The South Slavic Collection

Bulgarian Traditional Polyphony

South Slavs

South Slavs are Slavic people who speak South Slavic languages and inhabit a contiguous region of Southeast Europe comprising the eastern Alps and the Balkan Peninsula. Geographically separated from the West Slavs and East Slavs by Austria, Hungary, Romania, and the Black Sea, the South Slavs today include Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs and Slovenes. In the 20th century, the country of Yugoslavia (from Serbo-Croatian, literally meaning "South Slavia" or "South Slavdom") united a majority of the South Slavic peoples and lands—with the exception of Bulgarians and Bulgaria—into a single state. The Pan-Slavic concept of Yugoslavia emerged in late 17th-century Croatia, at the time part of the Habsburg monarchy, and gained prominence through the 19th-century Illyrian movement. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, was proclaimed on 1 December 1918, following the unification of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs with the kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro. With the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, several independent sovereign states were formed. The term "Yugoslavs" was and sometimes still is used as a synonym for "South Slavs", but frequently excludes Bulgarians, and sometimes only refers to the citizens or inhabitants of former Yugoslavia, or only to those who officially registered themselves as ethnic Yugoslavs.

The Proto-Slavic homeland is the area of Slavic settlement in Central and Eastern Europe during the first millennium AD, with its precise location debated by archaeologists, ethnographers and historians. None of the proposed homelands reaches the Volga River in the east, over the Dinaric Alps in the southwest or the Balkan Mountains in the south, or past Bohemia in the west. Traditionally, scholars put it in the marshes of Ukraine, or alternatively between the Bug and the Dnieper; however, according to F. Curta, the homeland of the southern Slavs mentioned by 6th-century writers was just north of the Lower Danube. Little is known about the Slavs before the 5th century, when they began to spread out in all directions. Procopius and other late Roman authors provide the probable earliest references to southern Slavs in the second half of the 6th century. According to Procopius Southern Slavs were portrayed as unusually tall and strong, of dark skin and "reddish" hair, leading a simple life and living in scattered huts, often changing their residence. Procopius said they were henotheistic, believing in the god of lightning (Perun), the ruler of all, to whom they sacrificed cattle. They went into battle on foot, charging straight at their enemy, armed with spears and small shields, but they did not wear armour.

Bulgarian Music

Bulgarian music uses a wide range of instruments. Some folk instruments are variants of traditional Asian instruments such as the "Saz" (Bulgarian tambura), or the kemençe (Bulgarian gadulka). More modern style instruments are often used in the modern dance music that is an offshoot of traditional village music. Bulgarian folk bands, called bitovi, use instruments that commonly include the daire was a tambourine of varna folk music of eastern balkans of Bulgarian traditional musical instruments of rhopode regions closed was a sleigh bells or tambourine and big daire. The Accordion is closed-keyboard instrument of rhopode region and strandja regions of Bulgaria keyboard instruments was bayan and the concertina The gaida, a traditional goat-skin bagpipe. There are two common types of gaida. The Thracian gaida is tuned either in D or in A. The Rhodopean gaida, called the kaba gaida, is larger, has a much deeper sound and is tuned in F. The kaval, an end-blown flute is very close to the Turkish kaval, as well as the Arabic "Ney." The Guitar was is big guitar of rila guitar of Bulgarian wooden guitar makes of wood the strings are woodless is from goat skin was the Ukulele and the Bass guitar and the Balalaika of rila mountains regions of Rhopode and rila regions The gadulka, a bowed stringed instrument perhaps descended from the rebec, held vertically, with melody and sympathetic strings. The bass gadulka has largely been replaced by the double bass (called in Bulgarian a contrabas). The tǔpan, a large drum worn over the shoulder by the player and hit with a beater ("kiyak") on one side and a thin stick ("osier") on the other. The tambura, a long-necked, metal-strung, fretted lute used for rhythmic accompaniment as well as melodic solos. It is somewhat like the Greek bouzouki and very similar to the Tamburica family's "alto" instrument, the brac. The tarambuka or dumbek, an hourglass-shaped finger-drum. It is very similar to the Macedonia and Serbia "darambuka" and the Bulgaria"Tarambuka" (Тарамбука).

(Source Wikipedia)

Bulgarian Polyphony

The striking vocals of traditional Bulgarian polyphonic singing and dissonant seconds are noticeable qualities. Polyphonic singing occupies a small part of Bulgaria and divided into the regions, Pirin, central western Bulgaria, Velingrad, and the Pazardjik Ihtiman region. Drone polyphony leads throughout the polyphonic traditions and the drone is usually performed by a few singers, 2, 3 or even 4 voices with the melodic line performed by soloists. Most of the polyphonic songs are performed by women though there is also a men's tradition of vocal polyphony.

5 Collections of Bulgarian Polyphony are Featured, by JVC World Sounds

Bulgarian Polyphony Vol I The Philip Koutev National Folk Ensemble (1989)

Bulgarian Polyphony Vol II The Philip Koutev National Folk Ensemble (1989)

Bulgarian Polyphony Vol III Bisserov Sisters and Nadka Karadjova (1992)

Bulgarian Polyphony Vol IV Quartette Slavei The Fourth Volume (1994)

Bulgarian Polyphony Live in Tokyo Philip Koutev Folk Ensemble (1989)

Further Resource:

Harmony in Bulgarian Music by Stanchev Kirilov Pdf

The South Slavic Collection

(MP3 Googledrive Access)