До Чикаго и назад... след 103 години
To Chicago and Back... After 103 Years

Summary/Abstract: The author tells about his trip to the USA in 1966, where he found several kavals and shepherd's pipes, preserved in the museums Smithsonian Institution (Washington) and Metropolitan Museum (New York). An interesting fact about these instruments is that they were exhibits in the Bulgarian Pavilion at the opening of the First Chicago Exposition in 1893, about which the eminent Bulgarian writer Aleco Konstantinov mentioned in his travel notes "To Chi­ cago and Back" the following :"... Inside the shed (the Bulgarian "pavilion" at the time of the Exposition - author's note) is decorated with carpets on which bagpipes, kavals, tambouras, buklitsi (wooden wine vessels), horns, casters, prisoners' pouches are hanging…" (see page 54 of the quoted book). So, besides in Aleco's book, the presence of Bulgaria can be found and materialized in the museums of America. The author shares his impressions not only about the size, material and pitch of the kavals, but also about the way these instruments are preserved in the strong rooms of the museums. At the same time he draws the attention of the participants in the conference to the aesthetic and value merits of the songs performed by the so-called pop-folk stars in the last ten years.

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