Bulgaria: The Art of the Gadulka

The gadulka is the Bulgarian version of the pear-shaped fiddle, found in various forms right across the eastern Mediterranean. Like the Cretan lyra, it has three playing strings plus up to 18 sympathetic strings to beef up the sound. And a gorgeous, slightly nasal sound it is too, with special ornamentations from the bowing and fingering. The gadulka was traditionally played solo, or with tapan (barrel drum percussion) for village dances, although it is now more commonly heard in folkloric ensembles.

This disc, recorded by Jéròme Cler, is the first I’m aware of concentrating on the gadulka – and there are three fine players here. It opens with Atanas Vultchev (born in 1937), a one-time member of the Filip Koutev Ensemble and widely considered the leading gadulka player alive today. His strong solo playing clearly demonstrates its potential as a solo instrument. Apart from one other Vultchev track, the rest of the disc features two younger players: the warm-toned Nikolai Paskalev (born 1974) and Dimitar Gugov (born 1979), a pupil of Vultchev. Highlights are ‘Tchobanski Vez, a selection of shepherds tunes played by Gugov with tapan drum, a gadulka duet for Gugov and Paskalev and some infectious ensemble numbers – notably ‘Paidushko Horo’ with kaval flute, tambura (long– necked lute) and tapan drum.

Published by the Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire (AIMP) at the Museum of Ethnography in Geneva, this is a wonderful showcase for one of Europe’s undervalued instruments.