Музикалнодиалектни особености на фолклорния вокален стил и маниер на изпълнение

Author(s): Galya Grozdanova-Radeva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Working out the specifics of the vocal styles and manners of performance in the different folk music districts in Bulgaria is prompted by an actual necessity, proved on the one hand by the decreasing number of the existing traditional folk practices and the limited contact of young people with these practices and on the other, by the revived interest in mastering such practices (mostly vocal and dance). The manner of performance is an established empirical practice, honed in the tradition of the past as a ‘model to follow’ and mastered intuitively. Now, however, it could be described, shown and taught. It is necessary to present in detail its specific aspects in each larger or smaller territories of the established folk music districts in Bulgaria so that to make its knowledge and mastering easier. The article deals with the folk musical dialects in Bulgaria presented in two major parts following the introduced by Elena Stoin territorial classification: eastern and western. The twelve folk musical dialects or regions are described in terms forming two groups of elements: vocal elements (speech reflex, speech specifics, sound qualities, sound generation, resonance, onset of sound, performative practice, vocal range); elements of the music language (voice-leading – strokes, ambit of the songs, ornamentation). The specifics of the vocal style and manner of performance are accentuated. On the basis of the outlined specifics of the traditional vocal practice in the folk music districts, generalizations are made, true to one degree or another of the national, territorial and regional music language.

Изследователска група „Музика и танц в Югоизточна Европа”: преживяна история

Author(s): Lozanka Peicheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

The process of creation and development of the ICTM Study Group Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe at UNESCO is researched in the text. The occurrence of idea to create this Study Group and its development in the period 2005–2007 are observed. After the establishment of the Study Group on Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe by the ICTM Board in Canberra,Australia (February 16-17, 2008), four symposia were held that are presented in the text: 1) 2008 – Ohrid, Macedonia; 2) 2010 – Izmir, Turkey; 3) 2012 – Berovo, Macedonia; 4) 2014 – Valjevo, Serbia. There are outlined the closest perspectives for the study group connected with the organization and realization of the next Fifth Symposium in 2016 hosted by the South-West University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.

Любомир Кутин: „Българските фестивали. Категории и системи за оценка“

Author(s): Rosemary Statelova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

This review seeks to present a new book, Bulgarian Festivals (2014) by cultural specialist Dr Lubomir Kutin, which is a follow-up to his study Festival as a Phenomenon of Artistic Culture (2004). In the first part, Lubomir Kutin’s body of work is presented. Both as a theoretician and researcher and as a practician, Kutin’s every effort has been devoted to work in the field of running and management of culture. The second part of the article treats Bulgarian Festivals as a set of two studies. The first one features a typology of the festivals on the basis of nine anthropological, socio-cultural and artistic categories: play, spectacle, celebration, space, time, institution, artistes, programme, audience. The second study gives a consideration to the necessity for a new approach to the control and evaluation of the festivals in Bulgaria. The final part of the review quotes an excerpt from the author’s statement at the public discussion on his Bulgarian Festivals, held in autumn 2014 at the Centre for the Study of Democracy.

Стенописите в Долнобешовишкия манастир „Св. Архангел Михаил”

Author(s): Tsveta Kuneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

Most of the murals at the catholicon of St Michael the Archangel nearby the village of Dolna Beshovitsa, Vratsa district, were uncovered in the restoration work of 2006 by Dimcho Radev and were not been published. The extant murals are set mostly on the east side. The wall-painting programme features a combination of Catholic influence and gearing to the selection of the representations of the patron saint of the church, St Michael the Archangel. The Catholic influence is discernible in the architecture and in the representations of Roman Popes and of SS Cyril the Philosopher and Methodius. An explanation of the individual figure of the Mesopotamian prophet Balaam is provided by the dedication of the church, as he is represented in the scene of an Angel appearing to him. An Archangel, holding the Holy Sudarium, is painted mirroring Balaam’s figure. The representation of the two small figures of angles, flunking the image of Christ in the composition adoration of the Lamb in the apse, is also in all likelihood connected with the patron saint of the church. The just a few studies mentioning the murals at the church of Dolna Beshovitsa, date them to the seventeenth century at the earliest. Their manner as well as the Heirmologion copied for the monastery in 1549 by Deacon John, suggest the assumption that the murals under consideration have been painted circa the mid-sixteenth century.

