Bulgarian wedding music is a genre of ''Svatbarska muzika'' ( bg, сватбарска музика) or a "

wedding music Music is often played at wedding celebrations, including during the ceremony and at festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by instrumentalists or vocalists or may use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format o ...

" style that evolved in the late 1960s in Bulgaria. Its popularity has spread in Europe and North America. This style of music is performed elaborately in weddings in a festive atmosphere, and also on other happy occasions. It was not given state privilege initially by the socialist regime of Bulgaria as it was considered

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. The music is a fusion of "an eclectic array" of

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

, Turkish and Macedonian music and is very popular in the southern Balkan region. Following the end of the

People's Republic of Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...

in 1989, the popularity of wedding music has soared.

Ivo Papazov Ivo Papazov (or Papasov; bg, Иво Папазов; born 16 February 1952), nicknamed Ibryama (), is a Bulgarian clarinetist. He leads the "Ivo Papazov Wedding Band" in performances of jazz-infused Stambolovo music, and is one of the premier cre ...

, a musician of Turkish and

origin, is the leading proponent of ensembled wedding music. A saxophonist, he introduced clarinet into the ensemble. However, his music generated controversy during the communist regime which continues even now among Bulgarians as there was perceptible influence of

Turkish music The music of Turkey includes mainly Turkic and Byzantine elements as well as partial influences ranging from Ottoman music, Middle Eastern music and Music of Southeastern Europe, as well as references to more modern European and American popula ...

and Romani music (Gipsy music).

Yuri Yunakov Yuri Yunakov is a Turkish- Bulgarian Roma musician, who is famous for participating in the development of Bulgarian wedding music, and introducing it to the United States. He grew up in a Muslim family in Thrace, and started playing music as a ...

also of

Turkish Roma Trough Turkification and Assimilation in the Turkish culture over centuries, this Muslim Roma have adopted the Turkish language and loss Romani, in order to establish a Turkish Identity to become more recognized by the Host population and deny the ...

(Gipsy) origin was a member of Ivo Papazov's ensemble. Yunakov has popularized Bulgarian wedding music in the United States and his music band presents a "number of dances at breakneck speed, warbling their instruments all the way".

History

The international marketing of wedding music includes Klezmer, Scottish, and Rom(an) music of Bulgarian roots. Ivan Paparov, the

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baerma ...

, is considered the creator of the genre of wedding music in Bulgaria. In 1974, he established two bands as orchestral ensemble in the town of Stara Zagora in

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

. He improvised the stylistic and eclectic forms of '' Narodna muzika'', a Bulgarian form which incorporated music styles of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, and

Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

. This type of music is unlike concert music and involves participation by the dancers and the wedding party and hence it is "loose, spontaneous and dynamic" in structure. Solos are also part of the music which normally accentuates the final shape of the music. There is significant impact of American jazz (a feature noted in the music of Bulgaria since the 1950s) in the wedding music. Paparov termed this type of music also as of ''balkanski dzhaz'' ( Balkan jazz).

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...

, the autocratic dictator, during the period from 1954 to 1958, in his determination to preserve and promote Bulgarian folk music, took a particularly repressive approach against non-Bulgarian music of gypsy origin, which was the Bulgarian wedding music a genre of music well beyond the concept of traditional music.During his regime, in all official media, it was only folk music which was broadcast and promoted. In view of the external influence in this music the totalitarian regime (Leninist regime) in Bulgaria officially discouraged this music though it was very popular among the public. With the demise of the communist regime in 1989, this music form became even more popular.

Characteristics

Wedding bands may contain both Bulgarian and Gypsy musicians who are master improvisors. Their instruments may include accordion, clarinet, electric bass, saxophone, and synthesizer. A chief characteristic is loudness. In Bulgaria, wedding music has a pivotal role in the rituals known as ''daruvane'' (meaning: reciprocal exchange of gifts), in the banquets, and the dancing that follows and is performed for several hours. There are two categories of wedding music which are popular in the Bulgarian music culture. One is the Bulgarian wedding music and the other is Roma music. Bulgarian wedding music in particular covers a wide repertoire and includes "all the additive meters of traditional music, but favors ''pravo horo'' (2/4), ''rachenitsa'' (7/16, 2-2-3), and ''lesno.''" The music, considered "heartfelt", is akin to the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and East European forms. However, wedding musicians encounter several issues within their industry, such as auditions, registration, ethnicity, freedom, money, and nationalism.

Western influence

Several western musicians have been influenced by Bulgarian wedding music, particularly its unusual time signatures. American rock guitarist

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai (; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a transcriptionist f ...

has professed a love of Bulgarian wedding music, describing its time signatures as "completely alien". Bulgarian wedding music was a source of inspiration for the song "Freak Show Excess" from Vai's 2005 album '' Real Illusions: Reflections''.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *{{cite book, last=Rice, first=Timothy, title=May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECtMhZ226FYC, date=13 July 1994, publisher=University of Chicago Press, isbn=978-0-226-71122-5

External links

Bulgarian wedding songs and dances
20th-century music genres

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

Bulgarian styles of music Wedding music