Music in Bulgaria

Description

Music in Bulgaria is one of several case-study volumes that can be used along with Thinking Musically, the core book in the Global Music Series. Thinking Musically incorporates music from many diverse cultures and establishes the framework for exploring the practice of music around the world. It sets the stage for an array of case-study volumes, each of which focuses on a single area of the world. Each case study uses the contemporary musical situation as a point of departure, covering historical information and traditions as they relate to the present. Visit www.oup.com/us/globalmusic for a list of case studies in the Global Music Series. The website also includes instructional materials to accompany each study.
Music in Bulgaria presents a focused introduction to the rich and varied tradition of Bulgarian music. Taking readers on a tour of the country's musical landscape, it explores ways in which Bulgaria's rural traditions affect the expression and interpretation of its music and examines how Bulgaria's history has influenced its music over many decades. The book also shows how musical traditions have been preserved and have flourished despite the social changes brought about by the post-WWII era of industrialization, modernization, and urbanization. Timothy Rice demonstrates how Bulgarian music--in addition to being an art and an entertainment--is deeply embedded in the cultural, social, economic, and political life of the country. He analyzes how this music has spread to other cultures and how it has made its mark on new forms of popular music. Brief lessons on how ethnomusicologists conduct their research are also included.
Written in a lively style accessible to both students and general readers, Music in Bulgaria features vivid eyewitness accounts of performances, interviews with performers, and glossaries of Bulgarian and musical terms. Incorporating numerous listening examples and other activities that help readers learn to listen, sing, and dance to Bulgarian music, this volume is packaged with a 70-minute CD containing examples of the music discussed.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
CD Track List
1. Two Weddings in One Day
An Urban Wedding
A Village Wedding
Explaining Music
The Culture of Music at Bulgarian Weddings
The Interpretation of Music at Bulgarian Weddings
More Questions
2. The Past in Present-day Music
3. A Musical Tour
The Shop Region Near Sofia
Thrace in the Southeast
The Rhodope Mountains in the South
The Pirin Region in the Southwest
After the Tour
4. Making Music Yesterday and Today
Koleda
Kukerovden
Easter Dances
Harvest Songs
Dances at Village Fairs
Autumn Housework
Why Are These Traditions still Performed at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century?
5. Music and Politics
A Performance by a Professional Ensemble
Arranged Choral Music
Arranged Instrumental Music
Choreographed Dancing
Modernization and a New Ideology Come to Bulgaria
New Institutions for the New Folk Music
Cultivated Folk Music
New Meaning for Wedding Music
Changes in the Sound of Wedding Music
The Politics of Wedding Music
From Behavior to Symbol to Commodity
6. Bulgarian Music as World Music
Bulgarian Music Hits the Charts
Appropriating Bulgarian Music
7. A New Music for a New Era
A New Fusion of Folk and Popular Music
The Roots of Popfolk
The Lyrics of Popfolk Music
Performances of Popfolk Songs
Popfolk as Art, Symbol, Commodity, and Behavior
Musical Change and Musical Significance
Glossary of Bulgarian Terms
Glossary of Musical Terms
References
Resources
Index