In 2015 we mark 100 years since the birth of renowned Bulgarian folklore musician Tsvyatko Blagoev – tonight’s concert by the Bulgarian National Radio’s Folk Music Orchestra entitled “Folk music is my life” is dedicated to his contribution to the development of performing arts in this country. The concert in Studio No. 1 of the BNR will be accompanied by an exhibition of photographs of the famed flute player, as well as the screening of a short documentary about Tsvyatko Blagoev’s life and work.

Tsvyatko Blagoev’s daughter Radka Stamenova remembers:

“My father was the first folklore musician to have performed live on Radio Sofia back in the 1930s. He graduated pedagogy at Sofia University, but from an early age he played five instruments, including kaval (flute), bagpipes, clarinet, trumpet. Folk music really and truly was his life. This is the title of the book prominent folklore expert Mihail Bukureshtliev wrote about him. In those days my father played with several famed folklore groups and set up the Ougurchin Group and the Tsvyatko Blagoev Group. The two actually served as the nucleus of the Bulgarian National Radio’s Folk Music Orchestra, he was to become its concertmaster. Performances of his were to be heard on the air every day. He is to be credited with tracking down folk songs from all corners of Bulgaria, as well as training musicians who then joined the orchestra. We used to live in a small apartment, but there were always musicians there he would rehearse with. I have been to many of his concerts – it was simply unforgettable! I remember the big concert halls, packed to capacity, I remember everyone getting up to their feet to give him a standing ovation. He would always have chairs placed next to him, so he could change instruments as he played. He was entirely dedicated to music, to its popularization in the country and abroad. He has had thousands of concerts, recordings of his performances are to be found in the BNR’s Golden Fund audio archives as well as at the Bulgarian National TV. He believed that a good education and a sound upbringing were at the root of everything and made sure my brother and I were provided with them. I set up a foundation in his name to help young talents in folk music.”

The audio features an interview with Lauren Brody who put together the album Song of the Crooked Dance with some of the oldest vinyl recordings from the turn of the 20^th century, at the dawn of the gramophone industry.

English version: Milena Daynova