Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

So be it!

Christmas Buenek horo dance – a special gift from BNR

Photo: bojentsi.com/bg

“Sat the mother of God on a mound to bestow gold and silver. To one she gave with a spoon, to another with a bowl, and to these people here she gave the whole cart! Now, say ye my friends: So be it! (All: "So be it!")”

The Koledari (carol singers) and their Christmas blessings on today's festive day have the "magical" power to bring health, abundance and good luck. The whole village resounds with the boys’ songs as they walk between the houses, and visit each home to give its inhabitants their Christmas blessings.

And just like the carol singers, we at Radio Bulgaria will now enter your homes with "Christmas Buenek" and "Slow Melody" - two of the latest recordings of the Bulgarian National Radio Folk Music Orchestra conducted by Dimitar Hristov - a special Christmas gift to our listeners from the musicians and the production team of BNR.

Soloist is the famous bagpiper Nedko Tsarev - a brilliant instrumentalist, involved in a number of projects, a long-time teacher at the National School of Arts "Dobri Hristov" - Varna. Nedko Tsarev is also the author of the two pieces written in the style of Bulgarian traditional music. The arrangement is by Angel Dobrev.


Buenek is a boisterous, horo chain dance which is played during Lent. It is danced in a curved line, not in a circle, as is the more usual way of horo dancing. It is performed mostly by young men, who dance with fast small steps, tapping and leading the chain in a weaving line.




Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Yordanka Hristova and "My Song, My Love"

Composer Yosif Tsankov, who worked from the beginning of the 1930s until 1971, is not accidentally called a patriarch of Bulgarian music. He left over 500 works - operettas, tango music, hits, music for films and he inevitably contributed to the..

published on 7/12/24 4:42 PM
Lili Ivanova

Lili Ivanova- ''Detelini''

Lili Ivanova is the undisputed prima of Bulgarian music. In addition to talent, discipline and dedication, her decades-long success also stems from her choice of the best musicians with whom the singer has collaborated over the years. One of her iconic..

published on 7/9/24 10:05 AM

Love and Song National Tour - get ready for another blissful pop experience! 

The "Love and Song" project brings together generations of popular Bulgarian artists on stage to perform their hits, spanning various musical styles over the years.  On July 8, this all-star team will embark for the third time on a national summer tour,..

published on 7/8/24 1:00 PM