Bulgarian Folk Music

Bulgarian folk music is the traditional music of Bulgaria, distinguished by additive aksak rhythms in metres such as 5/8, 7/8 and 11/16, close-harmony choral singing in which a melody is shadowed by a sustained drone, and instrumental traditions built around the gaida bagpipe, kaval flute, gadulka and tambura. Village repertoires divide between slow, highly ornamented table songs and fast dance music driven by the tapan drum. In the twentieth century state ensembles arranged this material for choir and orchestra, and recordings by the *Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares* choir carried its dissonant harmonies to a worldwide audience.