reportsof thestylehad suggested(Ex. 1). Accordingto thesingers,the
lead singer'cries out' as usual, but the accompanyingsingerssplitinto
two parts. This was expressedin different ways in each village. In one
village, for example, one accompanistwas said to 'bellow crookedly'
(krivobuchi)while theotherwas said to 'bellowstraight'(pravo buchi).
Analysisconfirmedthattheformersang a two-notepartalternating be-
tweentonicand subtonic,whilethelattersang a drone.The pravo buchi
part had neverbeen describedin the Bulgarianliteratureon thistradi-
tion. Harmonicallythispracticeproducedpowerfulthree-toneclusters
thatwere not used in most otherShop villages.
Other ways of expressingthe three-parttexturewere also effective:
"We [threesingers]all begintogether and thenwe splitapart,"and accor-
ding to theleader of one group,"I listenespeciallyto one of thewomen
who bellows. Withouther I could not sing." She was referring to the
krivobuchipart,whichin thisvillagealso functionedto markphraseen-
dingsin freerhythmic songs. Thus, thesingersof thistraditionare con-
scious of the differences betweenand characterof the individualparts
theysing, and they can become true collaboratorsin any attemptto
reach accurateanalyticalstatementsabout musicalstyle.
Pitch
Pitch is distinguishedalong a continuumlabeled fat (debel) and thin
(tanak), where thin correspondsto high-pitchedand fat equals low-
pitched.The singersused thiscontinuumto comparevocal ranges,as in
"she has a lowervoice (po-debelglas) thanI have," or to complainabout
the tessituraof a particularperformance,as in "we sang thatsong too
high(mnogo tanak) forme."
These singersdo not make finerdistinctions in pitchsuch as thenam-
ingof scale degreesor different modes. Musical behaviorwithrespectto
pitch,however,suggeststhatthesingershave a different conceptionof
pitch fromthe West's. Perhaps the most strikingfeatureof Bulgarian
pitch behavior in the two- and three-partsongs is its instability.Al-
thoughHarwood (1976: 526) claimsthat'chunking'is a cognitiveuniver-
sal leading to the repetitionof a small set of pitchesduringthe perfor-
mance of a song, Bulgariansingersconsistently employa varietyof pit-
RICE ASPECTS OF BULGARIAN MUSICAL THOUGHT / 55
92
= froL I
E MO - RI MAJ-KYA YO - RO MOR RI TAN-KO PLE - LO
EXAMPLE1
frI"I.
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NYA-NO( C)TI F) 1 U -1SO; (T - NF GEI.-DAN CF - N
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TO SOM NA PI-RIN ZA VO-DO 0 0
b '
.o- j ,j j j ,;
chesforapparentlythesame scale degree.Messner(1976: 222) measured
thisphenomenonwith a sonogramand concluded thatone group per-
formedonly thesubtonicconsistently: about 165 centsbelow the tonic.
All otherpitchesabove the tonicvaried considerablyin pitch.
Apparentlythe mode of a song, in the Westernsense, can be altered
withoutdestroyingor changingtheessence of a song. The clearestand
most strikingexampleof thisoccurswhen the two groupssinginganti-
phonallydo so in differentmodes (Ex. 2). This is musicalevidenceof the
relativeunimportanceof the Westernconcept of mode in this style.
Specifically,distinctionswhich are meaningfulin Westernculturebe-
tween whole steps and half-stepsare apparentlymeaninglessin Shop
culture.'Meaningless'heremeans thatpitchestranscribed, forexample,
as b0 and b' are used interchangeably withoutaffecting theintegrity
and identityof thesong, itsemotionalcontent,or theaestheticresponse
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
of either singers or listeners. These two versons of b, plus all their

