The next feature introduces you to Bulgarian choir Slavyanska Beseda and contemporary Bulgarian composer Georgi Popov. In the next 20 minutes or so, you will hear more about the choir’s recent trip to Italy as well as some of their performances. (audio)

You have just heard Troparion to Saints Constantine and Helen composed by Georgi Popov and performed by Sofia-based Slavyanska Beseda Choir.
In July this year, the choir took part in the 8th International Festival Seghizzi Regionale where it gave a number of concerts in different venues in the Italian Northeast. With a seat in Gorizia, a picturesque town situated on the Italian-Slovenian border and boasting mediaeval charm and modern spirit, the festival takes participant choirs across the province of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, one of Italy’s most beautiful and thriving regions known for its history, ancient Roman relics, sunbathed vineyards and wine production. Within the space of 9 days, Slavyanska Besseda choir gave 4 concerts in the Italian towns of Spilimbergo, Gradisca d’Isonzo, Coseano, and Cormons, all of them at no more than an hour’s distance from Gorizia and with the same mediaeval appeal and generous audiences.
At all concerts, the Italian audience was positively impressed from the very beginning as the choir started its performances everywhere with the Lord’s Prayer (Otche Nash), or as Dolores Bortuzzo from the Gottardo Tomat Musical Association in Spilimbergo said after the concert of the choir in this town, “This was an unforgettable act of respect and sensibility towards the Lord’s prayer during which Orthodox Christians have to be standing, and not sitting. I liked it very much that you started your concert with this prayer”.
We offer you next Slavyanska Beseda Choir performing Otche Nash by the Russian composer Nikolay Kedroff (audio) 

Slavyanska Besseda Choral Society was revived in 2000 by the conductor Elitza Hristova, the composer Georgi Popov and the Chairman of Slavyanska Beseda Cultural Community Center Joreto Bahmetjev. The repertoire of the choir is comprised mostly of chants representing the monadic and polyphonic tradition in Christian Orthodox music, the majority of which have been written especially for the choir by composer Georgi Popov.

Born in 1954 in the town of Sliven in Central Bulgaria, Georgi Popov graduated the musical academy in Sofia. For years, he worked on composing music for film and theatre productions but since 1994, he has been devoted entirely to the creation of contemporary Bulgarian Orthodox music. Over the past 15 years, he has written 8 liturgies and numerous religious hymns. Choirs from Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, USA and Japan have included his works in their repertoire. At the festival in Italy, Slavyanska Beseda choir performed a selection of his best Orthodox works as the main part of their repertoire as well as an assortment of Bulgarian folk songs.

We offer you next one of Georgi Popov’s first chants written for the Cathedral in the town of Sliven at the request of His Excellency Joanikiy, the Bishop of Sliven. The chant is based on the first two verses of Psalm 142: “Lord hear my prayer and let my cry come unto thee”. (audio)

Slavyanska Beseda Choral Society is a mixed choir composed of some forty singers aged between 7 and 50, a blend of adult and children’s voices, mentality and emotional expression that has a unique effect on listeners. As Giuliana Biasizzo, president of Nuova Corale di Coseano, shared after the choir’s concert in Coseano: “It is remarkable to see how adults and children sing and pray together in the same way. We felt the responsibility and seriousness with which you approach singing Orthodox music. We felt your spirituality and your preserved humanness in the manner in which you performed your chants”.
We offer you next the chant Dostoyno est (It is Truly Meet) from Liturgy 2 by the composer Georgi Popov, a chant he initially wrote for female voices choir and later revised for a mixed-voices choir(audio)

During its trip to the North of Italy, the choir had the chance to perform not only at official concerts but also ad lib at venues of special significance. On its visit to Venice, the choir visited the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George, also known as San Georgio dei Greci, the oldest Orthodox church in Italy, where the singers was allowed to perform a short concert to the delight of visitors. The same spontaneous experience was repeated during the choir’s visit to the world-famous antique music stage of Arena di Verona, in Verona, where the choir once again enjoyed the opportunity to perform some of their chants and win the applause and smiling approval of the numerous tourists at this ancient Roman amphitheatre, and leaving unforgettable memories in the hearts of the choristers.

Rehearsing at Arena di Verona!

We offer you next another performance of Slavyanska Beseda choir, Dostoyno Est (It is truly meet) from Liturgy 6 of the composer Georgi Popov.(audio) 

With this we have almost come to the end of today’s edition of Timeout for Music on Radio Bulgaria, bringing you today a feature on Slavyanska Besseda Choir and its recent concert tour to Italy. Last we offer you Hymn to the Ascension composed by Georgi Popov and performed by Slavyanska Beseda Choir. (audio)

Photos are provided by the author