Le Mystre Des Voix Bulgares: Decoding the Mystery

Kalin Kirilov (Towson University)

Paper Summary

The music of Bulgaria is an excellent example of a complex musical tradition which

combines Middle Eastern makams (modes), regional microtonal structures, diatonic modes

pentatonic scales, and major/minor collections. Historically, Bulgaria was influenced by mighty

musical cultures which left their mark on the Bulgarian musical traditions. Bulgarians adopted

their diatonic system from the Greeks, a microtonal chant system from the Byzantine Empire, a

makam system from the Ottoman Turks, and a major-minor system from the West.

Bulgarians appropriated harmony rather late in comparison to that of countries in

Western Europe. From 1396 to 1878, the Ottoman Empire ruled the Bulgarian territories. During

this period of Ottoman cultural domination when monophonic and diaphonic microtonal music

was the norm, Bulgarians had limited exposure to Western European music where harmony

reigned. After the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, Bulgarian music became influenced by the

West, which resulted in the blossoming of different styles of music throughout the 20th century.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the abundance of modes, makams, and

microtonal structures in the Bulgarian traditions presented an overwhelming challenge for the

Bulgarian composers trained in Western conservatories. In the 1950s, however, a new harmonic
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system began to form. Supported and encouraged by the socialist state, composers began

experimenting and ultimately succeed in establishing successful formulas for harmonizing the

traditional musical repertoire. The produced arrangements and compositions were named

obrabotkienriched, developed, or modernized Bulgarian traditional songs and tunes.

The genre of choral obrabotki was established in the early 1950s by the Bulgarian

composer Filip Kutev and became popular worldwide through the performances of the female

choir Le Mystre Des Voix Bulgares. My paper analyses several trend-setting choral obrabotki

representing different stages of the development of the obrabotki genre. My analyses trace the

formation and expansion of a unique harmonic system which blends traditional Bulgarian vocal

polyphony, whole-tone sonorities, and clusters with modal, tonal, makam-based, quintal-quartal,

and modern jazz harmony. I suggest that mode- and makam-based Roman numerals (Examples

1, 2, and 3), pitch-class set (Example 4), and Schenkerian analyses (Example 5) are valid

methods of analyzing Bulgarian choral obrabotki if we alter some of our Western harmonic

expectations to embrace modal, Middle Eastern, and avant-garde influences in the Bulgarian

harmonic language. This study also explains that terms which are frequently applied to Bulgarian

music, such as westernization, socialist-style arrangements, or Middle Eastern influence,

depict sophisticated networks of codified and non-codified rules for harmonization which to date

have not been studied.

My analysis of Ergen Deda (Old Bachelor), an early choral arrangement, illustrates a

juxtaposition of traditional polyphony to modern modal harmony. Kalimanku Denku (Mother

Denku), one of the symbols of modern Bulgarian choral music, illustrates an established modal

harmonic system enriched through mode mixture, tonicizations, incorporation of multiple

drones, vertical displacements, quintal-quartal harmony, and clusters. More Zazheni Se Gyuro
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(The Marriage of Gyuro), is the first obrabotka that involves whole-tone based verticals and

palindromic structures of gradual textural expansion followed by gradual textural contraction.

Prochul Se Strahila (Famous Strahil) illustrates innovative reharmonizations in makam Hicaz

and an intricate play with established listeners expectations regarding Hicaz standards and

cadences. Finally, I analyze Zableyalo Mi Agntse (A Lamb Was Bleating), an obrabotka which

typifies the most recent avant-garde trendthe emancipation of dissonance.

In addition to analyzing, systematizing, and adapting existing analytical tools to a

particular non-Western musical genre, this paper also introduces a new, comprehensive model of

inquiry which could be applied to the music of other Eastern European countries exhibiting

similar levels of harmonic complexity, such as the music of Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia,

Romania, and Hungary.

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Examples

I II iiio iv IV v7 (VI) vii I

T S S S D D T

Preferred cadences: vii-I, v7-I

Preferred tonicization: vii and iv (IV)
Standard progressions: I-iv-vii-I
Finalis: 1 or 3

Example 1. Chordal Vocabulary in Makam Hicaz with Variable 6th Scale Degree

G: V/V; (ii) V; mQ6 E6

Em: ii6 i6

IV VIs III v l I7 i i IV;

(Am: v l/V V7m is (iv)
Em: rl i IV;

Example 2. Kalimanku Denku, a of Section A, Roman Numeral Analysis in E Phrygian

Illustrating a III-i Tonal Juxtapositioning
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SH: E Y (i) R7 r i V/E V7/E (E)

F#m: (i) u6/R u/R R (HC for E Shope major) V;/E

SH: E Y (i) R7 r (wo ) i

M2 m3 1

E6 w6 i6 xyo6 (IVl) w ; (rs) i i

SH: (V/E) E i

F#m: rB iB uB I;
Example 3. Zableyalo Mi Agntse, Section B, Roman Numerals Analysis Compared to a
Standard Harmonization (SH), Dashed Arrows Illustrate Satisfied Harmonic Expectations
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PCS: 4-22 5-34 5-33 4-14 6-34 6-34 5-34 5-33

Gm: i VI VI; iv (VIl) (zV)

4-23 4-25 3-9 6-34 6-34 5-34 5-33 4-33

(i) VI; (VI;) (VIl) (zV) (v) (i)

Example 4. More Zazheni Se Gyuro, Mm. 21-30, Palindromic Structure and Whole-Tone Based
Verticals

Example 5. Kalimanku Denku, Section A, A Schenkerian Reduction Illustrating a III-i Tonal

Juxtapositioning in E Phrygian