variants notated with arrows pointing up or down over the note, have
equivalent musical functionsor meanings in Shop multi-partsongs. Shop
singers behave as if there were only scale degrees in these songs: sub-
tonic, tonic, second, third,and fourthdegrees of the scale. Their precise
pitch in Western terms is meaningless. Although a pitch can be given a
certain descriptive, etic precision by calling it b? , slightlyflat, thispreci-
sion is functionally, emically meaningless in Shop songs.
S180
IKO- BoN DOJ-N!I MI MO -MIi DOI~- NI
EXAMPLE 2
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One way this situation is often expressed is that the people under
discussion have a higher tolerance for deviation from pitch norms than
we do. But it seems ratherthat the same kind of norms simply do not ex-
ist. The firststatementimplies a certain carelessness about pitch which is,
in fact, not the case. Shop singers manipulate pitch, but according to
principles differentfrom the major/minor, whole-step/half-stepdicho-
tomy of Western music. That the second degree of the scale may be
notated variously as b , bi, and b4 in a single strophe is not indicative of
lack of standards or of poor performance. Nor is it indicative of a Middle
ASPECTSOF BULGARIAN
Easterntonal systemwithmorethantwelvesub-divisionsof theoctave.

Rather,pitchis manipulatedsubtlyalong a continuumto achievea par-
ticularharmoniceffect.
Harmony:Consonance and Dissonance

Insteadof tryingto singnaturalsecondsas opposed to flatsecondsto
createmodal unity,Shop singerstryto generateharmonicintervalsbe-
tween the two (or three)parts that, in theirwords, 'ringlike a bell'
(zvi2natkato zv 2ntsi)(see Katsarova 1954: 209). Seconds, thirds,and
fourthscan do this,but theyare especiallyeffective when sung slightly
flatof theWesternnorm.On shortertonesthiskindof manipulationfor
intervalqualityis not practical,since theresultsare fleetingand hardly
worthwhile.A b? mightresult.On longertonesthepitchwill typically
slideslightlyuntilthedesired"ringing"is achieved,resulting in a notated
bt , or even b' . Thus themanipulation of pitch to enhancetheeffectof
theharmonycauses theapparentvariationsin notatedpitch,not a care-
lessnessborn of a greatertoleranceforpitchdeviation.
While the evidence for this line of reasoningabout the meaningof
pitchvariationrestson musicalbehavior,verbalbehaviorsuggeststhat
thesingersare quiteconsciousof theharmonicdimensionof their'songs
with bellowing.'When theysay theywant theirsingingto 'ringlike a
bell,' theyare apparentlyreferring to theclash of overtonesand funda-
mentals,similarto thesheep or cow or goat bells in a flockor herd.The
resultingsound is describedas dissonantby thoseWesterners impressed
with thelarge numberof major and minorseconds. But clearlythereis
no reasonto believethatthisapplicationofWesternideas acrosscultural
boundariesis appropriate.Katsarova (ibid.: 209), in tryingto rectifythis
view, argues that seconds are consonant in Bulgarian part-singing
because theyare so ubiquitous,and the singersacknowledgeverbally
thattheyseek these'ringing'intervals.
Carryingtheargumentone stepfurther, itis likelythattheconceptsof
harmonicconsonanceand dissonance,so importantto Westerntheorists
whendiscussingpolyphonicmusic,are notpresentin themindsof these
singersand are not usefulcategoriesforunderstanding how thesesongs
work. The distinctionbetweenconsonanceand dissonanceis not recog-
nized in theverbalizationsof thesingersthemselves.
Everyattemptto elicitresponsesthatwould differentiate among the
harmonicintervalsin thisstylefailed.Therewereno verbaldescriptions
of the sounds of different intervals,despite the use of every possible
methodto focusthesingers'attentionon particularintervals.Nor could
theyrelateto possibleoppositionsbetweendifferent intervalsthatmight
be relevant to our concept of consonance and dissonance such as
tense/relaxed,harsh/smooth,rings-like-a-bell/doesn't-ring-like-a-bell,
pretty/ugly, finished/unfinished.This line of questioningelicitedlittle
more than uncomprehendingstares. Apparently all the intervals
(unisons,seconds,thirds,and fourths)are thesame in theiraestheticim-
pact. "They are the same." "They all sound fine (hubavo)." "We like
them." "They ring like a bell." Messner (1976: 19) reportsthe word
FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
smooth.'Even thevarious thirdsand fourthscan be made to ringlikea

