Bulgarian Folk Music

Defining Folk Music

- The traditional music of the people in a country or region
- Type of traditional and generally rural music that originally was passed
down through families and other small social groups

Characteristics of Folk Music:

- Transmitted orally rather than through written materials
- Original composer is usually unknown – communal authorship
- Played on traditional instruments
- Themes of cultural or national identity
- Never a completed composition – always evolving
- Borderless quality

The Ephemeral, Malleable Nature of Folk Music

- Communal authorship – no one to really defend the ‘right’ version or ‘original’
version, vulnerable
- Always evolving, never ‘complete’ – open to revision, rearrangement, and
transformation over time
- Traditional – the concept of what ‘traditional’ means for a nation changes depending
on the values of those in control
- Cultural/national identity – useful tool for political aims, governments are motivated
to engage with folk music

Government Involvement
- Selective preservation – only saving music from certain ethnicities, regions, religions,
etc.
- Directed presentation – instructing composers and performers to arrange folk music
according to government ideals
- Two impactful historical periods – Nationalism (19TH C) and Socialism (1944-1989)
Nationalism
14th C, Bulgaria was invaded by the Ottoman Turks
- Their rule lasted for five centuries
- Dark period of history for Bulgaria

1978 – National Liberation movement resulted in an independent Bulgaria

- Goals of cultural and political unity, national self-identification/definition, pride in
Bulgarian heritage
- Folklore was collected in service of these goals

The question of cultural unity:

- Sought to define ‘pure’ Bulgarian folk music
- Rejection of music by minority populations: Turkish, Romani and Pomaks (Bulgarian-
speaking Muslims)
- Minority populations actively discouraged from displaying their own folklore

Vasil Stoin’s Collections

- 1880 – 1938
- One of the first collectors/researchers of Bulgarian folk songs
- Collected songs mostly between 1926 and 1937
o With collaborators, collected 24,000 folk songs from all parts of Bulgaria
 12,000 song melodies and 200 instrumental tunes transcribed by his
own hand
o Published four collections with 9730 songs before his death, more volumes
published by collaborators after he passed
- Had no recording device until 1938, collected by ear
- Few instrumental melodies
- Little information on dance choreography

Vasil Stoin’s First Three Volumes

- Collections targeted Northern Bulgaria and the Rhodope Mountain region
- Collected by ear
- Mostly songs rather than instrumental works

Béla Bartók
- 1881-1945
- Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist
- One of the most important composers of the 20th C
- Strong interest in analysing Bulgarian folk music
o Recorded 7 melodies himself
o Otherwise, relied on Stoin’s first three volumes
- Wrote articles analysing Bulgarian music
- Composed music based Bulgarian folk music
o Heavily influenced our contemporary understanding of Bulgarian folk music,
especially regarding meters
Socialism
- 1944-1989
- Used folk music to promote patriotism
- Government sponsorship of folk music activities
o National and regional music and dance ensembles
o Amateur village ensembles
o Radio and television performances
o Folklore festivals

Kolektivi
- Kolektivi – village-level, government sponsored collectives of folk musicians
- Under the careful control of the Ministry of Culture
- Regularly practiced and performed folk music on traditional instruments in
traditional dress
- Most visible at festivals
- Absence of Turkish or Romani music. Pomak costumes altered to be more ‘Bulgarian’

Political Holidays
- International Workers’ Day, International Women’s Day, etc.
- Religious content of previously-existing holidays was secularized e.g. Christmas
traditions moved to New Years
- Focus moved from the home to the collective
- Folklore is performed at festivals for these holidays, linking it to patriotism
- Created large ensembles that reflected values of workers’ unity and political and
cultural harmony
o 1000s of school children dancing folk dances together in synchrony
o Ensembles of 100 bagpipers from Rhodope Mountains
o Ensemble of 100 kaval (end-blown flute) players from Sliven district

Westernization of Bulgarian Folk Music

- Socialist regime was partial to Western Classical music
- Push towards the polyphonic texture of Western Classical music
- Arrangers were often trained in the Soviet Union in Classical music
- Lyrics were also changed to reflect values of the Soviet Union and socialism
- Pursuit of a unified ‘pure’ sound mean the rejection of regional musical styles and
instruments (Folk music became standardised and homogenised)
- The huge visibility of these curated festivals then shaped the public’s perception of
Bulgarian folk music (Seen as that which is shown at the festivals rather than what is
played in the villages)
 Musical Characteristics of Bulgarian and Balkan Folk Music

Bulgarian Meter (Symmetrical, asymmetrical, and unmeasured)

Symmetrical meter usage
- Triple meters were comparatively rarer, but sometimes combined with other meters
- Sometimes triplets were incorporated into simple meters to make them feel more
asymmetrical

Additive, asymmetrical meters

- 5/16. 7/16, 10/16, etc.
- 5/8, 7/8
Symmetrical meters were sometimes grouped asymmetrically
- 9/16: 2+2+2+3
- 8/8: 3+2+3

- Bulgarian folk music mostly uses the 16th note as a basic time unit
- Macedonioan music uses the 8th note more often
- Also would mix asymmetrical meters

Unmeasured Meters
- Freely composed songs with no time signatures
- Usually have sorrowful lyrics, or lyrics about heroic events during the World Wars
- Limited melodic range, heavily ornamented

Melodies

Scales used were a fusion of Eastern and Western music

1. Oriental Scales
o Common use of the augmented second
o Some use of quarter tone
2. Church Modes
o Eight-mode singing of Eastern Orthodoxy
o Medieval modes
3. Conventional scale of Western Europe

Other Features
- Narrow-interval harmonies
- Heterophony (simultaneous performance of melodic variants of the same tune)
- Dense, thick, rich sound with many overtones
Instruments of Bulgaria
- Gadulka – bowed string instrument
- Tambura – long-necked lute with metal strongs
- Kaval – end-blown flute
- Gaida – a bagpipe
- Tapan – large, over-the-shoulder drum
- Tarambuka – hourglass-shaped finger drum