За българските народни химни
On bulgarian national anthems

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the history of two Bulgarian national anthems – Шуми Марица and Мила родино, which, before acquiring their present role, since the national revival had been a part of Bulgarian urban folklore. Studying the provenance of the melody Мила родино, the author brings into focus a connection between the C. Radoslavov’s composition and a very popular in the northern Bulgaria instrumental piece – свищовско хоро as well as a related to it and performed all over Bulgaria urban drinking song Имате ли вино; a melody also known to the drinking folklore of the Bulgarians from Besarabia. This forms the basis for his claim that the melody was known in the early 19th century before the exodus of Bulgarian people to that territory and might have served to C. Radoslavov as a model. Whereas the song Шуми Марица emerged in the insurrectionary circles and after the Bulgarian-Serbian war of 1885 became the national anthem, which functioned with the text written by I. Vazov right up until 1947 when it was replaced by the song Мила родино. The character of the melody Шуми Марица, completely different from a folk Bulgarian song, indicates its urban provenance, however its origin remains unkown. The melody is recognised in the Belorussian and Ukrainian folklore as a wedding march, however musicologists discern some relation to songs from Germany (A. Stojanov) or Silesia, or the Polish national anthem (L. Kuba). Tracking the migration of musical motifs popular in the 19th century Europe will surely help to solve the mystery of both Bulgarian anthems.

• Details
• Contents