Цикълът на Деянията и Чудесата Христови от притвора на Черепишката манастирска църква „Успение Богородично”

Author(s): Maya Zacharieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

The article treats the iconographic specifics of the cycle of Christ’s acts and miracles at the earliest narthex of the Catholicon of The Assumption, Monastery of Cherepish, which researchers traditionally attribute to the work of St Poemen of Zographou. The study makes also certain observations about their connection with the so-called School of Epirus as evinced in the murals at the Church of St Nicholas of Philanthropenoi in Ioannina, Pamvotida Lake, as well as in other examples in the Balkans and the Athonite monasteries of the age. The analysis shows that the icon-painters were familiar with the models used by the sixteenth-century leading post-Byzantine artistic centres.

Стенописите на църквата „Св. Архангел Михаил“ край с. Горановци, Кюстендилско (нови данни)

Author(s): Svetozar Angelov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

The article gives a comprehensive description of the extant murals. With the collapsed vault, only the murals in the bottom tier have survived. Special attention is accorded to deciphering and identification of the texts on the extant scrolls. Two layers of paint were established and an attempt was made to date those. An interesting element of the decoration of the apse is the inclusion of Archangels Uriel and Raphael in the scene Melismos, as well as using a relatively rare abstract of the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great. Some other specific images of the iconographic programme of the church: Joshua (represented as a lord); the martyr St Blaise/Bucolus, holding a calf; St Demetrios, clad in garments of a seignior; a full-length image of St Anne, holding a cross. The publication takes to identify the scene, which has been set in the left niche of the altar. The various decorative elements of the mural decoration at the Church of St Michael the Archangel by the village of Goranovtsi are considered. A possible dating to the late fifteenth or the early sixteenth century is proposed.

Надписи от Горноводенския манастир „Св. Св. Кирик и Юлита” край Асеновград. Предварителни бележки

Author(s): Aleksandra Trifonova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2015

In this paper the inscriptions of the Sts Cyricus and Јulitta monastery at Gorni Voden are discussed. They give valuable information about the historical persons who contributed to the weal of the monastery. Based on them, it comes out that the monastery was built in 1835 with the donations of the habitants of the Greek community of Gorni Voden. The naos was painted in 1847-1848 with the sponsorship of laymen of Bulgarian origin, whereas the narthex was painted in 1850, during the time of the hegoumenos Gerasimos Iviritis, by the painter Alexios Athanassiou from Naoussa. The wood-carved iconostasis was painted with the help of Greeks from Philippopolis during the period of 1864-1871. Among the donors of the monastery laymen of Bulgarian origin dominate who come from the places Assamita, Gerdima, Gorni Voden, Guzurli, Edbek, Irinzik, Karaorman, Kezik, Meriza, Muldava, Tremezli and Chiflik mahala, as well as members of the guilds of the chandlers, the grocers and the snippers of Philippopolis. Donnors were also by separate persons from this town, as Georgios Kazandzoglou (1847), Georgios Athanassiou Kaftandzis (1864), Anasstasios hadji Dimitriou Koimdzis (1864), Athanassios Iakovou Argyriadou (1868), Vassilios G. Klieanthis (1870), Ekaterina A. Tomidi (1871) and Josif, as well as persons from the ecclesiastical circle, as hierodeacon hadji Makarios from Bursa, the hegoumens of the monastery Gerasimos Iviritis (1850) and hadji Jeronimos Philippopolitis, the priest Dimitrakis Chrisafi Frangakis and the monks Sofronios and Josif.

Райна Кацарова: слънчевата дама на българската етномузикология и етнохореология

Author(s): Lozanka Peicheva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2016

Raina Katsarova’s work is of an intrinsic value to the establishing and the development of Bulgarian ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology. She was a renowned Bulgarian researcher in the 1920s, but also through the 1980s, an authoritative champion of collecting and preserving traditional lore in the form of tens of thousands of Bulgarian folk songs. This study systematises biographical data of Raina Katsarova’s life, integrating various voices in one story and offering a general rethinking of her personality and activities. The events and the facts interpreted in this statement have been selected from various in terms of their size, genre and content source material: a variety of published sources (Raina Katsarova’s publications; other publications related to her life, personality and career; interviews with her; Raina Katsarova’s memories), archive material (fieldwork notebooks, diaries, photos, letters, etc.), talks with her nearest and dearest. Biographical resear​ch method was applied as a rewarding scientific strategy and a tool of representing the fluid dynamics of life, of providing an insight into her figure and work and of the unique historical significance of Raina Katsarova to the domains of ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology. The systematic arranging of the selected facts and materials is grouped in the following thematic lines: 1). A timeline of her life in a chronological narrative of facts and events, stages and processes; 2) A brief overview of her major studies and achievements; 3). The essence of her fieldwork; 4) Her contribution to the creation of an ethnomusicological environment at the National Ethnographic Museum and BAS.

