THRACIAN RHAPSODY II: THE WEDDING
The New Wedding Music of Bulgaria Revisited
The Wedding Orchestra All-Stars:
Yîldîz Ibrahimova, voice; Ivo Papasov, clarinet
Ensemble Bisery: Mladen Malakov, clarinet and leader
Ensemble Shumen: Rossen Tchirpanov, violin and leader
The Christo Yotsov Trio.
"It is hard to pinpoint highlights in a record of this caliber, but here are a few: Raitchev's gaida work on the first track, Yildiz Ibrahimova's otherworldly vocalese (sometimes sounding like another instrument, sometimes like a voice), Ivo Papasov's alternatingly joyful and mournful clarinet, and the generally high musicianship of all of the artists. Overall, a superb album and a worthy follow-up to Thracian Rhapsody Volume 1."
--Rootsworld
Labor Records' second volume of new Bulgarian wedding music has just been re-released. THRACIAN RHAPSODY II: THE WEDDING is a poetic interpretation through improvisation of a traditional Bulgarian wedding. It starts with the "Abduction of the Bride" and continues with "Bachelors' Dance," a contest or competition between the musicians, the "Dance of the Temptresses," based on Bulgarian folklore, the well-known "Dilmano," the passionate and climactic "Golden Necklace" (part of the bride's costume but also a suite of increasingly intense dances) and ending with "The Sun Is Coming Up."
Like the first, it contains some of the greats of modern Bulgarian wedding music featuring the Bulgarian folk/jazz singer Yîldîz Ibrahimova and the clarinetists Ivo Papsov and Mladen Malakov, the Christo Yotsov Trio as well as the ensembles Bisery and Shumen.
The new Bulgarian wedding music has been described as a grass-roots phenomenon which has traveled from popular to high culture in a short time. It combines improvisation, exquisite melody, daring technical innovation, irreverence and change as well as dynamism, excitement and highly charged feeling. Criticized and suppressed under communism, it has exploded in recent years and its appeal now far transcends the region that gave it birth. This modern descendant of traditional Balkan folk, gypsy, and klezmer music, has taken Eastern Europe by storm; the
excitement has spread to Western Europe and, now, the United States as well. These young musicians, riding on fiery, driving rhythms of extraordinary richness and
complexity, have a stunning virtuosity, poignant expression, and ensemble excitement that is irresistible. The music, at once ancient and furiously contemporary,
must be heard to be believed; it will take your breath away.
Originally performed at weddings, the new genre has quickly found its place at all major festivals and rituals of life in Bulgaria. An instrumentation of voice, violin,
clarinet, trumpet or flute, drums and accordion is often augmented by guitar and folk instruments like the kaval and gaida. The kaval, a flute that uses Eastern nontempered scales, produces melodies and harmonies of bitter-sweet flavor. The gaida, a Balkan bagpipe, is like the familiar Scottish type in having a drone and a
melodic chanter, but the playing technique and musical style is quite different. Drums and percussion include the tîpan, carried with a shoulder strap and played
with heavy and light beaters.
Many of the current greats of Bulgarian wedding music (including the ones on this album) came to wide notice after 1985 at the annual village folk festivals in Stambolovo. These young musicians, most of them gypsies, are steeped in traditional Balkan and gypsy music. They have pioneered a new fusion using elements from Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, Romanian, Arabic and even Indian sources and are also influenced by contemporary classical music, pop and jazz. The whole, characterized by driving, asymmetrical meters and rhythms, and eastern melodic forms, is performed and improvised with emotional intensity, often at white heat. It is impossible not to
respond to the breathtaking physicality of this music. All these performers possess levels of technique and improvisatory powers that extend instrumental possibilities into new realms of virtuosity and imagination.
REVIEW / Roots World
Bulgarian wedding music is music of celebration and liberation. The genre started with the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire in 1878, flourished and grew, then was suppressed under the Communists. When Bulgaria was liberated from Communism at the end of the Twentieth Century, the music sprang back with even more vigor.
Bulgarian wedding music is primarily played by Roma musicians, who have gleefully merged the diverse origins of the music with jazz, pop, and contemporary western art music. The results, exemplified by the all-star line up on this album, are nothing less than dazzling.
Although the term wedding music is incomplete (this music is used for all major celebrations: baptisms, wakes, as well as for weddings), Volume 2 focuses on the celebration for which the genre is named. Taking as their inspiration Igor Stravinsky's "Svedebka" (known by Western audiences by its French title "Les Noces"), these musicians offer a musical portrait of a traditional Bulgarian marriage celebration. This album is far less self-consciously artsy than Stravinsky's work (these are musicians who, unlike Stravinsky, actually make their living playing for the audiences from which the music sprang). From the opening interplay of gaida virtuoso Alexander Raitchev and the Christo Yotsov Trio, the listener is treated to vibrant, complex and thoroughly listenable compositions. This is music that successfully bridges the gap between art music and folk music, offering the best of both worlds. There is neither a dull nor an academic moment to be found. The musicians play with a joie de vivre that borders on the manic. Every note belongs (and with virtuoso solos offered at breakneck tempos, there are plenty); every phrase has something significant to add to the whole.
It is hard to pinpoint highlights in a record of this caliber, but here are a few: Raitchev's gaida work on the first track, Yildiz Ibrahimova's otherworldly vocalese (sometimes sounding like another instrument, sometimes like a voice), Ivo Papasov's alternatingly joyful and mournful clarinet, and the generally high musicianship of all of the artists. The sixth track, an all-out ensemble medley of traditional dance tunes (although with varied treatments: jazz, funk, classical, as well as traditional Balkan and Near Eastern), is a fitting climax to the whole album, and it is followed, by a 'party's over' tune for stragglers fittingly called, "The Sun is Coming Up."
The liner notes by Eric Salzman are informative, concise, and well-written. Overall, a superb album and a worthy follow-up to Thracian Rhapsody Volume 1.
--Rootsworld
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