Nowadays we take radio for granted, but at the start of last century it was regarded as a veritable phenomenon. To begin with, it would bring people together in town squares, at inns where there was wireless, in the drawing-rooms of the more affluent. It was a time when this had become a tradition. People would enjoy the broadcasts of symphonies, singing and folk music performances. And it was depending on the radio programme that families would make the daily schedule of their leisure time. The dominant role of music meant the music editors at the Bulgarian radio shouldered an enormous amount of responsibility. One of the first such music editors was composer Dimitar Nenov. He would bring in the top composers and music theoreticians of their day, setting himself the task of promoting musical culture and bringing to listeners music from Bulgaria and the world.

An in-depth study of the history of music at the Bulgarian National Radio in its early years - Music at the Bulgarian Radio, 1930-1944 - has been made by Antoaneta Radoslavova-Doycheva, a music editor at the BNR for many years.

“As of the beginning of 1938, the radio programme put a focus on live performances by Bulgarian chamber ensembles,” she writes in her book. “The most active among them were the Avramov and Lechev string quartets, the Obreshkov academic trio, Konstantin Popov, Dimitar Nenov. Quartets were given a fixed time in the programme – every Tuesday when they would take turns playing, the trio was given Friday. String quartets would play, live, works by European composers, as well as by Boyan Ikonomov, Marin Goleminov, Lyubomir Pipkov. Once a sufficient number of music records had been accumulated, a concert of performances by European chamber ensembles would be aired every Saturday.”

Boyan Ikonomov played a special role in the development of Bulgarian music and its popularization by the radio. He composed numerous symphonies, chamber and vocal works, as well as works for the stage, moulding and asserting a typically Bulgarian style. In 1938, Ikonomov was appointed head of the music department of Radio Sofia.

“He launched a number of large-scale initiatives, among them seven cycles, presenting Beethoven,  the history of songs, symphonies and 10 concerts dedicated to Bulgarian chamber music,” Antoaneta Radoslavova writes. They had music experts as anchors whose lectures were accompanied by concerts – from records or live. These initiatives were started in 1938 and went on in 1939 through to 1941. The symphonies and operas were played from records, whereas the chamber music was presented by renowned Bulgarian performers. This is the time when the Bulgarian Radio started broadcasting live – more and more often concerts from Bulgaria hall or of the Royal Military Symphony Orchestra.

The audio file to this story features the following works:

-  Bird Chirping by Dobri Hristov, perfoprmed by Alexander Kraev;

-  String Quartet No. 2, op. 16 by Boyan Ikonomov, performed by the Lechev quartet;

-  Shumi Maritsa, Maritsa rushes, former National anthem of Bulgaria, performed by the Royal Military Symphony Orchestra.

English: Milena Daynova