Professor Petar Lyondev: Bulgarian folk music is wonderful inspiration for every author

published on 8/2/16 10:37 AM

Photo: private library

Professor Petar Lyondev is a celebrated Bulgarian musician who made a brilliant career in two music fields: children’s and folklore choral songs. His songs have been performed both by Bulgarian and foreign music groups. He contributed a lot to the music folklore field when he served as a research associate at the Institute of Art Studies with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The number of his folk songs and instrumental tunes amount to over 40,000.

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Professor Lyondev is an author of many folk books such as: Music Folklore from the Village of Bulgarin, Harmanli region; Songs Recorded in the Twentieth Century with Hurmuziev Nevmi, etc. Several generations of music teachers and students of folklore grew up in their professional music careers due to the pedagogic work of Professor Lyondev across the universities in Blagoevgrad (Southwest Bulgaria), Veliko Tarnovo (Central North Bulgaria), Sofia and Plovdiv (Central South Bulgaria). Thousands of music fans worldwide admired his choral songs. Petar Lyondev conducted a series of professional and amateur music bands in Bulgaria. In 2001 Sliven Municipality bestowed Professor Lyondev the Dobri Chintulov Prize for Literature and Art for exceptional merits to the music work of the city of Sliven. He is an honorary citizen of his native town of Harmali- a Bulgarian region rich in traditional culture and original music. Petar Lyondev grew up in a family of amateur and professional musicians: his grandmother used to sing local folklore songs, his grandfather was a fan of the urban brass music and his father worked as a music pedagogue in Harmanli. Here is what Professor Lyondev told Radio Bulgaria about his professional skills and education:

“I studied in my native town of Harmanli. My father took me and my sister Magdalina to the National School of Music in Sofia when I was only fourteen years old. Magdalina is a skillful pianist. My violin teachers were brilliant. When I joined the National Music Academy I started to dream of achieving something big in music. Fortunately, the first special class for musicologists and composers was established two years later. I had a very difficult exam. Only five people out of fifty applicants joined the new classes. It happened back in 1957. I studied composition under the guidance of the most celebrated pedagogues Veselin Stpyanov, Parashkev Hadjiev, Marin Goleminov and Zdravko Manolov. I studied folk music in the classes of renowned Bulgarian musicologist Stoyan Djudjev. I was invited to join the Institute of Music Studies when I was still studying at the National Music Academy. I worked for nearly 32 years there and later I developed in another field- I started to compose.”

Professor Lyondev had not only fulfilled his teenage dream to become a composer, but also won a serious of prestigious awards. His folklore songs were included in the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices albums of Swiss producer Marcel Cellier, which won the Grammy Award in 1990.

“My pieces gained world popularity thanks to the music groups which performed those songs. We know little about a brilliant Bulgarian conductor and musicologist Luben Botusharov. The first piece Luben Botusharov conducted was my song Ergen Deda. The piece was recorded at the Bulgarian National Radio in my presence. I must say that Marcel Cellier contributed a lot to the Bulgarian music. It started to gain world popularity thanks to him. I received his personal invitation to visit him in Switzerland with great pleasure. We spent a wonderful week together. We went skiing in the Alps. I will never forget those moments. He welcomed me in his house and acquainted me with his wife, who continued his great deed after he passed away. I also met his son Alexander who also popularized Bulgarian music abroad. Marcel Cellier did a lot for Bulgaria”.

In 2016 Professor Lyondev celebrates his 80^th birth anniversary.

“I am happy to learn that the number of countries which play my pieces has been constantly increasing. Now I want to devote myself to composition only. In the beginning of 2016 I decided to write more children’s songs. I managed to write nearly 50 songs in 4 months only. The lyrics were written by a brilliant Bulgarian poetess who was one of my most- talented students.”

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

Music-1Humoresca

Music-2 Kaval Sviri

Music-3 Ergen Deda

Music-4 Dve Petleta

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