Bulgaria

[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Flag_of_Bulgaria.png width="335" height="197"]]
The music of Bulgaria come in different types. There is mainly classical, folk, and popular music. It's music is part of the Balkan tradition (a cultural region of Southern Europe), and it holds its own distinctive sound. The women's choir, and their traditional music, is a big success today. The vocals are sung 'open-throated', and it carries on for long distances, and has a certain edge to it. Bulgarian music is so popular, that the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir is an internationally renowned World Music ensemble. There are even over 70,000 Bulgarian folk songs collected at a single institute, and the music is still very much alive today. Some of their songs are accompanied with work and holiday, joy, sorrow, festival songs, working season songs, and many others. And sometimes, the Bulgarian folk songs are also accompanied by complicated dances.

A song called: Ravno Oro: media type="file" key="Ravno Oro.mp3" width="240" height="20"

Bulgarians have a preference for recitative (mix between singing and talking). This is how the traditional and epic khaidouk songs commonly performed. Declamation is melodious, orderly or ornamented, and the melody usually follows the lyrics: Christmas carols are cheerful and optimistic; khaidouk songs are wide and free; harvest songs are drawled, and the gourbetchii (seasonal migrants making their living far from their homeland), are drawn out and melancholic. The different styles of Bulgarian folk songs can be known from the performer's voice.

A song called: Last Goodbye: media type="file" key="Last Goodbye.mp3" width="240" height="20"



The main instruments in folk are: the gaida (a kind of bagpipe), the kaval (a kind of flute), the gadulka (a vertically held bowed string instrument), the tupan (a kind of drum), the tambura (long-necked metal-strung lute), and the dumbek.

A song called: Na Purt: media type="file" key="Na Purt.mp3" width="240" height="20"

The main instruments in weddings are: accordions, clarinets, saxophones, drum set, electric bass, electric guitar, and synthesizer. Around that region, several forms of musical dialects were formed: North-Bulgarian, Dobroudjanian, Thracian, Shopi, of the Pirin Mountains area, of the Sredna Gora region, and Rhodopian. Bulgarian Folk music have around 3 main ideas, they are homophonic, rhythm and vocal wealth, and extended time.

Homophonic: There all the parts of the music work together rather than independently, but having one melody predominating. Even when there are 2 singing parties, like choirs and soloists, there is usually 1 party that leads, and the others follow; the song sounds like it comes from a single-voice.

Rhythm and vocal wealth: There is a wide range of music, from fantastic richness, to primitive monotony. They had achieved this be different time combinations, based on extended time.

Extended time: This technique is what makes a Bulgarian folk song unique. This is because this it is a distinguishing feature, not existing in other European music.

Works Cited: [] [] [] [] []

By: Veronica