Rhythmic and Metric Aspects of Contemporary Bulgarian Wedding Music

 

  1 Rhythmic and Metric Aspects of Contemporary Bulgarian Wedding Music  

Kalin Kirilov, Towson University

The traditional music of Bulgaria is an excellent example of a complex musical tradition which combines Middle Eastern makams, diatonic modes, pentatonic scales, and microtonal structures with sophisticated ornamentation, modal harmony, and asymmetrical meters.  This  presentation explores some advanced metric concepts developed by Bulgarian Wedding style musicians. Bulgarian Wedding style formed as a layer of traditional Bulgarian music in the late 1970s. In the 1990s, Wedding music became popular worldwide through the performances of Ivo Papasov and his Trakiya (Thrace) orchestra. My presentation begins with a brief overview of the Bulgarian metric system paying  particular attention to the perception of syncopations in asymmetrical meters (Example 1) and the structure of combined metric groups (several asymmetrical meters recurring periodically) and heterometric rows (meters which do not follow a particular pa rticular pattern) (Examples 2 and 3). After  providing essential background information, I focus my presentation on three innovative metric concepts: changing meters within meagameasure structures, shifting meters within hypermetric frameworks, and generating hybrid meters in polymetric contexts. The terms megameasures and megameters describe the grouping of measures of the same meter which produce rhythmic patterns conceived across a bar line. I propose a different terminology from the established Schenkerian concept of hypermeter and hypermeasure due to the fact that although similar, the concepts are not analogous. In Schenkerian terms, hypermeasure is defined as a group of measures in which the measure itself serves as a beat. In Bulgarian music, megameasure is defined as a combined group of measures whose cumulative

 

  2  beats allow for different internal metric and rhythmic organization. This forms a larger metric structure ultimately perceived as a unit due to accents and grouping. In Schenkerian terms, hypermeter is defined as meter above the notated measure. In Bulgarian music, megameter is the cumulative meter within a megameasure. For example, a megameter of two measures of 1 15/16 5/16 is 30/16. The produced megameasure involves a rhythmic pattern within 30 sixteenth notes or 14  beats (Example 4). In megameasure generating processes, primary meters (generators) multiply by even numbers. An asymmetrical 7/8 may expand to 14/8, 28/8, and even 56/8. Each of the resulting megameasures and megameters features different internal organization in terms of hypermeter and groupings of twos and threes compared to the generator, 7/8. However, in all megameters, regardless of their length and internal structure, the basic level of pulse (subdivision level) remains consistent. During performances, instrumentalists shift freely between 5/8, 6/8, 7/8 and 8/8 within larger megameasures. Over the years, performers master the technique of “entering and exiting” the generating meter, a skill which is highly praised as one of the highest level of musicianship. Shifting meters within a hypermetric framework is a phenomenon which typifies the concert genre of Bulgarian Wedding style from the late 1990s. Steady hype hypermeters rmeters allow  performers to shrink and expand their melodic and metric structures by increasing or decreasing the number of notes included in a measure. Depending on the speed of the hyperbeats, changing meters may vary from 2/4 to 9/8 or 11/8 (Example 5). Bulgarian musicians frequently argue over the correct meter of one particular dance tune, Petrunino Horo (Petruna’s dance). Musicians divide in two camps: those who believe that the

tune should be transcribed in 13/8 and those who insist that the tune can be perceived only in

 

  3 14/8. My recent research has shown that the most accurate meter of Petrunino Horo is a hybrid meter produced from the opposing forces of the simultaneously occurring 13/8 and 14/8 (Example 6), i.e. a metric compromise resembling a 13.5/8 meter. Similar phenomena become evident in a Romani tune in a compound 6/8 meter  performed by Papasov in 1989. A closer look at the metric structure reveals a rather unusual  process. The piece begins with precomposed melodies in a steady 6/8 meter. After the opening section, the piece continues with improvisation which gradually shifts the meter from 6/8 to 7/8 (second meter is introduced and established). In the middle of the improvisation, 7/8 and 6/8 occur simultaneously (polymeter with opposing forces) and multiply into megameters (12/8 and 14/8). As a result of the opposition, a shortened 7/8 and extended 6/8 is achieved as a hybrid meter (Example 7). My observations of Petrunino Horo and Papazov’s tune form an unusual hypothesis. This hypothesis suggests that certain polymeters lead to the creation of new, unstudied hybrid meters. In order for us to perceive and analyze the fine nuances of such meters, we have to further refine and calibrate our listening and analytical tools.

 

  4 EXAMPLES  Normal pattern pattern (slow tempos)

Beat level (moderate tempos) Hypermeter level (fast tempos)

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Syncopation 1

Syncopation 2

Syncopation 3

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Example 1. Syncopations in 7/8

Example 2. Combined Metric Group

Example 3. Heterometric Row

 

  5    Normal subdivision subdivision

Beat level 

Megameter 1

Megameter 2

Example 4. Megameasures of 30/16

Hyperbea ts Hyperbeats Meters

X 6/8

X 6/8

X 6/ 6/8 8

X 5/8

Hyperbea ts Hyperbeats Meters

X 6/8

X 6/8

X X 12/8 (megameter)

X 5/8

X 5/8

X X 12/8

X 7/8

X 7/8

X 7/8

X X X 14/8 14/8 (megameter)

X 8/8

X 8/8

X 7/8

X

X 14/8

X

Example 5: Shifting Meters within a Hypermetric Framework

Example 6. Petrunino Horo Hybrid Meter Generator

 

  6  

Example 7. Forces in 6/8 and 7/8 Producing Hybrid Meter