bell, althoughWesternerstendto perceivethesecondsas most'ringing.'
On thebasis of thisinabilityto distinguishbetweenharmonicintervals
verballyand assumingthatconsonanceand dissonanceare intertwined,
complementary conceptswithina singlemusicalsystemratherthanetic
it seems reasonable to
categoriesthat can be applied cross-culturally,
concludethattheydo notexistas meaningful, emiccategoriesofthought
forthesingersin thistradition.
Ornamentation
For WesternersBulgarianfolkmusic and song are strikingly richin
ornamentation. Rapid trills,turns,mordents,plus dramaticglottalstops
withor withouta momentaryhigh-pitched 'yodel'add immeasurablyto
theaestheticpleasurewe feelin hearingBulgarianmusicand song. Shop
villagersuse the word tresene(shaking)to referto all thesemanifesta-
tions and do not distinguishamong the various Westerntypeslisted
above. Althoughtresenecan be roughlyglossedin Englishas ornamenta-
tion,conversationsabout tresenerevealedthatit may not have quite the
same functionas ornamentation in Westernmusicand musicalthought.
Two notionsseem to be centralto theWesternconceptof ornamenta-
tion. One is thatit is peripheraland inessential,especiallywhen com-
pared to themainstructural importanceof themelodyor harmony.The
otheris thatits main functionis to beautify,to vary,or to bringto life
thissame stolidmelodicoutline.In Shop song,however,neitherof these
notionsis inherentin theconceptof tresene.
Treseneis mentionedby thesesingerswheneverit is structurally im-
portant,notperipheralto thestyle.Itsstructural importancevariesfrom
regionto regionand fromgenreto genrewithina region.There are at
least four different uses in which treseneis mentioned.First,in areas
whereornamentation is eticallyveryrich,thehigher-pitched partis said
to shake (trese),expressingthecrucial,structural roleoftresenein gener-
atingand maintainingthispart (Ex. 3). Second, in villagesaround the
townof Samokov and Ihtiman,southeastof Sofia,thelowerpartshakes
(trese)with rapid glottalstops as a crucialelementin generatingmore
harmonicringingbetweenthevoices (Ex. 4). Third,in Shop songssung
duringnoon restperiodsin thefields,thesongs concludewitha typical
cadentialpatterncalled tresenein whichtheuppervoice descendsbelow
thetonicand shakes (trese)beforetheend of each strophe(Ex. 3). Final-
ly, near thetownof Pazardzhik,also southeastof Sofia, an ornamental
heterophonicstyleexiststhatis totallydependentforits ringingeffects
on the difference betweentwo simultaneousperformancesof a single
melodicline,one withshakingand one withoutshaking(Ex. 5). Threeof
thesecases involveregionalstylesin whichtreseneis crucial,and in one
case tresenefiguresprominently in partofa stropheofa particulargenre.
In all thesecases tresene,whileitsounds to Westernears likeornamenta-
tion, is not a peripheral,optional,or casual addition; it is structurally
and oftenharmonicallyintegralto the performanceof the songs. The
singersexpressthisby labellingtheappropriatehigheror lower line or
melodicsectionas tresene.
RICE ASPECTS OF BULGARIAN MUSICAL THOUGHT / 59
EXAMPLE 3
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FOLKMUSIC COUNCIL
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Since shaking in the Shop region is more structuralthan optional, it is

not surprising that the second notion so closely associated with the
Western concept of ornamentation, that it somehow beautifies or or-
naments a melody or performance, is also not commonly spoken about.
The richness and clarity of tresene-an etic measure of virtuosity-was
rarely, if ever, used in evaluations of singers or of particular perfor-
mances. Instead of favoring singerswith an abundance of clean, crisp or-
naments, the Shop women appreciated other qualities such as knowledge
of a large repertoire,a loud voice that blended with the other singers, an
ability to sing long phrases--including occasionally whole strophes-in a
single breath, and an ability to adjust harmonic intervals so they rang
like bells.
Tresene, no matter how crude, was always performedby every singer
at the structurally important points and thus satisfied the minimum
criteria of the style. The virtuosity of the tresene did not seem to affect
the listeners' judgment of a singer. As long as a performance worked in
terms of phrasing, harmony, loudness, and blend, it could apparently
not become more beautiful by the mere addition of more tresene.
Tresene, in other words, while often impressively virtuosic to the
Westerner,does not necessarily ornament or beautify a performanceof a
song for these women.
RICE ASPECTS OF BULGARIAN MUSICAL THOUGHT 61
Whatdoes beautifyor ornament(ukrasyava)a songaccordingto these

