Danubian dajcovo horo
A lively instrumental in 9/8 by the Horo Orchestra from Ruse on the Danube River in northern Bulgaria. Original recording arranged and conducted by Vasil Purvanov. Played in Seattle for the Bulgarian line dance dajcovo horo by our band and Orkestar RTW (Radio-Televizija Woodinville). This 2-page chart is slightly improved from an older transcription.
Danubian dajcovo horo
View high-resolution PDF (2 pages)
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Kazuj krcmo dzerimo
“Where did my love disappear? Why did he take my heart away?” A traditional melody in 9/8 recorded in 1982 by Usnija Redzepova with lyrics by R. Todorovic and music arranged by Bakija Bakic. We learned it from Carol Silverman.
Kazuj krcmo
With a different instrumental break:
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Majstore majstore
This song, heard in Northern Macedonia and in Bulgaria, was first performed by Petranka Kostadinova at the Valandovo Folk Fest in southeast Macedonia in 1990. We play it as a cocek dance. “Majstore” (literally “master”) refers to a master of a particular craft or trade. This one, hmm, perhaps he is very skilled with his big, strong hands…
There are two versions of the lyrics: the original Macedonian lyrics and a Bulgarian version that we learned from Mary Sherhart in Seattle.
Majstore majstore
Macedonian lyrics:
Majstore majstore lyrics
Bulgarian lyrics:
Majstore majstore lyrics 2
Performed in Macedonian by Petranka Kostadinova at Valandovo in 1990:
Performed in Macedonian by Aneta Micevska at Valandovo in 2017:
(The accordion player needs to lighten up…)
Performed in Bulgarian by Toni Dacheva with Kristal in 1991 or 1992:
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Aj mene majka jednu ima
A song in 9/8 from southern Serbia recorded by singer/songwriter Zorica Brunclik in 1977, one of many songs in which the girl wants the bad boy (bekrija), not the safe one favored by her parents.
Aj mene majka jednu ima
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Bugarsko K4 Oro
A Thracian-style dance instrumental by Ferus Mustafov, the great Macedonian Rom sax and clarinet player. (K4 refers to Klub K4 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.) The transcription below shows only the first six phrases of a longer melody, a chunk that we think makes a nice one-page chart for a Bulgarian pravo horo. We often play this after the Thracian dance song Edru na oder lezase.
Bugarsko K4 Oro
The chart shows the first 1:40 of this. The rest is left as an exercise for the student.
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Edru na oder lezase
On his deathbed, a man tells his mourning kin that all his worldly wealth is less precious to him than his small children and his beautiful wife, Tudorka. We learned this Bulgarian horo dance song, from Malkoturnovo village in the Strandza region of Thrace, years ago from Jane Sugarman. She wrote the name Edru as jEdru to reflect the local dialect. When playing for dancers, Balkanarama often follows this song with Ferus Mustafov’s Thracian-style Bugarsko K4 Oro.
Edru na oder lezase
Edru na oder lezase lyrics
(Sad face: This song does not appear to be available on YouTube. It’s on an ancient Bulgarian LP, Balkanton BHA 189.)
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