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Defended Dissertations / Tsvetana Toncheva: “The Musical in Bulgarian National Radio Programming”
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The question of the contemporary context of Bulgarian musical culture and what is understood as “modern” is one of the most problematic and polemical areas of Bulgarian musicology. “Modern” is interpreted in terms of content and aesthetics as synchronicity in time. The historical development of Bulgarian music throughout the past century, as well as in the present, has been interpreted in various academic works and critical reflections as lagging behind in comparison to international tendencies and their continual striving to discover expressions of modernity, understood above alias “actuality.” In this study, the International Festival of Contemporary Music Musica Nova - Sofia (1993-2002) and its message are examined in a historical-analytical context. This work traces all ten of the festival’s annual stagings, as well as their connection with the concrete activity of the Society for Contemporary Music in Bulgaria, which is a member of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Musica Nova - Sofia stands out among musical festivals existing in Bulgaria at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s with its overall appearance as a European festival for contemporary music. The festival’s message must be understood in the historical context of the 1990s, which were a crucial period for Bulgaria socially, economically and culturally Musica Nova - Sofia introduced to the Bulgarian public for the first time a series of works foundational to 20th century music, including international debuts by Bulgarian and foreign composers. They are united by a shared stylistic platform; the category “modern” is interpreted as a stylistic-aesthetic category connected with specific tendencies in 20th century music, which have characterized contemporary music as “New Music.” For this reason, Musica Nova-Sofia in the beginning of the 1990s was seen as an event that situated contemporary Bulgarian works within the context of international musical achievements. The forum has created its own community, which includes not only performers with an interest in New Music, but also an audience of intellectuals with similar interests from all spheres of the arts and humanities. The role of festival and its nature are widely debated and commented on in the critical reflections that accompany the festival. The forum‘s ideas can be found in the program of the annual International Festival of Contemporary Piano Music pp!ANISSIMO, which has existed in parallel with Musica Nova-Sofia since 1998 and which continues to the present time. These ideas can also be found in separate performance projects, in their conceptualization as well as their creative realization, and in their modern message.
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This article examines newly-created Bulgarian National Revival songs, which can be differentiated from traditional folk songs and Orthodox liturgical chants. These songs, which include school songs, revolutionary songs, lyrical love songs, and short historical songs, were distributed between the 1840s-1870s. It is characteristic for such melodies to go beyond the confines of the traditional monodic modality and mastery of the monophonic setting of the European major musical structure (dur-moll). Three methods for creating melodies were established that followed one another diachronically: 1. The “musically inventive” method, which consisted of the singing of the text based on then current church chant formulas, which were, however, already starting to show the influence of the new European major musical structure. 2. The method of “devising a voice line,” which was connected to the direct application of existing melodies of European origin to pre-composed revolutionary, educational or romantic verse. 3. The method of “arrangement (or adaptation) in the folk style,” which was characterized by a secondary return to characteristically simplified and “established” folkloric melodic idioms in late historical and revolutionary songs from the end of the 1870s, which can be seen as the first (not necessarily deliberate) musical juxtaposition between “self” and “other.” The final method mentioned, along with the problem of revival-period genre and song modalities, will be examined in the second half of this study.