singersare thelong-heldtonesor harmonicintervals,especiallyin theso-
called free-rhythmic or pulselesssongs. Accordingto Shop singers,the
longera toneis held,themoreitbeautifiesthesong-a fascinating rever-
sal of the Westernidea of ornamentation, which emphasizesthe short
tonesthatgracethemelodicline. In theShop region,on thecontrary,the
long tones are the ornaments.They not only beautifythe songs, but
they,ratherthanharmonicmotion,are thesourceoftensionin thesongs
as well. Tension is generated,accordingto thesingers,by holdingany
pitchor harmonicintervalfora long time,notby thechoice ofa specific
interval.Thus, tensionand releaseare at workin thesesongsin thetem-
poral dimensionofdurationofpitchesand intervals,notin theharmonic
dimensionof chord or intervalmanipulation.
Melody
Bulgariansuse theword glas to mean (1) voice in thephysicalsense,
(2) the melodyof songs, and (3) thegenreto whicha melodybelongs.
They do not use it to referto functionsin a polyphonictexture.They do
not say, forexample,"shesingsthemelody(glas) whileanothersingsthe
drone." Ratherglas is used to differentiate the genreappropriatefora
given melody, as in, a 'wedding melody' (svadbarskiglas) or 'epic
melody' (Krali Markov glas). (Svirnyawould be used for the instru-
mentalversionof thetune.)In theShop regionthereseemto be relatively
few traditionalmelodies(glasove), comparedeitherto otherregionsof
Bulgaria or to the numberof texts.Each genre or categoryof usage
(wedding,harvest,going to the fields,working-bee)has one or a very
fewmelodiesto whichall ofthesongsof thatgenreare set. Ten to twenty
weddingsongs in a givenvillageare all set to one melody,forexample.
In one Shop village fourhundredsongs (pesni) were sung to about 30
tunes (glasove). These tunesare recognizedand named by theirasso-
ciated usage.
It is also possible thatShop women have recognizedanother,rather
abstractfeatureof melody,namely,melodiccontour.Whilerecordingin
the Shop region,women would occasionallytryto end a recordingses-
sion afteronlya fewsongsby saying,"whydo you wantto recordmore?
All our songs are alike." Obviously, theyhad come to understandthat
my interestwas primarilyin themusicalaspectsof song and less in the
meaningsof the texts.So whereas all theirsongs are clearlydifferent
when the textsare compared, they obviously perceivedsome funda-
mentalsimilarity in themelodies.This claimwas made quitea fewtimes
in theShop region,but neverin theotherareas ofBulgariawheremulti-
partsingingoccurs.Afterreturning fromthefield,musicalanalysiscon-
firmedthatthereis one sensein whichtheseShop songsare all alike,and
it may have been thispropertyof thesongs thatthewomenwere referr-
ing to.
Etically, ornamental and rhythmicvariety clearly separates one
melodyor genrefromanother.Butignoringrhythm and ornamentation,
themelodiccontourofvirtuallyall part-songsin theShop regionis based
on a singlemodelwithtwo variations:an arc usingstepwisemotionand

