Вокалната работа в хор „Бодра смяна“ и диригентският метод на Бончо Бочев
Vocal work with Bodra Smiana Children’s Choir and Boncho Bochev’s conductorial methods

Summary/Abstract: The article seeks to examine the key principles of vocal work with Bodra Smiana Children’s Choir. A musician, who has made an outstanding contribution to the development of choral singing in Bulgaria, Boncho Bochev established new criteria for choral sound. Inspired by the example of foreign choirs visiting Bulgaria, he drew heavily on both music literature and the experience acquired by his collaboration with the greatest composers and conductors of his day. Boncho Bochev developed a chorister selection system, where the entirety of musical abilities, e.g. an ear for music, voice quality, smooth moving between registers, tone colour and artistic skills, mattered in a great degree. After their admission, the children were taught the technique of posture and breathing by the more experienced choristers. The conductor put together the choral parts with a view to correctly developing the young singers’ voices and balanced choral sound, whereas long-term coaching stabilised their choral vocal habits. Choir coaching was practically oriented and based on incessant audio control. Arranging choristers on stage was also very important as it provided audibility and guaranteed the achievement of a homogenous sound mass. Boncho Bochev strove for the typical of Bodra Smiana Children’s Choir crystal and at the same time soft sound, achieved through ‘natural’ sound emission and effortless classical singing without straining the vocal apparatus. Vocal work with his choir was a continuous process: from the specially developed vocal warm-up system to the impactive onstage interpretation. By solving a number of vocal, acoustic and organisational problems, Boncho Bochev achieved world-class artistic performance. He shared his vast experience in a series of publications, courses, seminars and textbooks for comprehensive schools. The sound of Bodra Smiana Children’s Choir became a showpiece for other such choirs, a source of inspiration and an example to follow. This sound, however, should in no way be regarded separately, but as an important aspect of his comprehensive conductorial methods.

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