US TV news report on Bulgarian music featuring Kate Bush

[kosbos1985]

"Turkish influence" ?!? There's nothing turkish in the traditional bulgarian music ! Yeah, we have the so called "Chalga" which is influenced by the turkish music, but that doesn't have anything to do with the sound of bulgarian folk music. So, Please !

[OrhanCorporation]

@kosbos1985 what are you talking about?????

Bulgarian music is very heavily influenced by Turkish.

Just like the bulgarian language has so many Turkish words in it.

[8BlueSkies]

I heard that Kate got interested in Bulgarian music just around the time she was finishing HOL. When it shows the singers at 1:34, one of then does a strange swoopy shriek thing, and Kate does something like this near the end of Watching You Without Me! I wonder if it's a direct influence? :)

[jpxpert]

Yeah, it's rather stupid to make a comment that "You can hear the influence of five centuries of Turkish domination in Bulgaria." The closer two countries are to one another, the more their music sounds the same. Chinese music is closer to Indian music than Celtic is, for example.

Bulgarian music was a way of preserving the Bulgarian culture from Turkish culture; not a way of becoming assimilated into it.

[Probuem]

"You can hear the influence of a five centuries Turkish domination in Bulgaria" - This is the most ignorant comment I've heard !

[veso5554]

I know. "Domination"? Straight out slavery's more like it. Besides, Turkish music has a different rhythmical structure.

[ketmaniac]

Yeah, the commentary is a bit rough and ready. The reference to "British rocker Kate Bush", as if she was more or less interchangeable with Toyah Wilcox - that's worth a smile.

[k8fan]

Seriously though, what genre of music does Kate make? "Kate Bush music" isn't really a genre. Technically, she is in "rock", in the same way that Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd are rock. But yeah, apart from "Violin", it's hard to think of her as a "rocker".

[ketmaniac]

She invents a new genre every time she writes a new song.

[k8fan]

Remember, this report is just something to fill 3 minutes on a news program, not scholarly research. For instance, the report claims "...the music was little know outside of Bulgaria's mountains until now". Untrue. It was popular among the musicians of Laural Canyon in LA, and Bulgarian harmonies were a major influence on the newly formed Crosby, Stills and Nash.

[veso5554]

Indeed. I think this was around the time The Bulgarian folk singer Valia Balkanska's record was sent off into space. If that isn't tribute to the music, then I don't know what is.

[AdIgnorantiam]

What's the name of the song women's choir is singing when they first show them? With the yelping?

[Tanru2000]

The Soloist at 1:20 looks a little bit like Tori Amos! :)

[k8fan]

If the comments take a turn towards ethnic rivalries, I'll start posting these videos without commenting enabled. I don't give a damn who did what when, I just love the music.

[ivankalev]

This is not an ethnic rivalry. I am just saying that his statement is false.

I personally don't see any kind of similarities between the Bulgarian and Turkish folklores.

Someone to correct me if I am wrong.

[ombrique]

Is there anything wrong with the Turkish influence on Bulgarian culture? Of course there is such, much more than any other influence.All the Balkan's countries have more or less in common.The question about so called Turkish domination is much more historic/political than folkloric.

[ivankalev]

By the way you can see the singing girl on the video "Bulgarian folklore from the Rhodopi region" here on YouTube. If you like Bulgarian folklore, please send me a private message.

[flauntit666]

@k8fan I don't think you understand how much the Bulgarian cultural and national identity has in common with its music - they're one and the same. When you see that most comments from Bulgarians talk about the clip's reference to our ethnic influences, don't be surprised we're zealous to clear up the mistake. We were under repressive Ottoman yoke for 5 centuries. There's nothing more offensive you can say to a Bulgarian than "You have been influenced by the Turks."

[k8fan]

Glad to dig obscure stuff up!

[ivankalev]

"You can hear the influence of a five centuries Turkish domination in Bulgaria"

This is very stupid statement by the commentator. The Bulgarian and Turkish folklore do not have anything in common.

[edlund40]

I think the comment was intended to mean, that these songs sound this way because we were oppressed by the Turks. This made us sing sad and powerful songs.

The commentator says also that we were oppressed by the communists. But in fact these songs were made this way, in this arrangement, during the communist rule. The original songs were quite different. You can find some original performances on youtube. See for example these two songs in one video:

watch?v=SVgl-0KU4q0

[texluh]

edlund40, thank you for adding additional cross-referencing interest about the original songs, to add to k8fan's excellent original post. That is what the internet - and its opportunities for further education - are all about.

[menro]

K8fan,it's always a pleasure to find a video from you!

Thank you!!

[k8fan]

Please do not mention the name of the program, the host or the network. That's how cool clips get found and deleted and how accounts get banned

[500313]

Peter Jennings did a good job, again. Who's afraid of a good video? Bulgarian folklore is not just something from 'old times' -not to mention turkish influence- is just timeless. Belongs to humankind.

[stogerov]

Actualy the bulgarian music has influence on the turkish it is much older. You see it as something exotic and small. Actually those are one of the oldest music harmonies in the world. It's compex irregular rythms are close to east iranian and indian music, because the bulgarians are also an aryan tribe! The whole knowledge of the bulgarian identity survived in the folklor that's for we love it!