an undulatingarc also usingstepwisemotion(cf.Ex. 3). Admittedly arc-
shaped melodiesand stepwisemotionare commonthroughoutthe Bul-
garianfolksong tradition,and thenarrowrangeofShop songslimitsthe
possibilities.Butin thecentralarea of theShop regionaroundSofia, on-
ly thesetwo possibilitiesare exploited.Fartheraway fromthecenterof
theregion,moretypesofmelodicmotionare used untilno sucheasy pat-
ternof similaritiesin melodiccontourcan be found.
Thus thewomen may be correctwhen theysay thatall thesongs are
alike; theymaybe referring to thealmostidenticalmelodiccontourofall
theirsongs. Obviously thisis a judgmentof samenessin song stylethat
mightbe eschewedby themodernethnomusicologist, wiselyfearingthat
eticanalysismay be ethnocentric and inappropriate.But in thiscase the
analysisof samenessis supportedand validatedby theverbalizationsof
thesingersthemselves, leavingtheanalystwiththefeelingthat,foronce,
his musical analysis need not be ad hoc and culturallyirrelevant,but
meaningful withina specificcontext.
Form
All of themulti-part songs are strophic,but thereis no folktermfor
strophe. Its existenceas a concept,however,is recognizedbehaviorally
by thesingerswho always beginand end any incompleteperformance at
strophicboundaries.Antiphony,whichis thenormin thisstyle,also is
based on alternationof strophes.The internalstructureof strophesis
recognizedand labelled only by the singersof one village (Kaufman
1968: 26). Accordingto the singersof Gintsivillage, theycan sing the
same song in one of two ways: in two voices (na dva glasa) or in three
voices (na triglasa). This refersneitherto thenumberof singersnor to
thenumberof parts,but to thenumberof phrasesin a strophe.Whena
song is sung na dva glasa, the melodicstructure is AB. When thesame
song is sungna triglasa, thefirstphraseis repeatedso thata two-phrase
song becomes a three-phasesong: AAB. So far, this,plus the above-
mentionedsub-strophicsectionlabelled tresene,are the only reported
instancesof singersin the Shop regionverbalizingabout sub-strophic
aspects of form.
Rhythm
Tempo is theonlyelementof musicaltimediscussedexplicitlyby Bul-
garian singers.They compare performancesalong a scale fromslow
(bavno) to fast (bzrzo). They did not traditionallydiscuss theirsongs,
tunes,or dances in termsof thenumberofbeats permeasure.The asym-
metricor aksak metersso famousin theWest and analyzedin detailby
Singer(1974) and Kremenliev(1952) werefirstrecognizedby a Bulgarian
school teacherin 1886 (Kaufman1970: 35). Beforehis transcriptions in
7/8and 5/8, transcribers crammedBulgariantunesintothenearestcom-
monlyavailable Westernmeter:2/4, 3/4, or 6/8. Today village musi-
cians and singerswith any connectionto the academic music world
throughthelocal musicteacher,an ensembleconductor,or a childwith
some formalmusictrainingknow thetime-signatures forat leastsome of
MUSICALTHOUGHT/63
themusictheyplay or sing. But even knowingthetime-signatures, they

