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Philip Koutev Choir

'Bulgarian Folk Ensemble'

Label - Gega New, Bulgaria

'… Koutev was a visionary, not just a fine performer, composer and arranger himself, but someone who could pick the right collaborators and get the best out of them... ..."Lozo, Lozano and Djore Dos", which discovers with every appearance of delight that two separate songs fit together perfectly when sung simultaneously, is a tour de force in miniature. What's more, the CD opens with Koutev's deceptively simple masterpiece 'Polegnala e Tudora', sensitively sung and not swimming in the reverb, that obscured earlier recordings.'
SONGLINES magazine 

Musical director Philip Koutev's dream of establishing an authentic ensemble that would "render to the greatest extent of authenticity and conviction, in sounds, colours, and movements, the exceptional variety of the Bulgarian music-and-dance folklore", has been realised on this wonderful album.

Philip Koutev's work was in constant progress and this CD is an illustration of the almost half-a-century folk-musical process.

Starting with Koutev's famous Polegnala e Tudora (Tudora Lay Down), the singers perform several of his songs, among which Lale li si, zyumbyul li si (Are You a Tulip, or a Hyacinth), Dragana i slavei (Dragana and the Nightingale). The songs and instrumental pieces by Georgi Genov, Georgi Andreev and Hristofor Radanov show us the musical idiom of the younger generation, while Theodosii Spassov's Sunflowers and Iskutena nevesta (A Well-Groomed Bride) are indicative of a musician's non-traditional approach to the different genres. The programme ends with Dva guluba (Two Pigeons) by Kosta Kolev, a renowned master of folk arrangements. And to complete the picture, there are three sisters from the Pirin Mountains and some Shoppe women who take us back to the original sources of this fascinating music.

USD 14.99

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Philip Koutev Choir

'Bulgarian Folk Ensemble'

This symbol  indicates an mp3 sound clip for that track. Click on the symbol and wait for the clip to start. For more information click here. Tracks

1. Tudera Iay Down (4'00")

2 The Working-Bee Is at Breaking (2'18")

3. Multi-Coloured Hero (2'30")

4. A Turtle-Dove Is Fluttering / Cold Water Is Flowing (3'26")

5. A Little Bird Flow Over (1'58")

6. Sunflowers (5'42")

7. Neda Was Filling In Water (2'06")

8. Hey, Mare (3'20")

9. Leze, Lezano aid Dere des (1'18")

10. Suite from Northern Bulgaria (4'20")

11. Suite of Four Songs: (5'07")

12. Oh, You Little Cuckoo (2'51")

13. Authentic Songs from the Shoppe Begion (3'02")

14. Young Maim Has Fallen Ill (1'44")

15. Shepherd's Flutes Are Playing (1'46")

16. A Well-Groomed Bride (5'22")

17. Petrunino Horo (2'32")

18. Night has fallen over Lolitsa (3'32")

19. Tell Me, Tell Me, Angyo (3'41")

20. Two Pigeons (2'07")

Duration (63'48)

Our mp3 samples are approximately 30 seconds long and of low(ish) quality for a fast download (file size app 300KB)

Watch a video of Philip Koutev National Ensemble Philip Koutev National Ensemble video courtesy of YouTube (click once on play symbol and wait for video to start) The above video content is for general interest only and does not appear on the CD release.