Search - Mystere Des Voix Bulgares :: Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares 2

Music in the same tradition as the first volume, but somewha

Christopher Culver | 09/21/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In 1988 the French record producer Marcel Cellier brought recordings of a few Bulgarian state ensemles to the West. The resulting album, LE MYSTERE DES VOIX BULGARES was an explosive suprise and helped start a world music explosion. But Cellier had more material, and this VOLUME 2 quickly appeared. On these 16 songs performed by the Bulgarian State Television Female vocal choir, we hear the same exotic music, where singers possess limited vocal range but piercing projection and resonance, joining in intervals never heard in traditional Western art music.



It must again be repeated that this is not authentic Bulgarian folk music, but rather sophisticated arrangements made by composers during the Communist era. Many of the lyrics here are from old folk songs ("Ghiore Dos" is actually a popular children's song), and the method of singing each singer displays is truly old, but you're crazy if you think any folk music has four-part counterpoint. Still, folk cultures are dying across Europe, and these arrangements are becoming all we have left of a precious tradition snuffed out by Western decadence.



The fine arrangement "Kaval Sviri" is just as good an opener as "Pilentze Pee" was on the first disc. Subsequent standouts include "Bezrodna Nevesta", "Izpoved", and "Atmadja Duma Strachilu". My favourite dialect of Bulgarian is that of the Shopsko region, and I was happy to see it represented here with "Tche Da Kupim Bela Seitsa". Some of the other material, however, is uneven. "Di-Li-Do", for example, is just plain silly, although the recording quality charmingly hints that it was long buried in some archive.



As with the first volume, I'm unhappy here Nonesuch's packaging. No lyrics or translations are provided for the songs--although since most are about death and unrequited love, this may be to spare some sense of magic for the listener who doesn't speak Bulgarian. The transliteration used is meant for speakers of French, and is filled with typos to boot, which makes it hard for one to reconstruct the original Cyrillic title of each song. Nonetheless, it's a good record, and those who can't get enough of the first volume would probably find this a decent purchase. Steer clear of RITUAL, the third entry in the series, which departs greatly from the first two volumes with disappointing results."