''Biljana platno beleše'' (; , ; "Biljana was bleaching linen") is a folk song from

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian language, Macedonian and ) is a historical term referring to the central part of the broader Macedonian region, roughly corresponding to present-day North Macedonia. The name derives from the Vardar, Vardar River and i ...

. In Bulgaria it is considered a Bulgarian folk song. In North Macedonia it is viewed as a Macedonian folk song.

Plot

A young girl, Biljana, is washing linen as a dowry for her upcoming wedding at a

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

of the

Ohrid Lake Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

. A caravan of ''vintners'' soon come and are charmed by her beauty. She warns them not to step on her linen. They try to impress her with their riches, saying that they will pay with their wine if they step on the linen. But she does not want their wine. To common surprise (and in conflict with the original intent to marry someone else), she falls for a young man riding their carriage and tells them that she likes him. The group of men reply that the young man is already engaged to another, that the wine they carry is for him, and that he is to be married that Sunday. The love was carried on by the waters of the source.

History and origins

Motifs from this song can be found in collections ''

Folk Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians ''Folk Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians'' (, , ) is an ethnographic collection of folk songs collected by Stefan Verković, considered to be his most valuable contribution in the field of Bulgarian folklore. It was published in Serbian in 1860, ...

'' by Stefan Verkovic (1860) and in the ''

Bulgarian folk songs Bulgarian Folk SongsCyrillic: Бѫлгарски народни пѣсни. The original title of the book was written in an unstandardized Bulgarian orthography.Modern , , , .The book is known in North Macedonia as the ''Collection of the Mi ...

'' by Miladinov brothers (1861). The text and the musical notation of the song were published in the periodical bulletin of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences ''Collection of folklore'' in 1894. Nevertheless, the same motifs (maid bleaching linen on the river and falling in love with passing ''

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

''/'' kiradgee'') are also found in different songs through the whole of the former Bulgarian folklore area (incl. Macedonia): from the Lake Ohrid to the Black Sea, and from the Danube River to the Aegean Sea.сп. Македонски преглед, бр. 4, 1995 г. Илия Манолов. А Биляна платно белеше (Из фолклорната биография на песенния мотив "Мома и винари") стр. 119-136.

Performers

The song has been interpreted by numerous artists throughout the Balkans. The first accounted interpretation was that of the Ohrid local performers in the early 19th century, though the original source is unspecified as it was probably passed down through oral tradition. Its text was used in a composition by Serbian Romantic-era composer

Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac Stevan Stojanović ( sr-Cyrl, Стеван Стојановић, ; 9 January 1856 – 28 September 1914), known as Stevan Mokranjac ( sr-Cyrl, Стеван Мокрањац, ) was a Serbian composer and music educator. Born in Negotin in 18 ...

, and in more recent times it has been interpreted by

Dobri Stavrevski Dobri means ''good'' in several Slavic languages and may refer to *Dobri (given name) *Dobri dol (disambiguation) *Dobri Do (disambiguation) *Dobri, Hungary, a village *Dobri Dub, a village in Serbia *Dobri Laki, a village in Bulgaria *Novigrad na D ...

Nikola Badev Nikola () is a given name which, like Nicholas, is a version of the Greek ''Nikolaos'' (Νικόλαος) and it means "the winner of the people". It is common as a masculine given name in the South Slavic countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulg ...

Vaska Ilieva Vaska Ilieva (; February 21, 1923 – May 4, 2001) was a legendary Macedonian leading folk singer from Yugoslavia and North Macedonia. Career She started her career as a dancer and singer in the State Ensemble Tanec in the early 1950s. Her st ...

Toše Proeski Todor "Toše" Proeski (, ; 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Music of North Macedonia, Macedonian and Balkan music, Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular acro ...

Slavi Trifonov Stanislav Todorov Trifonov (; born 18 October 1966), known as Slavi Trifonov (), is a Bulgarian TV host, tambourine and viola player, singer and politician. Trifonov is mainly active in the traditional Bulgarian folklore music genres, but he h ...

, etc.

References

External links

"Biljana platno beleshe" on YouTube.

Text of the song from Serbian Wikisource.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biljana platno belese Macedonian folk songs Bulgarian folk songs Year of song unknown Songs with unknown songwriters