Райна Кацарова и най-ранните теренни звукозаписи на традиционна музика от България

Author(s): Ventsislav Dimov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2016

This study presents the earliest resources of the folk music archive of the Institute of Art Studies, BAS: fieldwork recordings of traditional music made in the period 1938–1950. The text is part of a project, Raina Katsarova and the beginnings​ of recording activities in Bulgarian ethnomusicology. The study is based on the folk music recordings made by Raina Katsarova in 1938–1950, and by her collaborators Ivan Kachulev and Elena Stoin (1948–1950), using a Presto recorder and instantaneous discs. The study presents the earliest recordings (231 metal core acetates: 142 12-inch and 89 8-inch), digitised by Alex Nushev) containing songs, instrumental music and rarely, verbal folklore. There are 1,570 items or about 31 hours of recorded music in store for describing, identifying and studying (by the author and Dr Galina Denkova) The interpretation, apart from the recorded sound, includes handwritten fieldwork notebooks or other fieldwork material from the verbal folk music archive and the personal archive of Raina Katsarova (kept at the archive of the Institute of Art Studies), papers by Raina Katsarova delivered during her trips to several Bulgarian regions and places in 1941– 1944 (kept at the archive of The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, BAS), pictures from academic and personal archives, publications in periodicals. It is the first attempt to make such a comprehensive and full presentation with a detailed chronological description of the earliest fieldwork recordings in Bulgaria. The second part of the study seeks to make analytical readings of the recording database. Two views of the early recordings are offered: exploration of the areas of the recorded voices and music (places and regions, where the recordings have been made and where the informants and repertories belong) and of the tradition bearers on the grooves (analysed by age, sex, education, settled way of life, ethnic group, profession, etc., mostly by the classifying columns and ‘marginal notes’ in the fieldwork notebooks). The conclusion underscores that by using recorders in the 1930s and the 1940s Bulgarian science joined the mainstream of the West-European ethnomusicology. Raina Katsarova was the founder of fieldwork sound recording presenting songs, instrumental music, manufacturing of instruments, ring dances and games through their cultural functioning, their role in the life of the community and men. She set the beginning of the anthropological and culturological turn in Bulgarian folk music studies. Raina Katsarova’s legacy and that of her collaborators on fieldwork recording, Ivan Kachulev and Elena Stoin still holds unexhausted potential for informational content, creativity and future insights. That is why it is worth completing the process of their digitisation and cataloguing, publishing more extensive information about them and about the initial stages of their exploration.

Живот, посветен на българската народоука

Author(s): Elena Ognianova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2016

The author, a writer, folklorist and ethnographer, offers her views on​ the scope of Raina Katsarova as a researcher and a person, citing her works, academic and social activities and mostly, her own contacts during their close friendship and cooperation of four decades. The patriotism of Raina Katsarova, a woman from Koprivshtitsa, is highlighted along with her role in promoting folk songs on the radio, the press, training aids, books, and song collections. The article provides interesting facts about Raina Katsarova’s cooperation with Academician Mikhail Arnaudov regarding a research area, pioneered by Katsarova in Bulgaria, that of ethnochoreology. Raina Katsarova’s social activities are highlighted along with her scientific contribution and international weight.

