Aquamanda reviews The London Bulgarian Choir – very favourably.
Leader of the pack Dessi plus the women folk
About 15 years ago I went to see the “Mystere de Voix Bulgares” at the South Bank, and beautiful and mysterious it was too. So I was very excited to see The Dulwich Festival had booked the London Bulgarian Choir this year, and despite my friends reservations about coming along with me (perhaps due to my scary description of “waily but weirdly beautiful”), I happily went along alone (it was in fact packed and sold out).
It was the first time I’d been inside All Saints Church since I performed The Hallelujah Chorus with a local Dulwich choir ensemble – the finale to the Easter Passion in 2000 (the music and play over 4 days in various venues around Dulwich- put together by Tricia Thorns). So it was good to see the previously fire damaged church restored and modernised – whilst keeping as much of the original brickwork and features as possible. The work of www.southlondonwomenartists.co.uk filled the cloister walls. But, I was here for the music…..
The men folk accompanying on traditional instruments
The London Bulgarian Choir looked the part. They jollily wandered on as if they were meeting up with friends in the market place, laughing and chatting. A far cry from a classical English choir – silent, formally dressed, eyes only on the conductor. Their dress was traditional Bulgarian folk – red waistcoats, embroidered full skirts, men in little black hats, women with red roses tucked behind their ear. I felt like I was on holiday in a small Bulgarian village already.
The energetic female leader is Dessislava Stefanova who introduced each song explaining the story of these old traditional folk tales. The first lively song was a rhythmic number setting the pace with phrases often ending with the typical somewhat surprised sounding “yop! ” or a long and melancholy “wooo….”. The members look like they have just been transported from the Bulgarian hills, they are actually made up of a whole global mix of nationalities, Scottish, German and a fair smattering from good old East Dulwich.
from East Dulwich (Steve, centre) and beyond
The harmonies are eerily beautiful, the voices on one hand can be deep dark and moving highlighted with an almost wailing yodelling. So haunting, it can bring a lump to your throat and a tear to your eye. Then Dessi tells the story of what the song is actually about.
Yes, they are old traditional Bulgarian folk songs, so love, fertility and harvesting are to be expected. Some of the stories are quite strange – one involving a singing competition with a girl and a nightingale, (because the girl won, she was entitled to chop off the bird’s wings as her prize – but being a kind girl she didn’t!). There are songs of flirty girls collecting water with a chorus “don’t jingling your white water jugs as you walk past my house”. Maidens dancing in squares (and eyes like olives) , poetic thoughts such as “youth runs away like water – age creeps up on us like a shadow”. The strangest subject matter must be the opening song- about frantic sock knitting.
The London Bulgarian Choir
Their website www.londonbulgarianchoir.co.uk refers to their music as “finding that ancient resonance in the depth of the human heart”. Whether you know what the songs actually are lyrically on about or not, the music and unique singing style is certainly stirring stuff to experience.
Check them out on the festival circuit. Next event 18-19 July – Larmer Tree Festival, Wiltshire
