"Although the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir formed less than a century ago, with a verifiable context and history, writers and listeners still treat the ensemble's music with the same mystification reserved for the pyramids of Giza, the menhirs of Stonehenge, or the cave paintings of the Neolithic age. Their demonstrations of the human voice are exceptional, presenting new possibilities as they transcend the mechanics of the throat, the grain of the body."
"The shock of encountering sounds this extraordinary tends to bypass familiar categories and break into the realm of the inexplicable. The music baffles. But beneath its mystification lies a compelling story of folk repertoire, Communist propaganda, and the repeated suppression-and reimagining-of cultural identity, distorted by Western commerce and the label that reads: "world music." In 1986, the British label 4AD-followed by U.S. distributor Nonesuch in 1987-reissued"
The Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir performs modernized versions of Bulgarian village songs with exceptional vocal techniques that transcend ordinary singing. The ensemble's sound provokes mystification while masking a history of folk repertoire adaptation, Communist propaganda, and repeated suppression and reimagining of cultural identity. Western commercial forces and the label "world music" further distorted that identity. A 1975 anthology licensed from Swiss musicologist Marcel Cellier was reissued by 4AD in 1986 and by Nonesuch in 1987, bringing the choir international attention. Filip Kutev formed the ensemble in 1951 and arranged monophonic tunes into multi-part harmonies blending Western choral practice and Bulgarian throatiness, with scoring that echoed Stravinsky and Debussy.
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