Милена Шушулова Павлова: „Музика и публики. Нови концепции за отвореност“

Author(s): Elisaveta Valchinova-Chendova,Todor Petev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2016

The book deals with topical contemporary musical practices and processes of musical communication. The fundamental to the art of music problem of communication is commented on. Music is communication and in this light, actual processes and contemporary musical and cultural practices in the field of the so-called ‘classical’ or ‘art’ music are treated. Drawing on serious literature, related directly or indirectly to the subject matter, the author formulates and considers in all their bearings several significant issues pertaining to the digital breakthrough, the role of the social media, public interest, analysis of audiences, etc., as social and cultural phenomena of enormous psychological effect, shaping new practices and audiences. Contemporary music education and that of young audiences are highlighted. The sociological survey conducted by the author and her analysis of the results is central to the study. The text is dialogical, intended for various readerships, which is yet another advantage to this book. Apart from the viewpoint of the musicologist, we provide the opinion of Prof. Dr Todor Petev, a renowned Bulgarian sociologist, the doyen of mass communications studies (1944–14 October 2015). In his opinion, the analysis of good cases and the innovative music educational endeavours (al fresco grand concerts in public areas in Europe) is the book’s strong side. Another fresh thematic line is that of the young audiences (the analyses of the survey of students, Ch. 10). It is gratifying to see that the author leaves the ending open to interpretation by readers, enabling them to continuously provide an infinite amount of new examples.

Танцовата музика в ръкописите на учителя Иржи Хартъл (1781–1849) от Стара Пака

Author(s): Zdeněk Vejvoda / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2015

The collection of dance music manuscripts from the late 18th and early 19th century by Jiří Hartl is unique among European sources. Jiří Hartl was a skilled musician, playing the violin, clarinet, organ and bassoon. He was also responsible for the local organ, establishing a tradition of instrumental music. This is evidenced by his collection, which contains 840 dance instrumental melodies (1810– 1820). The records are those of the first violin with instrumentation glosses, solo contributions of other instruments, and the names of most of the dances. The collection also contains verbal notes, which help to reconstruct the composition of Hartl’s band. The manuscripts contains the dances ländler, steyrisch, schotisch/egosse, marsch, ungarisch, zweitritt, contra, menuetto, deutschen, hulán, třínožka, bauer, bažant, bonapart, englese, furiant, husa, kalamajka, kögeltanz, švihák. Hartl’s legacy and life story epitomize the versatile work of small-town teachers in Bohemia in the early 19th century – an essential support for cultural growth and a successful national emancipation movement.

Филтриране на народното. Народна музика и идеология в Чехословакия през 50-те години на ХХ век

Author(s): Matěj Kratochvíl / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2015

In 1950s Czechoslovakia, traditional folk music was officially presented as the most important resource of national musical identity. Folk- or folk-inspired music was almost omnipresent. Although this intensity was waned in the following decades, the role of the folk music as a symbol remained strong until the end of the communist rule in 1989. While the ideology of communism used folk music as its tool, it also influenced the way this music was collected, researched and presented. The paper presents examples from two closely intertwined areas documenting these issues: folk music research and folk music revival.

Елена Генова. Църковните приложни изкуства от XV-XIX век в България

Author(s): Mila Santova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2004

”Radically tender“ - a musical, walk-in spatial staging by the Bluescreen ensemble Oldenburg

Author(s): Ulla Levens / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

"Democracy needs inclusion." is this year's motto of Jürgen Dusel, Representative for Matters relating to People with Disabilities of the Federal Government of Germany. Katrin Langensiepen, EU-Representative for social and inclusion policy, is committed to a social and inclusive Europe. "Dealing with people with disabilities has generally become more natural," says the 45-year-old Green politician, who speaks openly about her life with her visible disability. People with and without disabilities now work together in many areas of life. Inclusive projects are successfully implemented at schools, in vocational training and in working life. In the leisure sector, inclusion has become established above all in sport and the practice of art (painting, modeling, making music, dancing). The private German social organization "Aktion Mensch“ supports up to 1,000 projects a month through lottery proceeds in order to improve the living conditions of people with and without disabilities. Projects of the "Blauschimmel Atelier“ in Oldenburg are also financially supported. "The Blauschimmel Atelier in Oldenburg/Germany has been a place of active inclusion since 1998. It is an open place for every form of artistic diversity." The BlueScreen Ensemble has been making blue music in the Blauschimmel Atelier for over 20 years. Their agenda includes regular weekly meetings and participation in artistic and socio-cultural projects that take place across the region.The highlight for the BlueScreen Ensemble in 2022 was the musical, walk-in spatial production "radikal zart", which took place on September 25 as part of a festival for contemporary, experimental improvised music in the Art Gallery in Wilhelmshaven. This event was documented on video. A short collage of the live recording has been compiled by Oldenburg media artist Jörg Scheel. The following text first refers to the collage and then uses the example of the BlueScreen ensemble to highlight key aspects of working with inclusive groups.

