#bulgarian music

[elizadraws]

Bulgarian Music in Studio Ghibli films

”Myth has it that Orpheus was born in what is now Bulgaria. It seemed to be fact, not myth, that his daughters are still singing there”

These words were written by the New York Times in the remote 1963 — the year in which the largest Bulgarian folk ensemble crossed the Iron Curtain to conquer an entire continent with its cosmic art.

The 1975 release of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, a compilation album of modern arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs, further popularized Bulgarian music, and in 1977, a vinyl record featuring the folk song “Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin” (Eng: Come out rebel Delyo) began its journey aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts.

From this point on popularity from the West spread to the East, and Bulgarian folk music made it to the entertainment industry, including legendary Japanese anime films, like the cult cyberpunk “Ghost in the Shell” or the heartwarming Studio Ghibli features.

In this short article I write about two occasions of Bulgarian music playing in Studio Ghibli’s films.

The record that inspired the creation of “Only Yesterday”

“Only Yesterday” is a 1991 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Isao Takahata, based on the 1982 manga of the same title by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone. Set in rural Japan, the film draws parallels with the peasant lifestyle present in Eastern Europe.

The original work is a compilation of short stories about 11-year-old Taeko’s daily life in 1966. Director Takahata had a hard time making it into a movie since the manga, told in the form of a memoir, has no plot to hold a feature. Together with producer Toshio Suzuki, they came up with the solution of bringing the narrator of the story, adult Taeko, into the movie. But there is a curious anecdote about how this idea came to mind.

Taeko picks safflower as the Bulgarian song “Malka moma dvori mete” plays in the background. © Studio Ghibli

In a 2021 interview with students from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, producer Suzuki recounts how a record of Bulgarian songs performed by the children choir “Bodra Smyana”, introduced to him by director Takahata, inspired the creation of the movie. Moved by the cosmic voices of the children, they decided to make “Only Yesterday” a musical. He also recalls what a tiring process it was to acquire the rights to the music, but if you’ve seen the movie, I am sure you will agree that it was worth it; the haunting, beautiful songs with the pastoral images of farmers picking flowers contribute to one of the greatest scenes created in cinema.

Producer Suzuki showing the record that inspired the creation of ”Only Yesterday”. Source: Studio Ghibli’s Twitter

In “Only Yesterday”, we can hear two songs from the album Bulgarian Polyphony I by Philip Koutev Ensemble. The upbeat “Dilmano Dilbero” [Eng. beautiful Dilmana] sets a happy mood as the protagonist gets changed and ready to go on the field. As the scene shifts and Taeko starts narrating a sad story about the girls in the past picking safflower with their bare hands, the song and mood shift as well.

While the first song has a fast rhythm, with lyrics about pepper planting that can also be interpreted figuratively, the second one, “Malka Moma Dvori Mete” [Eng., a little girl sweeps the yard], is a ballad about a young girl who is forced into marriage but has never known true love.

Both compositions sing about life-cycle events like marriage and the regular coming of the harvests, with lyrics perfectly fitting the setting and plot of the movie, which makes me wonder if the filmmakers chose them by chance or if they had someone translate the words.

Bulgarian Cosmic Voices Enchanting Howl

“Howl’s Moving Castle” is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, loosely based on the 1986 novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. Set in a fictional kingdom the movie draws inspiration from various places in Europe. One of them being Bulgaria.

The story focuses on a young girl, named Sophie, magically transformed into an old woman, and a self-confident but emotionally unstable young wizard, Howl, living in a magical moving castle.

A sketch of a Star Child. Source: The Art of Howl’s Moving Castle

If you’ve seen the movie, you surely remember the scene when Madame Suliman ambushes Howl and tries to strip him of his magic powers. Star Children encircle him and his companions; their shadows grow big, dark and intimidating. They start dancing and chanting unintelligible magic words and are almost successful in their devilish act.

This scene, together with the music played in the background, have been a favourite of many fans of the film. Some even recount it giving them nightmares when they were children.

Star Children encircle Howl in an attempt to strip him of his magic powers. © Studio Ghibli

It turns out, however, that these aren’t any incantations, but the lyrics of a folk song. In Bulgarian. And a love song! Contrary to popular belief, the lyrics have nothing to do with magic and are actually about a boy taking his sweetheart, Dona, to the market to buy her new clothes. The excerpt used in the movie is very short and a bit altered from the original, but the words used go like this: Trendafilcheto, kalafercheto, Done mamino, translated as “the rose, the costmary, my darling Dona”.

I am planing a follow up article where I will post the translated lyrics together with a brief explanation on how they are related to the movies.

If you want to comment on or add something, I would love to hear!

Source

[heritage-harmony-records]

NEW ALBUM STREAMING NOW!!!

Odd Beats Vol​.​3 is the new full-length album by Bulgarian chill/stoner beats artist Sashhh, released October 11th 2024. Find Sashhh's other albums on the channel too.

