In the Northeast corner of Bulgaria lies the fertile region of Dobroudja, rich not only in wheat and natural beauty, but also in its unique folk music and dance. The large, flat land of Dobroudja has given its surface to free, open round dances. The countless flocks were led by shepherds, kaval players who created a timeless music.
The Ensemble for Folk Songs & Dances "Dobroudja" was formed in 1954 in Dobrich, the central town of the region. An search was begun to find the most beautiful and typical Dobroudjan songs, melodies, dances, customs and folk costumes. A cultural nucleus was created-- a repository of songs and dances from forgotten times.
Today every Bulgarian is familiar with and loves the music and dances which the Dobroudja Ensemble performs on stage, on television and on the radio. After only a few notes we recognise a song or instrumental piece from Dobroudja performed by the superior folk orchestra of the ensemble, composed of local folk instruments: gadulkas, kavals, gaidas, tam buras, harmonica and tupan.
This compact disc marks the fortieth anniversary of the ensemble, and serves as a balance sheet for four decades of creative searching, years of development, and delving ever deeper into the music and dances of past generations. Orchestral music dominates, most of it built on musical motifs borrowed from Dobroudjan folk musicians. Some are offered as performed by the folk musicians with no change in form only arranged for the polychromatic folk orchestra (1,4,7,9,13). In these pieces one can sense the aroma of old fashioned music making, from the time before the appearance of the gramophone, the radio, the television. In other instrumental pieces however, the composers use thematic material from folk performers, but allow themselves wider leeway in their creation, inserting their own themes, though in the style of Dobroudjan folklore (2,5,10,11,14). The variety of rhythms, timbers and moods gives a particular charm to the instrumental music presented on this recording If we listen to "Ruka from Mali Izvor" (11) we hear the Dobroudjan harmonica, which is not used anywhere else Bulgaria, but in Dobroudja is a beloved folk instrument.
While the instrumental music is based mainly on thematic material from Dobroudja, in the songs a palette from the other folklore regions is sought. There are pieces from Strandja (12), the Shope Region and others, but here too the local tradition predominates. What beauty in held in the song sung by young men on Christmas Eve (5). In Dobroudja, the carolers often sing their songs as they make the rounds of the village from house to house, in order to carry the news God's birth, singing to the accompaniment of kavals. The accompaniment of Christmas songs is rarely found in other regions of the country. Immediately after the Christimas songs are the St. Lazar's Day songs (6) which are perform by young girls on St. Lazar1s Day when they go around the village from house to house singing and dancing for the health of the inhabitants.
The mastery of the folk choir of the Dobroud Ensemble is evident in the slow songs which are as broad Dobroudja itself such as "The Forest Wept" (8), "1 Have A Haiduk Lover" (12) and "Ivan Said To Rada" (3). A complete score assumes a large choir, but the ensemble's small voice group has managed superbly, performing these three major pieces in Dobroudjan style.
The performance of a soloist with folk orchestra offered in the song "Two Snakes Are Fighting in the Forest" (13). This is a particularly beloved style for the ensemble which has its fans in every Dobroudjan village. The collection ends with part of the Suite of Music and Dances "Dobroudja - Song & Love" (14), performed by folk orchestra and singers. The dances are absent, but the pulsation is felt almost visibly because in the past, song, instrument and dance were an inseparable whole.'
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