PECULIARITIES OF EXPRESSIVE MEANS OF CHOREOGRAPHY IN CREATING ARTISTIC IMAGE

Author(s): Tatyana Kasyan,Zoya Guţu / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

As a result of the development of choreographic art, the following traditional expressive means of this art form were formed: movements and poses, plastic and facial expressiveness, tempo and rhythm, dynamics of movement, spatial pattern, composition. This article is devoted to the role of main expressive means of choreographic art in creating an artistic image. And, since the art of dance is the art of movement and plasticity, they play the leading role in creating a choreographic image. In this regard, classical dance turned out to be the most universal language of choreographic art; it could absorb various movements and plastic elements (both from life and from other dance systems), thus transforming and modifying them, so that they organically entered its vocabulary. Due to this, it was classical dance that became the main means of expression in ballet, through which it was possible to reveal complex themes, human characters, feelings and relationships. Since the language of classical dance is built on movements of the human body that are conventional from the point of view of everyday authenticity, acquiring even greater emotional expressiveness due to their ornamental-melodic, rhythmic-intonational structure. The article focuses on the analysis of expressive means of classical dance as an integral part of choreographic art, its expressive features, on the change and development of performance technique, on the development of plastic expressiveness, acting mastery, on the development of necessary qualities in a dancer to achieve high performance mastery in creating an artistic image.

QUEBEC THEATER – A CREATOR OF NATIONAL EMOTIONS

Author(s): Roxana Voichița Bobariu / Language(s): French Issue: 40/2025

This article examines the unique capacity of Quebec theatre to evoke and sustain a profound national emotion. Focusing on Michel Tremblay’s celebrated play Les Belles-Soeurs, the study demonstrates how the authentic use of joual and themes rooted in the everyday experiences of working-class women forge a strong emotional bond with audiences. Moreover, the paper explores the reception of Michel Tremblay’s works in Romania, examining how various translations and stage adaptations have enabled local audiences to connect with Quebec’s theatrical language and cultural identity. By tracing the evolution of Quebec theatre-from its early external influences to the emergence of a distinct voice during the Quiet Revolution-this work highlights the role of theatre as both a mirror of collective social experience and a catalyst for intercultural dialogue.

THE PAGES DEDICATED TO THE ARTS IN THE COLLECTION OF FAMILIA MAGAZINE, FIFTH SERIES (1965-1989)

Author(s): Ruxandra Gavra / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The fifth series of „Familia” magazine, from 1965 until 1989, under the direction of Alexandru Andriţoiu, continues the tradition instated by Iosif Vulcan, offering special attention to the arts, predominantly observing the theatre and plastic arts. The reviews, along with the interviews, studies and images therein reflect national values, while also following great world personalities

THE SOCIOLOGY OF MUSIC REFLECTED IN THE SUBJECTS OF ACTORS AND LISTENERS

Author(s): Sebastian-Claudiu Ștefani,Vasile R. Todoran,Daniel-Ioan Birla / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

This article explores music from a sociological perspective, analyzing the interactions between artists and listeners and their role in shaping the phenomenon of music as social expression. In the first part, the sociological perspective on music examines how music reflects social structures and cultural identities, serving as a mirror of societal relationships and norms. In the second section, the practical perspective of music is discussed, highlighting the role of artists in creation and listeners in influencing music production through feedback and active participation. The third section explores the symbiotic relationship between the psychosociology of music and artistic-musical practice, highlighting how music contributes to social cohesion and the expression of collective identities. Finally, the sociopsychology of music is analyzed as a tool for influencing thought and behavior, showing how music shapes the emotions and social behaviors of individuals. These reflections reveal a complex relationship between music, thought and behavior in social context

Czech Art History – Science in Quiet Seclusion, (Finally) Removing Its Velvet Gloves

Author(s): Marcela Rusinko / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

BARTLOVÁ, Milena: Dějiny českých dějin umění 1945–1969: Dějiny umění slouží vědě o člověku. Praha, Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová 2020, 549 pages, ISBN 978-80-88308-11-9.