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Songs from Nedelino & the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria

by Lidia & Venelina Hadzhieva

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    PROCEEDS FROM DOWNLOADS OF THIS ALBUM WILL BE SENT TO VENI & LIDIA IN BULGARIA.
    A pair of young sisters, Lidia and Venelina Hadzhieva (aged 17 & 20), from a remote mountain town very near the Greek border, called Nedelino. Fine performers of their town's traditional style of singing - an ancient style found nowhere else in all of Bulgaria - the girls recorded this album in Montpelier, Vermont in the spring of 2000 when Village Harmony sponsored them on a short tour.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

1.
Bela sǔm bela junache 02:54
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2.
Gizdi sa kichi Tudoro 01:29
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3.
Kraj do niva raste rosna treva 03:29
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4.
Dimitro sino 01:25
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5.
Zaspala moma 02:38
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6.
Izplela sǔm ti Mehmete 02:34
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7.
Nimoj sa sŭrdi Marushke 01:16
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8.
Sipni sa rojni oblako 03:34
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SIPNI SA ROJNI OBLAKO Sipni sa rojni oblako vâr jasnichkono slânchitse // ljutichko da ma ne peche // âchine da mi ne gâriât. Cherna shte morna da stana ta nema da ma priljaga // bash barjamskono gizdilo // deno na dene nadjavam // na dene i na nedjale. SPREAD YOURSELF, CLOUD Spread yourself, cloud, in front of the bright sun so it doesn't burn me up, so it doesn't burn my eyes. So I don't get so black and red that I won't look good in my beautiful Bajram [a big holiday] clothes that I don't wear all the time, only on the special holidays.
9.
Fati sa mome na oro 02:05
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Fati sa mome na oro zavedi mome orono // oro e grozno bez tebe // kajno Barjaman bez mene. Da lesno Milke da vidish kakvo sŭm danel gizdilo // lineno i kŭprineno, // sŭrmeno i gjumjusheno. Dojdŭh inatse, videh go l sichkono ti bendisah // ala ti jache bendisah // rusana jasna chervena // na top chervena kutnie. Join in the dance, girl lead the dance the dance is ugly without you just like Bajrjam would be [for you] without me. If only you could see, Milka, what beautiful things I've brought for you, linen and silk all gold and silver-embroidered. I've already seen them, lad, and I like everything but most of all I like than nice bolt of red cloth [for holiday clothes]!
10.
Stiga mi sa momne le nadigaj 01:11
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11.
Azheni li ma majchinko 01:29
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ÂZHENI LI MA MAJCHINKO Âzheni li ma majchinko? Najde li râhat ât mene râhat ât mene shiroko? Da ti beh oshte pâhola barem lâ ednâ gâdina gâdina i pâlâvina. Mâlci dâshtero ne dumaj utirno ga ta spomena bez progimka si âshtavam Vecherom ga ta spomena bez vecerka si âshtavam za tebe dâshte mislene. DID YOU GET ME MARRIED, MOTHER? DId you get me married, mother? Did you get rid of me, good and rid of me? I wish I could have spent a little more time maybe another year another year and a half [in your house]. Hush, daughter, don't say such things! In the morning when I remember you I can't eat my breakfast. In the evening when I remember you I don't have the heart to eat my supper from thinking about you.
12.
Momiche belko chernochko 01:03
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13.
Moma mi sa e nasmjala 02:01
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14.
Choko chernoko momiche 01:33
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CHOKO CHERNOKO MOMICHE Choko chernoko momiche ne metaj sevdjo na selo // naj metaj sevdjo na mene Che sme si lika prilika kajno dva stroka iglika kajno bosilchek v gradina kajno dva bora vâv gora. Junache ludo i mlado na teb sa sevdjo ne meta // che sme si pusta rodnina. Choko chernoko momiche dŭlboka voda brod nema shiroko pole hod nema hubava moma rod nema. CHOKO, BLACK-EYED GIRL Choko, black-eyed girl, don't throw your love to the whole village, give it all to me because we're made for each other like two primroses, like the basil in the garden, like two pine trees in the forest. Oh you crazy young thing, I can't fall in love with you— we're close relatives! Choko, black-eyed girl, deep water has no ford, a broad field has no path across it, a beautiful girl has no family.
15.
Ja da si zemami galenono 02:04
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16.
Tri ma momi galet 01:35
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17.
Mari Marijo 02:27
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MARI MARIJO Mari Marijo sorchitse moe ja izlez izlez otvon na dvori da si ti videm mari chornine ochi chornine ochi choranki li sa. Abre junache ludo i mlado hodeval li si skoro v gradina videval li si abre chorni churjase mojse sa ochi dvaz triz po-chorni. Mari Marijo sorchitse moe ja izlez izlez otvon na dvori da si ti videm mari belono litse belono litse belichko li e. Abre junache ludo i mlado hodeval li si skoro v planina videval li si abre beli snegove mojso e lice dvaz triz po-belo. Mari Marijo sorchitse moe ja izlez izlez otvon na dvori da si ti videm mari tjonkana snazka tjonkana snazka tjonka li ti e. Abre junache ludo i mlado hodeval li si skoro v usoe videval li si abre tjonka topola mojsa e snazka dvaz triz po-tjonka OH, MARIA! Oh Maria,my love, come out into the yard so I can see your black eyes, are they still as black as they were? Well, you crazy one, have you been in the garden recently? Have you seen black cherries? My eyes are twice, thrice as black! Oh Maria, my love, come out into the yard so I can see your fair face, is it still as fair as it was? Well, you crazy one, have you been in the mountains recently? Have you seen white snow? My face is twice, thrice as fair. Oh Maria, my love, come out into the yard so I can see your slender body, is it still as slender as it was? Well, you crazy young thing, have you been in dark shady places recently? Have you seen a slender poplar tree? My body is twice, thrice as slender.
18.
Rechenski kamen 03:27
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Recenski kamen reka zagreda pârvo sa libe gec zabureva // gec zabureva, zor pribaleva. Ja si mi dajte deno si galem deno si galem da si go zemam ja si ma mene ziv zaburete ziv zaburete, zdrav pogrebete saj dolu dolu v malkana rjaka deno sa zbirat malkine momi // malkine momi platno da beljat. A STONE IN THE RIVER Just as a large stone blocks a river, so it's hard to forget your first love, hard to forget, hard to get over the pain [of parting]. Either marry me to the one I love, let me marry my true love, or just forget about me completely and bury me alive right down here in the little river where the girls gather to bleach their cloth.
19.
Nas banana ni hrani vsichki 01:30
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about

