Посланието на името
The Message of the Name

Summary/Abstract: The front cover of the musical score of the ouverture “Ivaylo” by Dobri Hristov reads: “Ivaylo. Solemn Dramatic Ouverture. Competition Composition dedicated to the occasion of National Theatre Opening. 1906”.This is the score that won the competition: first prize goes to the ouverture titled Ivaylo, second prize goes to the ouverture by the motto “Lisets” by Dimitar Hadjigeorgiev, the third prize goes to the ouverture by the motto “Ivan Vazov” by Petko Naumov. Nevertheless, the program of the concert held on January 3, 1907, does not mention the name “Ivaylo”, but only “Solemn Ouverture”. The title “Ivaylo” inscribes a message by Dobri Hristov, that evidently raised suspicions in the authorities. The program also omitted the genre definition of “dramatic”. We can only guess whether Dobri Hristov was aware that his work, thus created, might be sharply politicized. He was hardly to foresee that Ivaylo was to become the victim of political presumptions and suspicions. But such was the political situation, it is a fact. It is evidenced by the newspapers, afiche and concert programs of the National Theatre preserved, it is also kept in the memories of artists, cultural agents and political functioners. All these represent the complex social and political situation in Bulgaria during the first decade of the 20th century. The situation includes also the tensions of the capital of the country connected with the official opening of the new building to the National Theatre, its program and the list of attendants. Thus the opening is turned into a cultural and political event. In 1913 Dobri Hristov remade the ouverture “Ivaylo” and printed out the score of “Solemn Dramatic Ouverture Ivaylo based on Bulgarian Folk Motifs for Piano”. He reorders the words, in the way he knows the score is familiar to those who have listened to it in the National Theatre, where it was successfully performed for over 20 times in 1907.

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