often can neithercount the number of beats nor clap the accented
metricalgroupings.
Traditionallythe various meters,symmetricalor asymmetrical,of
Bulgarianmusicwere identifiedonly by the genericname of the dance
(horo) that a given tune (svirnya)or song (pesen) mightaccompany.
These genericdance names, however,did not referuniquelyto meter
(thenumberof pulses per measure)but to a set of rhythmic featuresin-
cluding number of of
pulses,grouping pulses, accentuation,and tempo.
Tunes notated in 7/8 time, for example, are called riAchenitsa when
grouped 2+2+3, Makedonska when grouped 3+2+2, and Eleninata
when grouped2+2+1+2. Fast tunes notatedin 9/8 (2+2+2+3) are
called Dajchovata, whereas slow tunes in 9/8 (2+2+2+3) are called
Samokovskata. Tunes in 6/8 (3+3) are called pravata when evenlyac-
centedon thetwo mainbeats, kuklenskatawhen theaccentfallsheavily
on the firstof the two beats. Bulgarianvillagersdistinguishand label
genericallya constellationof rhythmicfeaturesthat unifya subset of
theirdance tunesand songs. In thisprocesstheygive no particularem-
phasis to meteralone, nor do they count the number of beats in a
measure.
Thus, numberof pulses (5, 7, 9, 11) is notan emicfeatureof Bulgarian
meters,whereasmetricalgroups,accentuation,and tempo(and perhaps
others)probablyare. Unfortunately, so fartherehas beenneitheran ade-
quate folk taxonomy nor componentialanalysis (Goodenough 1956) of
the featuresof Bulgarianmeter.WhereasWesternerstendto group the
versionsof the 7-beatmeterstogether,it is more likelythatBulgarians
group Dajchovata (9) and Eleninata (7) togetherbased on identical
numbersof metricalgroups,namely,four:2+2+2+3 and 2+2+1+2,
respectively.It is also possible thatthe taxonomiesand componentsof
meaning of meter differin song (pesen), tune (svirnya), and dance
(horo). Thus, despite the etic precision of the analysis of Bulgarian
meter,it has yet to receivea convincingcognitiveor emic analysis.
Timbre
Shop singerstalk at some lengthabout vocal quality. Voices fall into
one of two basic categories:theclean (chist),reedy(piskliv)groupor the
muddy (mziten), buttery (mazhen) group. The common English
metaphorsfor the timbreof the formergroup would be 'pure,' 'clear,'
'thin,' 'tense;' for the timbre of the latter group 'slightlyraspy,
somewhat thicker,''fairlyrelaxed.' Generallya woman's voice goes
from'reedy'and 'clean' as a youngwoman to 'muddy'and 'buttery'as an
olderwoman. Buteven amonga singleage groupthesedistinctions app-
ly. In manycases wheretwo groupsof women sang antiphonally,there
was a 'reedy'group and a 'buttery'group. The women said that they
formedthesegroups on the basis of which voices blended or sounded
good together(uidishat).Althoughthewomenmake thisbipartiteclassi-
ficationof vocal qualityand possessa notionof blend,theydo not seem
to preferone voice typeover the other.
One vocal qualitywhichis prized,however,is theabilityto singloud-

ly (visoko). These singerscontrastvoices along a dimensionlabelled
visoko (loud, high)/nisko(soft,low). In othercontextsthispairofwords
means high and low, but when connectedwith music theyhave the
complementary meaning,familiarto studentsof Medieval and Renais-
sance music,ofloud and soft.The lead (po napred)singeroftenspoke of
the value of havingwomen with loud voices accompanyingher. They
forcedherto singevenmoreloudlyin orderto be heardabove them,and
this resultedin a more satisfyingperformance.Many people fondly
reportedtheirmemoriesof hearingsingersfromso faraway thatthey
were completelyout of sight. Women fromotherregionsoftencom-
mentedon theloudnessof Shop singingwhen comparingsingingstyles.
This abilityto sing loudly is valued in the Shop regionover any par-
ticulartone quality and over the abilityto shake (trese)in a virtuosic
manner.
Conclusion
Althoughsome aspectsof Bulgarianmusicalthoughthave been listed
and describedhere, theyhave not yet been placed in the contextof a
largersystemof thoughtthatwould orderand explainthem.Christopher
Marshall (in press) has attemptedto do thisfor anotherSouth Slavic
group-the Debariani of Yugoslav Macedonia. Since it is likely that
similaritiesexistbetweenShop and Debarcan thought,his studycan be
read profitably withthisone. He developsa wide-ranging epistemology
fortheDebar*ani,withmusicalthoughtand aestheticsas one particular
manifestation. He argues(p. 17 of ms) that"each [musical]piece is seen
as a concept,a singleentityapprehendedby theakil ['mind']as a total
Gestalt. The concept of structureis foreignto thisepistemology..."
This approach to a song as a totalityhelps to explainwhy sub-strophic
form,the size of intervals,the precisecharacterof ornaments,and the
numberof beats per measureare not analyzed; theycannotbe analyzed
by a 'mind'that'grasps'thesong as a whole, unbreakableconcept.On
theotherhand qualitiesthatpertainto thewhole piece and remaincons-
tant throughoutare analyzed and discussed: texture,timbre,tempo,
melodic contour,tessitura,the overall harmonicgoal ('to ringlike a
bell'), theneedforornamentation, and thenamesofdanceswhicha song
accompanies.Thus, thedata in thispapertendto confirmthecorrectness
and generalityto other South Slavic culturesof Marshall's DebarCan
epistemology.
This discussionopens a tinywindow on a vast and fascinatingsub-
ject-how theBulgarianpeople talkand thinkabout music.The 'aspects'
of thetitleis notsimplyacademicverbosity.It trulyreflectsthetentative
and partialnatureof theinquiry.The issueofsampling,forexample,has
not been addressed.Instead of workingwith a singleindividualin the
mannerof Zemp's 1979 study,theseverbalizationsand behaviorswere
elicitedfromand observedamong a varietyof individualsand synthe-
sized intoa presentationthatalmostsurelymisrepresents theview ofany
singleindividualin the cultureand thatdoes not adequately treatthe
MUSICALTHOUGHT/ 65
problemsofchangeand acculturation.Also theprocessofgraduallynar-