Lidia & Venelina Hadzhieva come from a small town called Nedelino, nestled high in the Rhodope mountains near the southern edge of Bulgaria, only about 15 kilometers from the Greek border.

Bulgaria is about the size of the state of Ohio, and not much different in shape. By now most Americans have been exposed to the contemporary style of Bulgarian choral singing developed and made famous by Filip Kutev and his successors. However, most of us are unfamiliar with the magnificently rich and diverse music from which these arrangements are derived. Because of Bulgaria's history, the traditional way of life and ancient musical styles were preserved well into the 20th century. But by now it is rare to find the old styles still performed by young people like Lidia and Venelina Hadzhieva.

Traditional music is still very much alive in Nedelino. In Bulgaria, two-part singing is usually found only in the western and south-western parts of Bulgaria (the so-called Shop region around the capital city of Sofia, and the Pirin region, as Bulgarian Macedonia is called). In other areas of the country singing is done either solo, or by several people singing in unison.

Except for Nedelino, where we find a tiny pocket of two-part singing plunked down in the middle of the Rhodopes. In fact, the exceptions continue, for the particular kind of two-part singing found in Nedelino is not found anywhere else in all of Bulgaria.

Lidia and Veni grew up singing with their mother and her sister, and with their cousins. They actually learned most of their songs while out working in their family's tobacco fields, high above the village. They would work and sing all day in the fields, and when they came home at night, everyone would tell them how beautifully they had sung that day.

They are consummate performers of their village's singing style, and they are equally at home in the Rhodope style of singing found throughout the Rhodope mountains. On this CD you will hear them sing both songs of their native Nedelino, and songs common to the Rhodope region.

-- Martha Forsyth, March 2000

credits

released March 10, 2000

Recorded in Bethany Church, Montpelier in March 2000 by Larry Gordon

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all rights reserved

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