Horo For Wind Orchestra

Vatkov, Dotso; Sofia Wind Orchestra

Wind orchestra music in Bulgaria has an interesting history. First came the military wind orchestras, which were also the first professional music ensembles after Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottoman rule in 1878. They were created along with organizing the army. In March 1879, the first military wind orchestra was formed in Tarnovo. For a short time, from 3 orchestras in 1881, the ensembles became 31 in 1891, and during the Balkan War they were already 50. In the beginning, they performed marches, waltzes, overtures, mazurkas, etc. After that they expanded their repertoire with symphonies, excerpts from operas and operettas ... but a real development of wind orchestra music of Bulgarian sounding was noticed when the already experienced Bulgarian composers began to compose folk songs and folk-based suites. They thus set the ground for the genre called horos for wind orchestra, whose founder is the legendary Diko Iliev. His horos are a real inspiration for his younger followers. One of his most talented students was Andrei Vrachanski (1915-1990). He is the author of nearly 130 works, out of which 52 are horos. They are inspired by a specific story or experience, and to this day are among the most performed and loved by the people. Andrei Vrachanski began his studies as a student of Diko Iliev and bandmaster Alexander Wainer at the Wind Orchestra of the 36th Infantry Regiment of Kozloduy in 1935. Later, as a military musician in the regiment of Krumovgrad, he wrote his first horo pieces and thus lay the foundation of his rich and varied work.

Price: $25.98