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Dokuments / The 110th Anniversary of the Birth of Heraklit Nestorov
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The beginning of Holy Week and the Resurrection of Christ (Easter) is preceded by a preparatory period known as the “Great Fast” (i.e. Lent). It lasts for forty days, thus it is known as the “Chetiridesetnitsa” (from the Slavic chetirideset meaning “forty”), or by its Latin name, the Quadragesima. According to a number of scholars, this liturgical cycle took shape in the first centuries of Christianity and gained significance as an established liturgical series, whose focus was the four weeks preceding Palm Sunday. Each of the four Sundays that begins the weeks of fasting is associated with a well-developed and independent repertoire, grounded in the whole liturgical cycle. Observations based on different sources, some of date from relatively early periods (11th-12th centuries), indicate that it is possible to claim a certain stability in the repertoire of services of the Quadragesima. A handwritten Roman breviary dating from 1639 can be found in the collection of the St. Cyril and Methodius National Library in Sofia. It was created in the time of Pope Urban VIII (1623 - 1644), according to the standards established by the Council of Trent. The text on the title page reads: Antiphonale Romanum iuxta breviarium sacrosancti consilii Tridenti resitutum Pars Hyemalis. The contents of the book consist of a part of the liturgical calendar, namely the Quadragesima cycle, or more precisely, the four weeks of the series. The manuscript begins with the Saturday before the first Sunday of the Quadragesima, which besides the four Saturdays and Sundays includes the weekdays as well (the so-called feria). From the initial observations on the breviary that have been made so far, it can be generalized that it contains a relatively full documentation of the repertoire of the cycle. The goal of the present paper is to introduce the musical manuscript described above to the academic community. At the same time, a full list of the manuscript’s repertoire is provided. In order to be able to discuss the question of the extent to which the manuscript represents the stability of the services of the Quadragesima, parallels will be drawn with the previously-studied antiphonaries that make up the basic part of the Cantus Database project, in this way tracing the observed musical changes in the first two major responsories (the so-called responsorium prolixa ) from the morning service of the first Sunday of the Quadragesima.
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Reviews / Svetlana Kujumdzieva: “John Koukouzeles’ Sticherarion. The Formation of the Notated Anastasimatarion”
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Academic Conferences / The Fourth “Music and Minorities” Meeting – Varna 2006
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Academic Conferences / Traditional Vietnamese Opera (Vong Ko). Or On the Educational Empire of the First Reality Television Show
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This article traces the chronological development of the choir at the St. Sedmochislenitsi church from its founding until the present time. The first part of the article identifies all conductors of the choir, from 1902 until 1992, when the current director Dimitur Grigorov took the helm. Under his direction, the choir has begun a new stage in its development, expanding beyond the borders of liturgical practice and establishing itself as a vocal ensemble that has been recognized for its high artistic achievement both in Bulgaria and abroad. The second half of the article is dedicated primarily to the group’s repertoire and the singers’ stage practice. The St. Sedmochislenitsi vocal ensemble is a good example demonstrating that stringent requirements during the selection of pieces and performers assure success in the concert hall. The ensemble’s repertoire is exceptionally varied and wide-ranging, characterized by stylistic authenticity. During the performance of each of the choir’s pieces, both the conductor and the singers strive for a balance between rational and emotional elements. The conductor Dimitur Grigorov has made note-worthy contributions, especially where the choir’s high level of vocal mastery is concerned. This young conductor is truly an innovator and experimenter, most notably in terms of the choir’srepertoire. The music performed dates from the time of St. Methodius, passes through the whole of the religious canon, encompassing the most characteristic part of the liturgical practice of Orthodox Christians as well as Catholics, and even includes works of a secular nature (such as cantatas, operas, and so forth). The success that the vocal ensemble has achieved with every one of its performances is evidenced by their concert tours in Europe (Belgium, Spain, Holland, Czech Republic, Germany, and England) and their participation in prestigious festivals such as: Semana de Musica y Polifonia Sacra de Segovia, Cicolo de Musica Sacra de Bilbao, Semana de Musica y Poliforua Sacra de Santander, Cicolo de Musica Religiosa de Madrid (Spain),Festival Van Vlaanderen-Laus Polyphoniae (Belgium), Festival Oude Muziek-Utrecht (Holland), Prague Spring (Czech Republic), the Europalia Arts Festival in Belgium, the Cambridge Summer Festival, Cheltenham International Festival of Music, Birmingham International Festival (England), and the First Balkan Arts Bazar in Thessaloniki (Greece), among others.
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Reviews / Boyanka Arnaudova: “Bulgarian Opera - Myth and Modernity”
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Wldemar Szmatu³a is a sculptor. He uses wood and metal to form pieces of sculpture, which resemble drawings, because they reveal pure geometric construction. The artist likes rhythmic sets of circles, triangular and rectangular designs. His sculpture is anthropomorphic and refers to female figure. Also, the artist shows intricate pictograms, which resemble letter of the alphabet. He says, that his artistic reality doesn’t contain any secretive symbols. he doesn’t want to define art. He likes experimenting. He concentrates on ‘what can be shown’.
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