rowingdown the scope of the studyexcludedmanyareas of Bulgarian
musicallife.Afterdistinguishing theseparatecategoriesof music,dance,
song, drumming, and lament,thediscussionfocussedsolelyon song and
beyond thaton multi-part song in the Shop region.
Much work remainsto be done on Bulgarianmusical thoughtin the
othergenresand regions.Experiencesuggeststhatsubstantialdifferences
existamongtheregionsnot onlyin musicalstyle,but in verbalbehavior,
aesthetics,and thoughtas well. Perhapsthisstudy,along withthoseby
Marshall and Sachs, will stimulateothersto extendits rangeboth geo-
graphicallyand conceptually.
NOTES
This paper is based on threeperiodsof research:threemonthsin 1969 supportedby an

NDEA Title VI grant,fifteen monthsin 1972-73supportedby IREX and a Fulbright-Hays
DissertationResearch Abroad Fellowship,and nine months in 1978-79 workingwith
Kostadinand Todora Varimezov,artists-in-residence at theFacultyofMusic, University
of
Toronto.
1. End-blownfipplelessflute,bowed lute,long-neckedpluckedluteand bagpipe,respec-

tively.The song stylesand musicalinstruments mentionedin thispaper can be heard
on a numberof readilyavailable commercialrecordings,forexample: Bulgaria.The
Columbia Libraryof Folk and PrimitiveMusic, Vol. 17, KL 5378. Collected and
edited by A.L. Lloyd. In the Shadow of the Mountain: Bulgarian Folk Music.
Nonesuch H-72038. Collectedand producedby EthelRaim and MartinKoenig.
2. Fromnow on I will use theadjectivemusicalin thebroad, Westernsenseratherthan
thenarrowerBulgariansensein orderto avoid confusingcircumlocutions like'sonic'
or 'tonal.'
3. In thisexamplethestropheends minusthefinalsyllable,whichis understoodby vir-
tue of linguisticredundancy.'Go-Le-' is thefirsttwo syllablesof golema (large).The
last syllablein thisand subsequentstrophesis neverpronounced.
PUBLICATIONS CITED
Black, Mary B.
1969 "ElicitingFolk Taxonomiesin Ojibwa", in StephenA. Tyler,ed., Cogni-
tive Anthropology (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston), pp.
165-189.
Conklin,Harold C.
1969 "EthnogenealogicalMethod," in Stephen A. Tyler, ed., Cognitive
Anthropology(New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston), pp. 93-122.
(Reprinted from W.H. Goodenough, ed., Explorations in Cultural
Anthropology.New York: McGraw-Hill,1964.)
Frake,CharlesO.
1969 "The EthnographicStudy of CognitiveSystems",in StephenA. Tyler,
ed., CognitiveAnthropology(New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston),
pp. 28-41. (ReprintedfromF.W. Householderand S. Saporta,eds., Prob-
lems in Lexicography.Bloomington:Indiana Univ. ResearchCenterin
Anthropology,Folklore,and Linguistics,1962.)
Goodenough,Ward H.
1956 "ComponentialAnalysis and the Study of Meaning", Language, 32(1):
195-216.
Harwood, Dane
1976 "Universalsin Music: a PerspectivefromCognitivePsychology",Ethno-
musicology,20: 521-540.
Katsarova, Raina
1952 "Tri Pokoleniya Narodni Pevitsi",Izvestiyana Institutaza Muzika, 1:
43-91.
1954 "Folk Music: Bulgaria",in Grove's Dictionaryof Music and Musicians.
5th Edition.London: Macmillan. Vol. 3: 201-211.
Kaufman,Nikolaj
1968 BzlgarskaMnogoglasnaNarodna Pesen. Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo.
