This feature is dedicated to folk singer Snezhana Vitanova, who turned 60. Her repertoire of old songs from the Shoppe region is a perfect showcase of the area’s melodic and rhythmic patterns. We offer you first a tongue-in-cheek song, which launched Snezhana’s career as folk singer winning her the First Prize for Young Female Singer, aged only 8, at the Golo burdo Folk Festival in Breznik, Western Bulgaria, in 1960.
The folklore of the Shoppe region, encompassing Bulgaria’s villages in the central western part of the country, is one of the best preserved in the popular music tradition. A number of singers have handed in this legacy in lyrics, rhythms and tunes from one generation to the next. And Snezhana Vitanova is no exception to the rule.
She was born in the village of Dren near Radomir, which she named ‘the most beautiful village in the entire Shoppe region”, whose villagers guard zealously their traditions. Her childhood dream was to sing and now, turned 60, she has established herself as one of the foremost Shoppe female singers, with her unique and striking style.
However, she followed quite a different line of education. She graduated Economy in Sofia, and worked within the structures of the Interior Ministry. “But my love for the folk song never once died away, and wherever I happen to be, no matter what I am doing, it is always there, with me,” she says and admits she can’t imagine her life without singing. And that is what she tries to instill in her two wonderful daughters, the love of the Shoppe songs.
“Everyone in my extended family, my sisters, my brother, including, all have an ear for music and a nice voice, and love singing, but only I became a professional,” Snezhana Vitanova recalls. “I inherited my repertoire from my mother, who was one of the best singers of her generation. I remember when I was little, how the women in the village used to sing in two groups of three. I am forever indebted to fellow Shoppe singer Slavka Sekutova, who was married to a man from our village. Whenever she sang, we all went quiet and listened. Those were times when the folk singers used to perform ‘live’ on the radio. And it was then that I became fascinated with songs and dreamt of having my own recordings some day. Luckily, that did happen despite the fact that I did not receive any formal education in music. But I had the chance to sing with the greatest musicians from the Folk Ensemble of the Bulgarian National Radio, where my husband used to play. I have sung at a great many family celebrations, weddings, christenings and the like, with the orchestra led by Rumen Sirakov, who was an outstanding musician. I do my job and I sing my songs at the same time, and it is hard for me to distinguish which one is the job and which one, the hobby.
“I would like to thank Radio Bulgaria for being the first to remember me on my anniversary. I feel a lot younger, than 60. I will celebrate with my colleagues at work with whom we’ve been living and not only working together for nearly 40 years. I have had a great many famous musicians at my birthday parties, Rumen Sirakov, Rosen Genkov of the Folk Ensemble of the Bulgarian National Radio to name but a few, and we had great fun. Now life has changed and we rely a great deal more on the radio and the TV to entertain us, and we seldom hear folk songs. Of course, there will be chain dances and lots of Shoppe jesting and humouring. I wish everyone the kind of attitude to age I have and the best of luck,” Snezhana Vitanova told Radio Bulgaria.
English version by Radostin Zhelev