Listen to the full album now:

[leatherjacketblesseddreams]

Наоколо умират птиците, ела ги съживи.

[bearfoottruck]

I don't know how many people here are from Bulgaria, but I accidentally discovered a pop singer named Evgeni Dushanov who did a Bulgarian cover of Peter Griffin's 1980 disco hit "Step By Step" under the title "Nedost'pno Momiche" (Недостъпно момиче, EN = "Unavaliable Girl"). I did a fake Moby Dick Records remix of it, emulating the one they did for "Step By Step".

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

Shot in the dark but

I've been looking for a song for the past five years

It's most likely Turkish, Bulgarian or Albanian, and just has a sort of Balkan sound to it in general. It might even be a remix of a song

There used to be a popular YouTube mix by a Romanian DJ called something like 'Araba Bulgareasca Mix 2019' and I think it was the third or fourth song

It had a bit that, to the English ear, sounded like 'Kizi kizi kizi kizi kizi kizi bekkkkk' in a deep male voice

It also had a bit that sounded like 'Ul sagobor sagobor'

EDIT: If anyone remembers the Arap-Turk Karmasi 2020 mix, what was that one Turkish song by Yusuf or something, after DJ Kantik's Kul?

[mywifeleftme]

214: "Various Bulgarians" // Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares vol. 2

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares vol. 2 "Various Artists" 1988, Elektra Nonesuch

Incredibly annoying album to cite properly, I must say. Like its predecessor, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares vol. 2 is usually credited to either the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir, who sing 10 of 17 songs collected here, or to the Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel Cellier, who recorded most of these tracks over a 17-year period. (There is one recording of the Orchestra Yivan Kirev from ’57.) There’s a bit of an air of overaccentuated exoticism to how this stuff is packaged, from retaining the French title (with improper title casing!) for the English market release, to emphasizing Cellier’s curatorial work over that of the arrangers and performers in the narrative around the album. Realistically, we’d probably be better off crediting this one to Various Bulgarians, both for reasons of accuracy and because it’s an exceptionally melodic turn of phrase.

Listening to Le Mystère, though, I understand why those who championed this music hoped to keep it obscure. People consistently describe this stuff as sounding angelic, elven, ethereal, alien—yes, yes, yes, and yes. Wouldn’t want the realities of corrupt little Bulgaria, with its grim concerns about GDP and the Cold War, dirtying the seraphic mantle you know! The basis of these songs is not, to my ear, wildly far from the familiar choral music of Western Europe, but some combination of the brilliant syncopated vocal arrangements, the technical ability of the singers, and the Bulgarian language itself push the recordings into a realm of stranger light. The vocals often sound like the screams of beings with higher, more delicate instruments in their throats than regular humans have, and whether you envision a great stone cathedral or a starlit clearing in a pagan wood, it’s not hard to sense something holy transpiring here.

Anyway, here they are on Johnny Carson.

214/365

[willknightauthor]

From Mongolian folk metal to Bulgarian world fusion: Irfan makes music inspired by the mystical musical traditions of various cultures, but primarily former-Byzantine ones.

[viviennevincent2]

I found this YouTube playlist filled with Bulgarian nu metal n shi. These bands are REAL OBSCURE... But really good music... Really sucks most of these bands didn't get some of the spotlight they deserved. "As Soon as Possible" really caught my eye. I can barely find any info about them... They had a myspace page but I'd have to go on internet archive to look on it. Their song "Buried" is really neat! Please consider lookin ' thru this cuz there's some real kewl stuff here!!!!!

[selenitebabysbreath]

Kaval sviri, arranged by Peter Lyondev, conducted by Katya Barulova, performed by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir (n.d.)

[letmesleepinsummertime]

Me when spring:

[leatherjacketblesseddreams]

*90s, slow dancing*

...

Високо застани,

над завист и обида,

над дребните сплетни.

...

[maybeamultiverse]

Folk songs of Bulgaria:

Брала мома, ружа цвете...

Брала мома ружа цвете (a maiden picked a blush flower)

Във градинкана (in the kindergarten)

Кайно брала тъй заспала (Kaino slept in this way)

Между цвекено (between the beetroots)

Кайно брала тъй заспала (Kaino slept in this way)

Между цвекено... (between the beetroots...)

[iishtar]

Preslava is the queen

[heritage-harmony-records]

NEW ALBUM RELEASED ON YOUTUBE

Odd Beats vol​.​2 is the new full-length album of 2023 by Bulgarian chill/stoner beats artist Sashhh released September 29, 2023 and now available on Heritage Harmony Records' YouTube. Hopefully coming to Bandcamp soon, pending some technical issues.

Odd Beats vol​.​2 continues the psychedelic/stoner influenced beats based journey that vol.1 began. It fuses a classic boom bap style with moving, jazzy, psychedelic elements to create something that is both relaxing and engaging. The album offers rich layered textures and takes the listener on a constantly shifting and expanding auditory journey.

Listen below and find the link to purchase the album in the video description.