1970 BzlgarskaNarodna Muzika. Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo.
Kay, Paul
1969 "Commentson Colby", in Stephen A. Tyler, ed., CognitiveAnthro-
pology (New York: Holt, Rinehartand Winston),pp. 78-90. (Reprinted
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Kremenliev,Boris
1952 Bulgarian-Macedonian Folk Music. Berkeley:Universityof California.
Marshall,Christopher
in press "Toward a Comparative Aestheticsof Music", in TimothyRice and
RobertFalck,eds., Cross-CulturalPerspectiveson Music. Toronto: Uni-
versityof Toronto Press.
Merriam,Alan P.
1964 The Anthropologyof Music. Evanston, Ill.: NorthwesternUniversity
Press.
Messner,Gerald Florian
1976 "Die Schwebungsdiaphoniein Bistrica."Ph.D. dissertation,Universitit
Wien.
Sachs, Nahoma
1975 "Music and Meaning:Musical Meaningin a MacedonianVillage." Ph.D.
dissertation,Indiana University.
Singer,Alice
1974 "The MetricalStructureof Macedonian Dance", Ethnomusicology,18:
379-404.
Stoin, Vasil
1925 "Hypothise sur l'origine bulgare de la diaphonie", La Bulgarie
d'Aujourd'hui,8: 3-44.
Turner,Victor
1969 The RitualProcess: Structureand Anti-Structure. Chicago: Aldine.
Zemp, Hugo
1978 " 'Are'are Classificationof Musical Types and Instruments",Ethnomusi-
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Aspects of Bulgarian Musical Thought

Author(s): Timothy Rice

vation of verbal, physical,and musical behavior. These observations

songs (pesni)."Taken together,thisstatement,

Since no overarchingverbal categoryor label existsfor all of these

tellers, ritual re-enactors,piano players, and choral and drama

Music and Song

music cannot. The major functionsof song in Bulgaria are: (1) to

garianshave withthemprovideimportantclues to theirthinking. During

couplesenjoyedperforming in thisfashionand indicatedthattheydid it

To classifysong types,Shop villagers,like all Bulgariansand most

to theear of his partner.This man, who standsin front(po napred),is

solo unison octaves parallel oblique contrary

One of the strikingdifferences between these two taxonomiesis the

Songs with 'Bellowing'

tresat(shake, referring to glottalstops) and otivatpo nazad (go behind,

E MO - RI MAJ-KYA YO - RO MOR RI TAN-KO PLE - LO

of either singers or listeners. These two versons of b, plus all their

IKO- BoN DOJ-N!I MI MO -MIi DOI~- NI

Easterntonal systemwithmorethantwelvesub-divisionsof theoctave.

Harmony:Consonance and Dissonance

smooth.'Even thevarious thirdsand fourthscan be made to ringlikea

A IPO- IAT MO- RA I I PO- LAT MO- MA

EXAMPLE 4 I STO(J DF-VE-R()

NF VI VRA-TA MIL DE-VE - R()

Since shaking in the Shop region is more structuralthan optional, it is

Whatdoes beautifyor ornament(ukrasyava)a songaccordingto these

on a singlemodelwithtwo variations:an arc usingstepwisemotionand

themusictheyplay or sing. But even knowingthetime-signatures, they

One vocal qualitywhichis prized,however,is theabilityto singloud-

problemsofchangeand acculturation.Also theprocessofgraduallynar-

This paper is based on threeperiodsof research:threemonthsin 1969 supportedby an

1. End-blownfipplelessflute,bowed lute,long-neckedpluckedluteand bagpipe,respec-

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